《Eternia Memories: 2+X》


 2.1 Life Goes On

    Livia, Central, Auxiria. Candoran Calendar, 1887.


    ¡°Please, Kato. I need your help!¡±


    Mirabelle folded her hands in prayer as she gave him a hopeful expression with wide puppy eyes.


    Kato, on the other hand, sighed in exasperation. Truth to be told, he didn¡¯t want to sound like a whiner in front of her, but he really didn¡¯t want to handle it if he didn¡¯t need to, so he complained anyway.


    ¡°You know that I suck at getting up in the morning, right, Mira? You can¡¯t expect me to get up that early and go to school to sit in one place for over an hour by myself.¡±


    ¡°I knew I had to take the morning off to go to a ceremony with my sisters and our father, but I forgot that someone else has to take over for me supervising the third music room next morning.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t find anyone else?¡±


    ¡°Not when it¡¯s less than twelve hours from now.¡±


    ¡°So you come to me, for me to take on your troubles.¡±


    ¡°Of course~¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m student council now, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be qualified to be a room supervisor and have an excuse to not wake up early.¡±


    ¡°Thank you sooooo much! I owe you one!¡±


    Mirabelle¡¯s face turned cheerful as she clasped his hands with hers. Her two silky black pigtails, each which flowed from behind her shoulders and tied at her front, bounced with her change in spirit as her golden eyes, which were nearly hidden behind her bangs, lit up.


    ¡°You do owe me one.¡±


    Kato sighed again with one hand pulling at his short and messy auburn hair and feeling thoroughly defeated. He didn¡¯t have a real reason to reject her, so he agreed to go along with her request. Now that he was a class representative and an Assembly member this year, it was his duty to follow directions from the student council president.


    ¡°This weekend, we¡¯re all going to the Bozz, so I¡¯ll pay my debts then.¡±


    As they walked up the paved hillside path, Mirabelle skipped ahead of him and winked at Kato, who couldn¡¯t help but be impressed by her flair and figure. After school finished at the end of the afternoon with the orange sun low in the sky but still at full brightness, she stood even more beautiful than her usual form, which was already impressive enough.


    Without thinking, Kato quickly paced ahead to catch up to Mirabelle and pinched her nose lightly. As he did so, she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a cute squeak.


    ¡°Free tickets for me and the fam.¡±


    ¡°Like always.¡±


    Mirabelle smiled radiantly as they reached the end of the path at the top of the hillside. There, they saw a familiar scene: the old urban playground they and their group of friends grew up in. Beside the main set of slides were the much coveted jungle gym and swings that their group took over whenever they came here, but today it was only the two ringleaders alone at this rubber mulch battleground.


    Looking behind at the direction they came from, they could see the sun setting upon the city of Livia below. The city sat in a uniquely warm and rainy valley that brought it fair weather, giving it warm summers and cool winters. So even though it was almost the end of summer as they had only begun school a week ago, there was no sign of the weather turning cold yet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s sit on the top for a bit.¡±


    Mirabelle pulled Kato along by the hand towards the dome-shaped jungle gym, which was quite large compared to others and was the tallest playground structure here. It was probably at least ten feet high at the apex, and some soft spongy flooring was underneath it.


    ¡°Only for a bit. I¡¯m hungry and I wanna go home.¡±


    They climbed onto the metal scaffolding that was meant for the children they once were. As usual, they took their seats on the top. From here, they could see that looking out over the hillside at the sky and city was just as majestic as it was when they were small children.


    ¡°Settled in?¡±


    ¡°Ya.¡±


    Kato put their schoolbags aside and sat contently there, shoulder to shoulder, admiring the view of the city granted to them. The playground today was quite vacant, as only a few other kindergarten children were playing on the slides. There were maybe a dozen trees planted sparsely throughout the area, usually next to the few concrete gazebos that the elderly used to take refuge from the sun. Next to one of them was an analog clock perched atop a tall pole, currently almost at seven.


    Mirabelle was wearing the light sailor uniform for autumn, though the white and baby blue colour patterns were drowned out by the orange sunlight. A dull orange tie flowed down her front, while her legs were wrapped in her black pantyhose despite the warm weather. Her golden eyes held a mysterious yet mischievous colour that pulled you in and was hard to avert your eyes from. Out of all his friends, the hardest person for him to read was probably her.


    To him, she could only be described as otherworldly in every way, yet they sat here together as if that was never the case. This wasn¡¯t the first time, or the fiftieth time, that they spent their time alone together atop the jungle gym, but Kato felt the same aura of mystery and sense of longing emanating from Mirabelle, every single time.


    ¡°It¡¯s only Monday and you¡¯ve already done goofed. It¡¯s not like you, Mira.¡±


    Kato started after a whole minute of silence.


    ¡°I¡¯m still getting used to this student council president job. Please forgive my shortcomings.¡±


    Mirabelle answered with a steady voice splashed with some formalities. As expected of a daughter of nobility.


    ¡°You first forgot to submit and print papers for the convening Assembly tomorrow, so we had to stay behind an extra half-hour so all our sisters and friends left for home before us, despite them helping you out in student council already. And then forgetting you have duty the next morning... you can¡¯t be getting old that fast.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s this ¡®bout my age too?¡±


    ¡°Nothin¡¯. You can rejoice that I¡¯ll always be four months older than you.¡±


    ¡°Am I that pitiful that you have to use that to make me feel better?¡±


    ¡°Well, you did trip up twice already and it¡¯s been only three days into school.¡±


    ¡°Nnnnnnnngh! Stop it already! I¡¯m trying my best, all right?¡±


    Mirabelle pouted at him as she perched her head onto his shoulder, revealing that she was clearly still in a playful mood.


    Though she has done this many times before, it nevertheless soothed his heart and made him felt at ease, as though this was only natural. Kato truly enjoyed living in moments like these, to admire the perfection that sat next to him and how it made him admire her so.


    ¡°And now I have to wake up early tomorrow. Thanks for nothing, Madam President.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Mirabelle pouted again, cheeks puffed out, but this time silently, as if she was fuming. Knowing he was pushing her buttons, Kato hid a smile behind his hand before facing her and patted her head with his other.


    ¡°Sorry ¡®bout that.¡±


    Kato mumbled, almost inaudibly to her under his breath. She pulled back from him, turned away and gave him a defiant ¡°hmph¡±. He then laughed out loud.


    ¡°Kato, you¡¯re always like this!¡±


    Peeved, Mirabelle complained to Kato and forcefully leaned into him with her shoulder to show her dissatisfaction. She knew he was only messing with her to see her reaction, and she secretly happily gave it in full.


    ¡°But I¡¯m only like this to you, Mira.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Her face was flushed with pink as she stopped pushing into him and let her shoulder rest on him. Inside her chest she felt a familiar warmth settle there, a kind of warmth that she only felt with Kato by her side. Somewhat out of her usual character, she remained wordless and let the silence carry between them.


    Perhaps it was true. Even if it wasn¡¯t, she wanted to believe it was so. Certainly, he did not expect her to fall silent after that, and only after she did, he realized that it was more equivocal and surprising than he had thought. Mirabelle had let her guard down in that moment, and for once he was able to glean into her true feelings.


    Wisps of clouds floated across the sky at a quick pace as the shadows grew longer behind them. For whatever reason, today was a poor day for the playground because the few children who were there soon vacated the slides and went back home with their parents or grandparents.


    ¡°Mira, where are you going tomorrow?¡±


    Kato was the first to speak again after another lull had passed by.


    ¡°Where I¡¯m going? To a place to perform a ritual of some sort.¡±


    Mirabelle gave a vague answer whilst making it sound like a natural thing to do. Of course, Kato raised his eyebrows at that kind of response.


    ¡°A ritual of some sort? Are you secretly an occultist? Alchemy is a recognized branch of science in today¡¯s society, so there¡¯s no need to hide that sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh heavens, you¡¯re such a riot. I¡¯m about as alchemically compatible as hot glue and oil, so there are no secret magicks for me. There¡¯s no way for me to even pretend to be an Avian.¡±


    The Avians were the people of the Kingdom of Ava. They, along with the old homeland of Yue, were the places that modern alchemy originated from. In the vernacular, alchemy and Ava were synonymous with each other due to their historicity.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the riot now? Even without being alchemically compatible, you can pretend to be an Avian anyway.¡±


    To pretend to be an Avian did not only mean to pretend to be an alchemist. It was also a popular idiom meaning to easily deceive someone about you. The idea was that even a miniscule display of alchemy could ¡°prove¡± yourself to be an Avian, deceiving the unsuspecting about your true intentions. In short, that person had a good poker face.


    He did not miss the pun she used together with the idiom.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you understand that I¡¯m right either way, but am I that hard to read?¡±


    ¡°Yes, very. Unless being cheerful all the time is in fact all there is to it. If it is, then this is where I claim that it¡¯s because of me.¡±


    Upon hearing that, her heart felt a tiny bit lighter.


    ¡°Maybe it is. Who knows?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s apparent that you know and you¡¯re not sharin¡¯ it, so my accusation still stands.¡±


    ¡°Well then, good to know that all is going according to plan.¡±


    Mirabelle smirked at Kato, who let out a small sigh. There was nothing more he could get out of her on that.


    ¡°That¡¯s so strange though. Bianca¡¯s alchemically compatible and you¡¯re not, but you¡¯re physically superior while she¡¯s not. Are you two really identical twins?¡±


    ¡°Eh. My fam¡¯s messed up in a lot of ways.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Everyone¡¯s fams are messed up in some way.¡±


    ¡°Yours is the most messed up right now. You have a younger sister who looks exactly like you, two very attractive older stepsisters, a grandma with the appearance of a ten-year-old who is also your homeroom teacher, and a caretaker who¡¯s clearly a high-ranking member of the organization.¡±


    ¡°I sense some... edge in your voice.¡±


    ¡°Must¡¯ve been your imagination.¡±


    ¡°My imagination must be really good then.¡±


    Kato said carefully as he grinned slowly at the end. His family was a big part of his life and he was quite proud of them. It also wasn¡¯t hard to guess why her voice was dripping with passive aggression.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back on track. What¡¯s the ritual about?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still going on about that? It¡¯s gonna just be some boring thing I have to be present for.¡±


    ¡°Some boring thing that it takes time away from all four of you? Sounds special enough to me.¡±


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s nothing special. Father will be there with us too.¡±


    Mirabelle shrugged with an unconcerned expression, clearly unimpressed with having the need to go to whatever she was going to. She closed the topic up by playing the father card, which Kato understood it as something that was intimately related to her family.


    Mirabelle then turned all cheery again as she turned to him and smiled.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s gonna be pretty late by the time we get home.¡±


    She reached over him to grab her schoolbag, to which Kato lent a hand.


    ¡°Mm, let¡¯s call it a day. You and your sisters are only off in the morning, then?¡±


    ¡°Yup, we¡¯ll be back in school by lunchtime, so you¡¯ll only miss me for a few hours~¡±


    ¡°Who said I¡¯ll miss you for a few hours?¡±


    And just as quickly, her face turned red and angry as she began hitting Kato on the arm repeatedly with her tiny fists. She was getting mad for real this time around.


    ¡°Yeah, no one said that, you stupid stupid!¡±


    Snagging his schoolbag, Kato jumped off of the rails to break away from her feeble blows and roared with laughter as she tried to use vernacular language. Something about a princess trying and stumbling over using slang made it all the more amusing to Kato.


    Landing on his feet neatly on the rubber mulch, he saw that Mirabelle too followed and landed next to him, so he started to run and make his way out and behind the jungle gym, away from the hillside.


    Behind the playground and a bit ways further out was a chain-link fence that shielded the area from a wide and busy main street. Walking on that street towards the left went to more built-up areas dominated by the city¡¯s usual tall apartment buildings, while the other direction went to the quieter suburbs. Here, Kato and Mirabelle would part ways in opposite directions, Kato towards the city and Mirabelle towards the suburban districts.


    ¡°Please! Have mercy! I take that back! Truly!¡±


    Kato laughed as Mirabelle ran after him. It wasn¡¯t long until they reached the fence and had to stop and open a similarly chain-linked gate to exit the playground for the main street.


    ¡°Sure, I believe you and your words completely. And I also understand that there¡¯ll be no one here who¡¯ll miss me.¡±


    Mirabelle¡¯s tone remained very upset while her face remained beet-red at his antics. It didn¡¯t help that Kato¡¯s grin was on his face this whole time.


    ¡°But there is! Really! It¡¯s just that, for that someone, it¡¯s not just the few hours; it¡¯s actually the fifteen or so hours separating the next time he sees her again.¡±


    Then Kato stopped and waited. Watching her face transform so smoothly from anger to incredulity to embarrassment to happiness, was magical. If his brain could record imagery with photographic memory, he would replay this moment for all time.


    ¡°Ah... I¡¯ll give it to you this time.¡±


    Mirabelle sighed helplessly. She clutched onto her schoolbag closely at her chest as if trying to hide her heartbeat, which was deafeningly loud to her at that moment. She did her best to put on her usual vaguely content expression, but unfortunately the smile was too wide for that.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll see you after midday tomorrow.¡±


    Wanting to sound and feel really cool, he topped it off with a wink and a hand gesture of a gunshot shooting for her heart. The moment he returned to his more goofy self, Mirabelle giggled at his cringe-worthy attempt.


    ¡°Actually, I lied. Tomorrow, I¡¯m going to find out if I can pursue the future I wanted, so it¡¯s going to be an important day for me.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wha¡ª¡±


    Mirabelle quickly skipped away from him, leaving him and his surprised gaping mouth behind. With the sweet smile still on her face, she waved and bid him farewell.


    ¡°See you tomorrow. Bye-bye!¡±


    The neighbourhood where Kato lived was a cramped city district. In front of the apartment he lived in was a small road meant for pedestrians and small vehicles, while on the other side of this road were the backs of shops that faced the main street: the same main street that led to the playground many blocks over. So, on the way to and from school, he would pass through the narrow alleys in between the shops and onto the main street. There were little natural greenery in this area, and instead trees were planted in concrete-protected pits along the side of the main street at regular intervals. Behind his apartment were village buildings and small plots of farms, before it yielded to the more grassy hills.


    Living on the second floor of the fairly old apartment building, the metal gate to the main staircase of his section of the building was behind the building; the front was occupied by garages and small shop spaces, owned by the few residents who could afford to buy ground-level spaces that were as expensive as homes themselves. Wires of all shapes and colours lined the outsides of the building, each tethering to another building or a utility pole, and so on.


    His home, the von Habsburg residence, was made of not one, but two suites merged together. They bought the neighbouring flat, and then proceeded to tear down a part of the wall between the two living rooms to connect the two together. They then sealed the main entrance of the other flat so that there was only one entrance to the two apartments, now fused together.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The first apartment belonged to Kato¡¯s long-time guardian, Karl von Habsburg. A man in his late fifties now probably, he picked up Kato and his two sisters from a small orphanage many years ago and raised them as his own children.


    But of course, it wasn¡¯t without strings attached. Karl was an agent for Eternia, the secret organization that controlled a vast underground economy across the continent of Candor, in direct opposition to the imperial government in the Auxirian capital. It was a mysterious organization headed by the three Eternal Leaders, all of which were more than three hundred years old and likely have extended their longevity by their sheer talent at alchemy. In a sense, Eternia was the biggest mob, but existed in harmony rather than in begrudging tolerance with normal society.


    Fortunately, the city of Livia was one of the first and most important bases of operations for Eternia. Because the mob controlled the city, it was able to maintain its autonomous status from the imperial government and preserve its culture and way of life. Despite being a city of multiple nationalities, everyone spoke the vernacular language of Old Yue, in contrast to the official language of the rest of Auxiria, Standard Candoran.


    ¡°I¡¯m home!¡±


    Kato called out to his family as he opened the front doors to their apartment and entered.


    ¡°Yo.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re home!¡±


    Two female voices simultaneously exclaimed in response, while another two remained silent, and instead waved with their arms as a salutation.


    The two who called out were his first elder stepsister and younger sister, Evianna Misaya and Teto Danubia. Evianna was a half-Yue and half-Avian orphan who Karl also adopted along with Kato and Teto, and was in the same third-year class as Kato.


    Evianna was a tall girl with a glamorous face and a body of a supermodel. There was no doubt she was a target for the boys at school, and she even had the bounteous chest size to boot. She kept her hair platinum hair short in a bob cut, and her bangs held to the side symmetrically by hairpins. Her blue eyes were generally devoid of emotion, as was the rest of her demeanour, but always delivers the ¡®yo¡¯ on time.


    Teto, on the other hand, was a year younger and was Kato¡¯s biological sister. They looked very much alike; they shared the same brown eyes, facial features and auburn hair, which were somewhat curly and disagreeable with hairstyling. Teto tied her hair in twin drills, and she was shorter than Kato by several inches.


    ¡°We started eating already.¡±


    ¡°I already got rice for you here.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    They sat around a folding table with a variety of dishes on it. It was probably the most old-school Yue style food as you could get. Steamed fish on soy sauce, plain-cut chicken, pan-fried pork slices with beans, and steamed vegetables. A huge pot of rice lied on the floor, containing enough carbs for five people.


    ¡°There¡¯s soup in the kitchen, if you can get some afterwards. Sisi can make the same soups from the Yue homeland¡¯s dried seafood and herbs too.¡±


    Sisi puffed out her tiny chest proudly.


    ¡°Understood, Sisi.¡±


    Kato acknowledged as he sat down in the empty seat between Sisi and Teto, and then picked up some chicken with his chopsticks and put it into Sisi¡¯s bowl.


    ¡°Not bad, Student Kato Danubius. Respecting your elders at the dinner table is very important.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Ms Romana.¡±


    Sisi, whose real name is Elizabeth Romana, was the new caretaker in their home in place of Karl, who was now on a new assignment from the organization and would not be able to take care of the children full-time anymore.


    She was also his new homeroom teacher at his high school, Korolev Senior Secondary School. In part because he and his two sisters were special existences to the organization, Sisi, who was a very high-ranking member in Eternia, came to this household to watch over them. In fact, Kato and his sisters were destined to become an existence like Sisi.


    ¡°But really, Sisi, how can you eat so much even though you¡¯ve hit your seventies? It¡¯s like you¡¯ve never come out of puberty.¡±


    ¡°How rude! Sisi shall eat as much as she needs to. It¡¯s a good thing that Sisi is eating well, since it means that Sisi is not losing her youth.¡±


    ¡°Sisi, your hair is going to get in your food.¡±


    ¡°Oh, mine apologies.¡±


    With that, she threw her long, bright blonde hair behind her, which was already partly tied at the back with a large ornamental pin. Sitting on an elevated seat, she was a midget who looked no older than a grade-schooler, perhaps a middle-schooler, but exuded a serene aura of authority not unlike a grandparent. She also spoke like one, but in an even more archaic manner than most grandparents of today; probably in a manner that her own grandparents spoke.


    ¡°By the way, Kato, we got our spirit labels today from Master Chang. Karl then left it in our living room.¡±


    ¡°Ah, we finally have our spirit labels. We can make our tributes to the Hearts in our home now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still kinda weird to be paying tribute to living deities as well as dead ones, but hey, tradition.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and one of such deities is Sisi herself, and that¡¯s why you all shall be paying tribute on a daily basis.¡±


    The deities they were talking about were not supernatural beings. They were referring to very gifted individual fighters: super-soldiers. A person could be considered a deity if they could fight and hold their own against another deity. Most deities gained their statuses through naturally having potential physical ability way superior to the average human, and thus being able to train themselves up to perform near-superhuman feats. This was called physical superiority.


    ¡°Sisi, do you know how many deities come out of our school every year? Is there a rate?¡±


    ¡°Most definitely. When Sisi was a student of Korolev, the rate of candidates for deity status was around one every three years. Like the three of you, they usually come in groups so it¡¯s a skewed average. In recent years, Sisi believes the rate has dwindled to an average of one every four years.¡±


    ¡°Is there not enough physically superior people anymore?¡±


    Though physical superiority was somewhat rare, it wasn¡¯t uncommon for a class to have a few students with this disposition; especially Korolev Senior, which was a school known for its alumni becoming deities.


    However, to truly utilise this trait, one must train for many years of their childhood to become anything close to the abilities of a deity. This was exactly the purpose of Karl having taken in Kato, Teto, and Evianna: to train them to become deities at the Chang temple, in the hills on the outskirts of the city.


    ¡°No, the number of physically superior students remained constant. It¡¯s just that there are less of those people devoting their entire lives to become deities. It¡¯s a dying trade.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re one of the last ones in line, probably.¡±


    ¡°Then what about the number of Hearts candidates? I would guess that not all deities graduating from Korolev would aspire to become a Heart.¡±


    The specific group of deities the siblings would give incense to were the Hearts, or the Guardians of Hearts. They were a prestigious group of deities that fought for the organization, Eternia, and admission to this order meant that you were one of the most powerful deities on the continent. In fact, Sisi occupied one of twelve positions in the Hearts and her title was ¡°Number Two, Two of Hearts¡±.


    ¡°Good question, Evie. Sisi would say that most do aspire to become a Heart, but since the Hearts only have twelve positions, they could remain a Hearts candidate for a long time. This is a privilege for life, after all.¡±


    Although she was called Evie here, as a teacher Sisi would use her full name at school.


    ¡°Then do you know how many deities are in our year? This is the big turnout year I¡¯m assuming, since we have the three of us here.¡±


    Kato motioned to the two sisters, Teto and Evie, sitting to the right of him. They also watched Sisi with anticipation.


    ¡°If the faculty is not mistaken and including Teto¡¯s year in the count, there are at least six deities, eighteen challengers, and thirty other physically superior students.¡±


    Challengers were physically superior persons who had done enough training to have significantly greater physical ability than the average human, but had not yet reached the level of or been acknowledged as a deity. However, deity status was well within their reach, and hence why they were known as challengers. These people were significantly more common than deities, and the modern-day rate was exactly as Sisi just described: around nine per year, for a total of eighteen over both years.


    The other thirty were physically superior, but received little or no training to take advantage of their gift. They still possessed above average physical ability due to this natural disposition.


    ¡°Wow, including Teto¡¯s year, six deities and eighteen challengers. Three of the deities¡¯re here right now. Where¡¯s the other three?¡±


    ¡°Sisi knows who they are, but since one of them is aspiring to becoming a Hearts candidate and the process is not yet complete, Sisi cannot and shall not disclose this information.¡±


    The three of them stood up in agitation and bewilderment. They did not expect that kind of answer.


    ¡°There¡¯s a fourth Hearts candidate?¡±


    ¡°Hearts candidate to-be. Grandma said that person¡¯s not yet a Hearts candidate.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so we¡¯re already Hearts candidates? Then why did Sisi come here to assess us?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s here not to assess us to become candidates, she¡¯s here to assess us for actually entering the Hearts. She can write a recommendation for us to the Hearts if she thinks we¡¯re good enough. Without a recommendation, you¡¯ll be stuck as a Hearts candidate forever.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. That¡¯s why we got our spirit labels today, to signify that we¡¯re Hearts candidates.¡±


    ¡°So that person is looking to earn those spirit labels right now. Not bad. Who can this mysterious person be?¡±


    ¡°Sit down, children! The dinner table is not the place for being up and about.¡±


    So they sat back down in their seats obediently.


    ¡°Aw, you really can¡¯t tell us who it is? No hint at all?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Sisi shall not tell anything until that person has become a Hearts candidate, or fails to do so. If it bodes well for that person, Sisi shall tell you all in a couple of weeks or so.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll just have to sit tight and wait, Teto.¡±


    Evie shrugged. She tended to be the most unimpressed of the bunch towards everything.


    ¡°Aye, I guess we¡¯ll find out later on, but who could it be? Do we actually know anyone else who¡¯s a deity?¡±


    ¡°Two of my classmates are deities, actually. Valon and Sen. But they still have a year to go before they¡¯re due to finishing their training, so it shouldn¡¯t be either of them.¡±


    Teto said as she fought Kato for a piece of chicken with their chopsticks. Metaphorical sparks flew across the dinner table.


    ¡°Then that means the last deity is our Hearts candidate. I don¡¯t really know who in my year that¡¯s an obvious answer. It can¡¯t be Mira or Scarlett, they¡¯re nobility.¡±


    ¡°And I doubt Franco has got any kind of training done, much less deific levels of strong.¡±


    Scarlett was one of Mirabelle¡¯s quadruplet sisters, while Franco was a close friend and classmate of theirs. These were the people close to them who were physically superior.


    ¡°Aye, let¡¯s give this a rest. We¡¯ll know when the time comes, anyway.¡±


    Kato threw in the towel as he reached into the rice pot for his second serving.


    ¡°Kato, your walkman¡¯s here along with the new tapes you ordered. Karl left it in our living room too.¡±


    This gentle voice belonged to the fifth person at the table, who had remained quiet up until now. She was a classmate of Kato and Evie, Yui Tereshkova; also a half-Yue and half-Avian orphan, she joined their household not too long ago: a week ago in fact. Because she was a victim of bullying and blackmail at school, Kato and his class not only stood up for her, but he also pulled her out of the ghetto, the red-light district and the miserable life she led there.


    ¡°Oh shit, that¡¯s lit. Perfect for tomorrow since I have supervision duty.¡±


    ¡°Supervision duty? I get that we¡¯re in student council now because there¡¯s no point in waiting for Eon and Caius to finish student council every time, but I¡¯m pretty sure we don¡¯t need to do supervision duty. That¡¯s the Activity Council¡¯s job.¡±


    Evie raised her eyebrows at the news. Eon and Caius were two old friends and classmates of these children.


    ¡°We¡¯re not responsible for it, but we help out with things here and there. Mira was supposed to do it tomorrow, but apparently she needs to go elsewhere in the morning, so I¡¯m filling in for her.¡±


    Evie¡¯s eyes narrowed despite Kato giving her an honest answer.


    ¡°What did you and Mira do while you were alone together?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. We finished setting up for the Assembly meeting tomorrow and then she asked me to do that when we were walking home. Nothing else.¡±


    He said ¡®nothing¡¯ twice. It was important to make it clear to Evie.


    ¡°That better be what happened.¡±


    ¡°That was all you were interested about?¡±


    Kato almost face-palmed as Evie¡¯s gaze threw daggers at him. No doubt there was a certain familiar emotion behind her dead fish eyes, which was the usual whenever Mirabelle entered the conversation.


    Meanwhile, Yui smiled helplessly as she watched Evie and Kato go back and forth; partly because of how spontaneous these children were, and partly because she was also interested in Kato¡¯s rendezvous with another girl.


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s what only happened? This shouldn¡¯t be end of story.¡±


    In a rare instance, Teto grinned mischievously as she betrayed her dear brother. Not only was she a carbon copy of Kato, she seemed to be connected to him on a higher plane, understanding each other without speaking. There was a reason for that, but not a story for right now.


    ¡°Teto!¡±


    Kato gaped in disbelief. Evie also knew this fact very well, so she held no quarter.


    ¡°So what exactly happened? I could already guess if you passed through the playground, which you should have.¡±


    If her eyes could turn even colder than it already was, this was it. Evie stood up, reached over the dinner table and put her face right in front of Kato.


    ¡°Evie!¡±


    Kato put his two hands up and clasped the sides of her head to stop it from inching closer to him. As usual, feeling overwhelmed by Evie¡¯s jealousy, he gave her cranium a little shake.


    ¡°We idled at the playground for a while to watch the sun set, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Both Evie¡¯s and Yui¡¯s expressions froze in that moment, and the room turned silent for the first time since Kato returned. Then Evie sat back down quietly while Yui continued eating dinner, both acting as if nothing had happened and let the silence persist.


    ¡°Hello? Evie? You just asked about it, no response?¡±


    Evie continued to ignore him, not even a speck of acknowledgement of his existence on her face.


    ¡°Yui? You¡¯re still here, right? Right?¡±


    Yui, like an older sister, took pity on her younger brother, made eye contact and then sighed in disappointment. She remained silent and continued her meal, to Kato¡¯s increasing despair.


    To his left was Sisi, who was also quiet and had assumed a non-intervention stance. To his right was Teto, that devilish smirk still on her face. Kato¡¯s face was livid. This little punk who he loved more than anything in the world was getting a bit uppity recently with her antics.


    He reached out and pulled on her cheek, expressing his anger towards his dear sister.


    ¡°I command thee to halt thy insolence!¡±


    ¡°Nuthin¡¯ll shdop me. Am free~¡±


    Kato let out a groan as he let go of her stretchy cheeks. He loved his little sister to pieces, but sometimes he felt that he doted on this sister a bit too much. Now that she had been freed from training as all three of them had their spirit labels, and also now going to school full-time with her group of friends from her year, she was growing out of her big brother¡¯s protective shadow and had a will of her own. Or at least that was what was going through Kato¡¯s thoughts right now.


    ¡°Have you heard the news in Lien yet? It was in today¡¯s paper.¡±


    Yui tried to bring the conversation away from the awkward topic of Kato¡¯s situation with other women, which he welcomed gratefully.


    ¡°Is it the protests again? What happened this time?¡±


    Lien was a nearby city in the adjacent valley south of theirs, across the border into the Kingdom of Ava. It was similar to Livia in that it was also a majority Old Yue-speaking city, while the rest of the Kingdom of Ava spoke Avian. Unlike Livia, however, the Auxirian government was still the legal administrative authority there despite the strong connections with Livia. The conflicts of interest between authority and people were therefore common, and it manifested itself in violence in recent times.


    As an aside, the former Auxirian Empire, now the Confederation of Auxiria, was a massive empire that spanned the continent of Candor. Its emperor also held the titles of kings of its constituent kingdoms that it conquered: King of Ava, Rine, Candor, and Yue. The continent itself was named after the Kingdom of Candor, so to distinguish the two, the kingdom was commonly referred to as Royal Candor instead.


    ¡°The protesters stormed the legislature building and defaced the Auxirian symbols and emblems in there. They left the Avian and Yue symbols alone though, and then they occupied it until end of work day and vacated.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, what happened to the police?¡±


    ¡°They were there in full riot gear in a staring stand-off, but neither side pulled the trigger. My guess is that they¡¯re hoping not to use violence and the protesters will leave eventually, which did happen.¡±


    Yui passed the newspaper that was on the floor to Kato to show him the imagery. It certainly was an imposing scene with a bunch of young umbrella-wielding protesters climbing atop a stepladder to reach the huge Auxirian coat of arms hung on the wall and spray-painting it black. The arms of Ava and Yue below it were left untouched.


    ¡°Sisi admires their efforts, but Sisi fears that they may be in vain. It shall draw a line between moderates and radicals of the Yue independence movement.¡±


    Sisi got up from her seat to get the soup from the kitchen.


    ¡°How are we involved? We as in Eternia.¡±


    ¡°Sisi isn¡¯t sure. For certain, we take part in every anti-Auxirian movement, but Sisi doesn¡¯t think our stance is to use uncontrollable riots to force out concessions. It is the first step to a movement turning radical.¡±


    ¡°Does this mean we¡¯ll see the same situation replay in the Yue homeland as it did in Royal Candor during the Assimilation era?¡±


    Yui asked the child-like grandma as Sisi sat back in her seat with two bowls of soup in her hands, one for her and one for Yui, who was also done with her dinner.


    ¡°Sisi hopes we do not, because that conflict was barely lost by the Candoran side and it exhausted the entire continent. Sisi knows because she was in the centre of that conflict. But people¡¯s wills are strong. Sometimes, it takes bloodshed beyond belief to restore peace.¡±


    Sisi sipped on the hot soup carefully. The Assimilation was an insurgency conflict in Royal Candor after the Auxirian Empire had conquered it and unified the continent some fifty years ago. Ending in a stalemate, the eventual settlement was seen as a loss for both sides. Royal Candor became functionally independent from the imperial government in all but name and raising armed forces, as it remained lawfully within the empire. Now, similar signs of the same sparks of war were being seen across the major Yue enclaves across Candor, and it was only a matter of time before it reached the homeland.


    ¡°Hey, look. One of the groups suspected to be funding the radical protesters is part of the Lafayette Group. Isn¡¯t that Gilbert¡¯s family?¡±


    Evie pointed out as she and Teto both were skimming across the newspaper that Kato was holding onto.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s Gilbert¡¯s family company, all right. I like how the newspapers give no fucks to smearing a family¡¯s reputation.¡±


    ¡°Well, the Lafayette name appears in every one of these protests. Not sure what Gilbert¡¯s family did but the press certainly hates them.¡±


    Teto said cheerily for some reason.


    ¡°Why are you so happy about that?¡±


    ¡°Because one of my friends is a Lafayette too. She doesn¡¯t like the infamy that name gives her.¡±


    ¡°So he has a younger sister too, what the fuck?¡±


    ¡°This world is a small one.¡±


    Kato got up from his seat and fetched his portion of soup. Teto followed her dear brother into the kitchen.


    ¡°Gilbert, eh? I suspect he¡¯s got an eye on us now. As Class A¡¯s representative, he won¡¯t let our transgression go.¡±


    Evie mused as she too followed Kato into the kitchen.


    ¡°Yeah. Our Class F defeated Class E in a Class War last week and we took points from them, so any class above us with more points than us, not just Class A, can declare a restoration of order war on our class.¡±


    The conversation shifted to the Class Wars. It was a martial tradition within Korolev Senior, where each of the third-year classes participated in a physical battle royale and the end goal was to obtain the most score out of a limited number of points available by the end of the school year. True to its martial nature, each class was considered a team, and one class could declare war on another with a valid casus belli, or reason for war, to initiate a physical brawl between the two parties.


    Of course, in this day and age, a lot of rules and traditions were now laid out such that these fist-fighting brawls were of honourable nature, and even non-physical combatants could contribute in the Duel system, where it usually featured a trivia-question contest on the academic subjects of the day.


    ¡°They¡¯ll undoubtedly try to find a way to counter our ultimate strategy: gaming the Duel system by having Sisi make the contest be a physical brawl instead of trivia questions.¡±


    ¡°It only works because you and I are the greatest deities. If we fight against another deity or challenger, it¡¯ll be a hard fight.¡±


    Kato waved at Evie¡¯s point. The Class Wars were indeed volatile and in theory, anything could happen. But in reality, the homeroom classes were assigned according to merit, so Class A was almost always in control of the game and student government. Only this year, on a rare occasion, Class B¡¯s class representative Callisto Mirabelle Jupiter was elected student council president. For Kato and Evie, who were in Class F, they only had average classmates who weren¡¯t supposed to be able to contest with the classes above them.


    This meritocratic assignment meant a stratification of the social setting in Korolev Senior. In fact, Class F was the last of the privileged classes. Classes lower than Class F did not have representation in the Assembly, the legislative body of student government which debated and approved student-related school policies. It was every student¡¯s priority to achieve high marks to get a chance to advance into the higher classes at the end of each school year.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a chance to defeat the status quo this year with you two, and Teto too when time comes for conscription, so Sisi is very excited for this year¡¯s Class Wars.¡±


    Sisi proclaimed like a proud parent. It made sense since she was their homeroom teacher, and also during her student years in Korolev Senior, her class also won the Class Wars, many years ago.


    ¡°Let¡¯s clean up quickly so you all can retire to your side.¡±


    Sisi rubbed her hands together as she started picking up the silverware off the table and the children stood up and bowed at their elder. Dinner was done.


    The other apartment was unlike the first one. The first one was Karl¡¯s, and it had a fully equipped Oriental-style kitchen, an office, two guest rooms, a small washroom and a laundry room. Its floor was tiled, and in general the rooms were kept very clean. When Sisi moved into this household, she took over from Karl¡¯s responsibilities of maintaining this apartment, and converted one of the guest rooms into her own.


    Now, the flat that belonged to the children was in perpetual disarray. Upon entering it through the opening between the two living rooms, one encountered a carpeted flat with your common furniture: couches, coffee tables, the stereo system, the big radio set, etc. The difference with the first flat was the sheer number of personal effects, especially clothes, laid all over the floor and furniture. It was a nightmare when time comes every couple of weeks to vacuum the place, and the whirlwind known as Teto would redecorate the scene once again with her clothes.


    Either way, there were only two bedrooms on this side, one for the three deities and one for Yui, who only recently moved in. Yui¡¯s room was clean and proper, while the deities¡¯ resembled the living room¡¯s situation.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    After Evie finished taping her spirit label to the wooden board, she passed it to Kato who put it on the small altar that rested on the bottom of the metal cage that secured the large room-wide window in the living room, which faced the direction of the main street. The bottom of the metal cage was lined with a hard plastic screen so that nothing resting on it could fall out.


    ¡°Your spirit name is so dope.¡±


    ¡°Yours is too.¡±


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s is. They¡¯re supposed to be dope.¡±


    They chided one another as they stared down at their spirit labels and lighting the incense in their hands with a lighter. Behind their black-and-white spirit labels was a traditional Yue altar setup complete with banners of literary gibberish, a small statue of a mythical deity, candlesticks, and a bowl of fruits. In front of the labels was the incense pot, where they would place their sticks of incense.


    The spirit labels were in the handwriting of Master Chang, their martial arts master, with characters of written Old Yue. Kato¡¯s and Teto¡¯s read ¡®sunrise¡¯ and ¡®sunset¡¯ respectively, while Evie¡¯s read ¡®sparks¡¯, in literary Old Yue. Master Chang selected these spirit names for them after they were initiated as his disciples, and when they graduated from disciple to journeyman, they received their spirit labels as proof of completion.


    ¡°My name makes a bit of sense since it can be a real name, but Evie¡¯s just some thing.¡±


    ¡°It also reads ¡®fireworks¡¯ backwards in New Yue, so that¡¯s something. Not sure what that actually means, though.¡±


    ¡°Your name¡¯s to complement Kato¡¯s, probably? It sorta makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Aye, we¡¯re not going to figure out what goes through Master Chang¡¯s mind, and we never did.¡±


    ¡°Well, whoever your master is, knew the three of you really well.¡±


    Yui gave a small laugh from behind them. She was not involved in the trio¡¯s Eternian tutelage at all, but it didn¡¯t mean she knew nothing about them as people. Yui had been in Kato and Evie¡¯s class since grade school.


    ¡°Yui knows too much.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s time to silence her.¡±


    ¡°Kyaaa~ I¡¯ve been had.¡±


    Kato and Teto joked with the red-haired girl behind them.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get it.¡±


    Evie looked comically frustrated as she struggled to think of a reason for her spirit name, her face in her free hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right. A spirit name doesn¡¯t change the fact that your name¡¯s still Evie. You¡¯re still the same Evie I know anyway.¡±


    Kato put out his incense in front of him to prepare for bowing as he said so, which brought a content expression to Evie¡¯s face. The three of them bowed three times, incenses in hand, before they stopped and placed their incense into the pot.


    They then clasped their hands in prayer and bowed one last time. They all said in unison the prayer for this particular tradition. It was the prayer that the Hearts made to their predecessors.


    ¡°We shall have faith in thy pride, so thou may grant us strength in our fight.¡±

 2.2 An Encounter in a Small World

    Arriving at school close to six-thirty meant that Kato had to wake up before six, which was an amazing feat for a non-morning person such as him. Like a zombie, he climbed up the wide steps to reach the grand doors of the main entrance of the school.


    The first area of contact was the atrium, which was a wide expanse that went up several floors to the glass ceiling windows and housed the great columns of lockers for the students of this institution. From the entrance he would enter a very wide clearing, fit for an assembly of many classes at once, and in the centre was a spiral staircase that reached the floors above. The atrium was where many students gathered during off-class hours, and also where corporal punishment was carried out.


    Putting away his outdoor shoes in his locker, he headed towards the west side of the school where the music faculty¡¯s classrooms were. Today, he was in charge of supervising the third music room, which was one of two keyboard and vocal rooms.


    Normally, a student from the Activity Council affiliated with the music faculty would be on supervisor duty here. The Activity Council, or the AC, was the student organization that was responsible for coordinating most extracurricular activities in the school, including faculty-specific ones. Unlike the student council, it was not part of student government, but works closely with it to uphold the vibrancy of student life.


    It was not the first time he was in the music faculty¡¯s classrooms since Kato did have interest in music, but because of his rigorous lifestyle as a Hearts candidate, he never participated in an academic capacity. So at the very least, he wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the classroom and its setups.


    At the corner next to the door was a small desk at which he would sit, and make sure the students coming into the music room register their names. It was to track student participation for the teachers¡¯ convenience, and to create records for the Records Office of the student council¡¯s administration. A student-run extracurricular system was more efficient as it didn¡¯t require the presence of teachers for routine supervision such as music practice.


    Kato sat down in the supervisor¡¯s seat and flipped through the previous two days of attendance sheets, from Monday and Saturday, which both showed only one name: Alice Westgrove. Whoever this person was, she must be a good friend of Mirabelle, as the student council president wouldn¡¯t be on lowly supervision duty for one student.


    On the chalkboard, he saw his name written on there in the corner reserved for the daily student caretaker of the classroom. Although the Yue languages used a completely different script from the other languages of the Candoran continent, after centuries of Auxirian dominance, most everyone who didn¡¯t speak a Candoran language nevertheless adopted personal names from it.


    As Kato was Auxirian, it was normal for him to have a Candoran name, but his Yue comrades would have both a Yue and Candoran name, of which the Candoran personal name was more commonly used.


    Usually, it was Standard Candoran, the national language of Auxiria proper, instead of the other Candoran languages, High Candoran and Rinian, that was used for names. For Avian, though they had their own script, it was loosely related to the Candoran script, so it was easy to convert names between scripts.


    He recognized the handwriting without a shadow of a doubt. It was Mirabelle¡¯s. Kato sighed, and laid his head on top of the clipboard on the desk to catch some sleep. After seeing that, he gave up any willpower left in him and consequently, lost the fight to stay awake.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡±


    Kato immediately woke to the voice. He needed to sleep in the mornings, but he was also a light sleeper to start with, drilled into him by his training.


    Grabbing and fumbling with the clipboard, he looked up to see a tall third-year student with wavy blonde hair. Unlike most other girls in the school, she chose to wear a simple white polo shirt and a plain blue skirt, in contrast to the usual sailor uniform with pleated skirt. She wore a red hair band that complemented with her other colours quite well and a grey pendant around her neck that looked like a shard of Plexiglas.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to register with the AC¡¯s attendance.¡±


    Alice said coolly to Kato, making her intent clear with her voice. Obviously, she wasn¡¯t impressed with Kato¡¯s sleeping, so her tone was rather irritable. Her piercing blue eyes reminded Kato of Evie¡¯s, to which he usually submitted to, but it was only because Evie was his sister.


    On a separate note, Alice was speaking in New Yue, in comparison to the much more common Old Yue. In Korolev Senior, the afternoon classes were taught in New Yue, but the morning classes were taught and the students spoke in Old Yue.


    Morning classes were mandatory and students followed their homeroom classes around, while afternoon classes were supplementary and based on course selection scheduling. Needless to say, afternoon classes were the advanced classes with higher tuition, and were a requirement to graduate with a Standard diploma which afforded them with higher chances at post-secondary entry. Otherwise, those who only attended the morning classes graduated with the People¡¯s diploma.


    Kato stood up from his seat to address her.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Your name and class?¡±


    ¡°Alice Westgrove. Class A.¡±


    ¡°You will be using this room for the rest of the morning?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be the only one using this room.¡±


    Alice said again, with a bit of impatience creeping into her voice. Kato suspected that she wouldn¡¯t be this cold if it were Mirabelle instead of him here.


    ¡°I see. Well, have fun. If you need anything, just wake me up.¡±


    Alice almost doubled over upon hearing that, but quickly recovered. She was quite annoyed by the laid-back attitude that Kato had, but held her tongue for now. At least he was doing his job, albeit in a lacklustre manner.


    But Alice hesitated before moving on further into the music room. Showing an uncomfortable expression, she struggled a bit before she asked.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Mirabelle? Is she here today?¡±


    ¡°Oh, are you interested?¡±


    Alice frowned at the non-response while a grin was slowly surfacing on Kato¡¯s face. She had a feeling she was not going to get along with this boy.


    ¡°Yes, she¡¯s supposed to be the supervisor for this room today. Is she sick?¡±


    ¡°Well, before I can answer that, I have a question for you. How come you¡¯re speaking in New Yue?¡±


    Kato asked in Old Yue, finally switching back to the vernacular. New Yue was a more prestigious, formal language than Old Yue, and in the past it actually delineated the upper and lower socioeconomic classes. Today, both languages were equally prevalent and commoners spoke New Yue as well, but much of the historical stigma remained.


    Despite the upper class elegance that Alice emanated, she did not display any of the hubris that another privileged student of Class A would. Instead, she shuffled uncomfortably in place as she thought hard about how to answer that.


    ¡°I... I¡¯m just better at speaking in New Yue. I don¡¯t have a problem with speaking or understanding Old Yue.¡±


    She stammered as she explained herself, still in New Yue. As if sensing the historical stigma, the air of hostility around her momentarily receded and was replaced with an awkward timidity.


    Kato stifled the first laugh and then laughed out the next one, to which Alice showed a bit of confusion. Seeing that Alice understood Old Yue, Kato continued to speak it from here on out.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I didn¡¯t expect that kind of a face or an answer from a Class A student. That is perfectly fine.¡±


    Alice felt her face heat up as she realized he was playing with her. There were no class conflicts here. The muted fiery aura around her returned in an instant.


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡±


    ¡°But¡ªI could answer you about Mirabelle, if you were to ask the question in Old Yue.¡±


    Before Alice could make a complaint, Kato¡¯s next remark caught her tongue. She made another difficult face as it flushed with red. Her pride was really strong, and Kato could see the struggle in her thoughts clearly on her face; Alice¡¯s emotions were as clear as day. She didn¡¯t want to speak in Old Yue, but she also wanted to know where Mirabelle was.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask, but don¡¯t laugh.¡±


    A few moments later, she warned as she resolved herself to do the deed, to which Kato watched on with anticipation.


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    After a few more moments, Alice asked softly in Old Yue, still red-faced.


    ¡°S-so, what happen¡¯d to Mirabelle this mo¡¯ning? How come she¡¯s not ¡®ere?¡±


    Kato immediately realized why she preferred to speak in New Yue. Alice¡¯s Old Yue has such a funny-sounding accent that he almost could not keep his promise. Unfortunately, Old Yue was a tonal language and New Yue was not, and with that accent it was apparent that Alice learned New Yue before Old Yue.


    ¡°She forgot she had to go with her sisters and their father somewhere this morning. She said she¡¯ll be back by lunch.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see. That¡¯s fine then.¡±


    Feeling slightly relieved at the news of Mirabelle, she gave a deep sigh to release the tension that she didn¡¯t even know she held onto up to this point. She regained her composure and New Yue quickly.


    ¡°See, there¡¯s nothing wrong with your Old Yue.¡±


    Kato couldn¡¯t help but smirk, and clearly enjoyed the hilarity of the garbled words that came out of her mouth.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t mind my poor grasp on Old Yue. In fact, I insist.¡±


    Alice cleared her throat stiffly, still very much minding her obviously dreadful pronunciation of Old Yue. Her particular accent was known as the reverse accent, because of that New to Old Yue learning transition.


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t mind it. In fact, yours is charming enough that I¡¯d insist you keep speaking in Old Yue.¡±


    Matching Alice¡¯s phrasing and with that cheeky grin still on Kato, the cat caught Alice¡¯s tongue again as another series of flustered expressions flashed across her face.


    ¡°Just kidding¡ª¡±


    As Kato took a moment to pause here, she froze, taken aback by the sudden denial. He could see, amusingly to him, the relief take form on the delicate features of her face.


    ¡°¡ªyou don¡¯t need to wake me up. I¡¯ll stay awake, since you¡¯ve already woke me up.¡±


    Realizing that he wasn¡¯t talking about his insistence, the red in her cheeks returned at once. She could see clearly that he was having fun playing with her emotions. While it frustrated her it also felt surprisingly warm, as if she was always a close friend of his.


    ¡°¡ªthen I¡¯ll take your word; if I ever need your help.¡±


    Pride not permitting, she had to throw something back at him and in New Yue. Alice gave a pout before leaving Kato behind for her usual seat at the first keyboard, and although she showed her emotions like an open book, she turned around in time so that the small smile that surfaced on her face was out of Kato¡¯s sight.


    So from Kato¡¯s side, he couldn¡¯t discern for sure that he left a favourable first impression, but he was pretty sure he did. Not only that, Alice was much easier to make fun of because of her peculiar awkwardness.


    He took out the walkman and the earphones from his schoolbag and put them into his ears, then let a tiny thing slip from his mouth.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s hope that today¡¯ll be a peaceful one. I don¡¯t want to give Mira a reason to complain to me about a job that she was supposed to do, and she couldn¡¯t because she messed up.¡±


    Alice stiffened as she sat down on the laminated wooden stool. It took a second before she remembered that ¡®Mira¡¯ was Mirabelle, and that that was Mirabelle¡¯s pet name. The thought of it tightened her heart slightly, and she knew exactly why.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Alice only moved to her family¡¯s residence in Livia at the end of first-year, so she was a relatively new person and student to the city and school. Because of her rigid personality, it was hard for her to make friends at her new home. On top of that, she only spoke New Yue fluently at the start, and had to learn Old Yue from the ground up.


    One of the few who helped her, or perhaps saved her, was Mirabelle, who was a lively and cheerful enough girl to melt through Alice¡¯s abrasive surface. Although they had different homerooms, they shared afternoon classes during all of second-year, so it was more than enough for Mirabelle to teach Alice their vernacular language.


    Even though Alice too called her ¡®Mira¡¯, and that it was absolutely certain Mirabelle had other people she was close to and cared about, for Alice to hear that for real still struck her numb all the same.


    Downcast, she took out her sheet music from her schoolbag and placed it on the music rack. She plugged the headset into the keyboard and wore it to block out outside noise. With her hands ready over the keys, she began playing with a heavy heart, trying to escape from the perennial loneliness from long ago that once again enveloped her thoughts and feelings.


    <hr>


    ¡°If I recall, you¡¯re the rep for Class F, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    The two of them walked up the stairwell next to the music room to the third floor, where their respective homeroom classrooms were located. They left the music room before eight, as eight ten sharp began the first period class.


    ¡°I never expected you to be Evie¡¯s stepbrother.¡±


    ¡°I never expected you to be friends of both Evie and Mira.¡±


    ¡°They helped me a lot, so I think of them quite highly. I want to see Evie before I go to class.¡±


    ¡°You said that you have home econ with her in fifth period, right? You¡¯ll see her then anyway.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need a reason to see a good friend. You just want to be together.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I can agree with that.¡±


    The idle chit-chat between the two of them continued, one in New Yue, the other in Old Yue. Now, Kato thought, without a doubt, that he made an acceptable first impression on Alice. It probably did help that he was related to her two friends in some capacity.


    ¡°Do you have any interest in professional music, or is this simply a favour for Mira?¡±


    ¡°You mean about supervision duty? Yeah, music is one of many interests, but sadly one I was never able to get into.¡±


    ¡°Who got you into music? Mira?¡±


    ¡°Hah. Mira¡¯s given up on her violin very early on. It was somebody else who kept me in music.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see. I didn¡¯t know Mira played the violin, actually.¡±


    ¡°Apparently, she¡¯s still a genius at the violin. What do you play? You were just at the keyboard the whole time.¡±


    ¡°I play piano mostly, but I can also play most woodwinds. Piano isn¡¯t my favourite, actually. It¡¯s trumpet where I feel most at ease.¡±


    ¡°Then how come no trumpet practice today?¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t like I hate piano. Besides, I only play trumpet in a band.¡±


    For some reason, there was a clogged corridor filled with students between their staircase and the 3-F classroom, so they took a detour through the biology classroom and into a paralleling hallway that turned back towards the 3-F classroom.


    ¡°Are you taking any afternoon classes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I think I have the same physics class as you do. Mr Kiriaku?¡±


    ¡°Oh my god, we do have the same physics class period four.¡±


    The two of them arrived at Kato¡¯s homeroom. It was such a beautifully peaceful and serene scene that it brought tears to his eyes. Small desks were organized neatly in their rows, facing the two chalkboards at the front of the class. Morning sunlight filtered indirectly through the large windows, opposite the sliding door from where they entered through.


    It was a quiet Tuesday morning for Class 3-F. As it was not yet first period, many students were still not in the classroom. However, Kato¡¯s group of friends were already here, the three long-time Class F boys sitting together at the back of the classroom.


    ¡°Looks like Evie¡¯s not here yet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too bad. I guess you¡¯ll see her in the afternoon then.¡±


    Then the three men at the back noticed the entry of Kato and his new friend.


    ¡°Hey, Kato! Who¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°What have you been up to now?¡±


    Eon and Caius began talking as they all got up from their seats to greet the two of them at the door. Kato thanked them silently for getting up and out so that he didn¡¯t need to escort Alice all the way to the back of the class.


    ¡°Ah, this is Alice, from Class A. She¡¯s a friend of Evie and Mira. Alice, this is our circle. Eon, Caius, and¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªFranco. Pleased to meet you guys, and Franco once again.¡±


    ¡°Ahaha. Welcome to our class, Alice.¡±


    Franco, the third man of their group, replied sheepishly to Alice¡¯s greeting.


    ¡°You know her?¡±


    ¡°She was in home econ last year with me, Evie and Mirabelle. The three of them stuck together most of the time.¡±


    Franco answered Caius¡¯ question, to which Alice nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Class A, huh. So, what brings Alice here to the lowly Class F?¡±


    Eon asked in a pretentious voice as he pushed his glasses up in dramatic fashion. Kato silently cursed at Eon for being such a diva at all times, but surprisingly, Alice took Eon¡¯s eccentricity well.


    ¡°I just wanted to see Evie before going to class, but it seems like she isn¡¯t here yet.¡±


    Alice told them straightforwardly.


    ¡°Yeah, Kato and his household usually are the last ones in. Shouldn¡¯t Evie and Yui be with Kato?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I had to come to school early for supervision duty for the third music room, so they aren¡¯t with me.¡±


    Kato answered as he scratched the back of his head, almost apologetically.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to feel scared, Kato. You used supervision duty as an excuse to evade her. I understand.¡±


    Eon put a hand on his shoulder, apparently empathizing with Kato¡¯s need to ditch his overbearing stepsister. Eon had an overbearing sister as well. It was not a secret to any of them that Evie loved Kato in a smothering way. Not least that they had seen and experienced it at every opportunity since their childhood.


    Kato¡¯s eyes narrowed as he continued to speak. He had a suspicion that this empathy won¡¯t last long.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have supervision duty for no reason. I was only filling in for Mira.¡±


    And as he suspected, Eon let go of his shoulder, shrugged, and snickered.


    ¡°Does Evie know about that part?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re throwing yourself into the fire, but we¡¯ll watch you get burned like always.¡±


    Caius and Franco both grinned along with Eon, whose antics were on-point as always. Among them, the most maverick of the bunch had to be Eon.


    ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t get it. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Alice asked the four of them, which told them that she had no idea what kind of a relationship existed between Kato, Evie and Mirabelle. They looked at each other dumbfoundedly for a few moments before Eon answered for them.


    ¡°I think you¡¯ll understand once you see the three of them together.¡±


    Caius and Franco nodded together with conviction while Kato awkwardly avoided eye contact with the people around him.


    ¡°What does that mean? Hey! What¡¯s this about Evie and Mira with you?¡±


    Even more confused, she took hold of Kato¡¯s arm and shook him furiously, but he still didn¡¯t turn to face her. Making a difficult face, Alice saw that the other three were still amused at Kato¡¯s behaviour, so clearly there was something between him and her two only friends.


    Determined to find out, she quickly pivoted around Kato expertly with the finesse of a gymnast. Startled by Alice¡¯s sudden movements, Kato took a moment before he could recover and spared a scathing glance at his so-called friends.


    In that instant before he recovered, Alice saw a flustered and hesitant expression, bordering on embarrassment. That vulnerable face sent her imagination into overdrive, instantly processing through all the possibilities she could think of, but she was interrupted by an unholy disturbance.


    ¡°Woah¡ª¡±


    ¡°Ah¡ª!¡±


    Kato caught Alice in her fall by her lower torso, leaning over her like tango partners. Stunned by the sudden loss of balance, she was only able to stare at his face, only inches from hers.


    ¡°Are you hurt?¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡±


    She could feel a soft tingling sensation in her cheeks, fully aware that it was turning red. She didn¡¯t let herself be in such an embarrassing posture for long, so she quickly took control of herself and got back up on her feet.


    ¡°Evie!¡±


    The person who collided with Alice as they barged through the doorway was none other than Evianna, who still had both hands over her nose with her eyes closed in pain. It seemed like she crashed her nose into Alice pretty hard.


    ¡°Alice? How come you¡¯re here?¡±


    Evie opened one eye to see a familiar blonde-haired girl in front of her, who was all smiles now that Evie was here. Evie too smiled at her as they locked fingers like best girl friends do.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to see you, of course. I met Kato in the music room because he was the supervisor for this morning, so I got him to bring me to the 3-F classroom.¡±


    ¡°At least he¡¯s useful for something. Did he do anything to you? Like sexual harassment?¡±


    ¡°Ugh, what kind of a question is that?¡±


    Kato put his head in his hands upon hearing that from Evie, while the men behind him continued giggling like little girls.


    ¡°Nope. I can handle him by myself.¡±


    Alice smiled brightly at Evie. Maybe it was because of Evie¡¯s influence that she seemed to be accustomed to these eccentrics.


    ¡°Since these guys are here, I¡¯m assuming you¡¯ve met the Elites, then?¡±


    ¡°So this is your gang you¡¯ve been telling me about for so long.¡±


    Evie nodded to herself confidently as she confirmed it. The Elite Four, a.k.a. the Elites were a self-proclaimed group of four delinquents from Class F since the days of primary school that grew in number over the years. They were specifically known for going off on strange adventures that earned the ire of their teachers and spent a lot of time in the staff room for their misbehaviour.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m in the Elites too now.¡±


    Yui waved warmly from behind Evie, who was met with cheers from the three other boys. She was a very recent addition to the crew and a popular one at that.


    ¡°You¡¯re Yui, is that right? Evie has told me about you before. I¡¯m Alice.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m Yui. Nice to meet you!¡±


    Yui joined the handholding session between the girls as well, but only moments after that, the bell had rung for pre-first period at eight-oh-five, which signalled the end of Alice¡¯s time here at the 3-F classroom.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you later, Alice.¡±


    Evie said coolly as Alice separated herself from the two stepsisters.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯ll have to make my way to my classroom now. It was nice to meet everyone!¡±


    She quickly skipped away and down the hall through the crowds, waving back at the Elites who gathered at their classroom door.


    <hr>


    ¡°It was short, but what did you guys think of Alice?¡±


    It was the short break between first and second period, and Evie asked the boys and girl sitting to the left of her. As a side note, Eon, Kato and Evie sat in the backmost row on the window side, followed by Caius in front of Eon and Franco in front of Kato, and then Yui in front of Caius.


    ¡°She¡¯s a pretty girl. And a pretty nice girl.¡±


    Eon started off with his usual quips. If it was anyone else, there would be eyes rolling, but because it was Eon, no one even blinked. Though his frame and hairstyle was similar to Kato, the difference was that he was a lot more neat and tidy, which was not indicative of his personality at all.


    ¡°Yeah, I can agree with Eon here. Are you going to have her join us, Evie?¡±


    Caius said lazily as he leaned back in his wooden chair, combing through his short curly blonde hair with his fingers. He was the shortest of the boys.


    ¡°Wait, you guys sound like you already know her. And Franco actually did. Explaaaaaain yourselves nooooow.¡±


    Kato whined as he placed his head on his desk, apparently still tired from the early morning sleepiness.


    ¡°Well, the three of them became famous last year because they shared the same afternoon classes the whole year.¡±


    ¡°What? How does that make them famous?¡±


    ¡°They were called the Three Heroines because they were that impressively attractive. There¡¯s probably a fan club dedicated to them by now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a stupid name if I ever heard one.¡±


    Evie snorted as Eon explained to Kato.


    ¡°Evie, how are you so calm about this. This is like, so stupid, and you¡¯re in the centre of it.¡±


    ¡°I already know about this story though.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you respond as if you didn¡¯t?!¡±


    Kato slightly freaked out at Evie, who just dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Yui picked up from where Eon left off.


    ¡°Calm down, Kato. Only you and Teto don¡¯t know about this because you guys never took afternoon classes before, since you two had to do training, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true. We have no idea what kinds of things happen at school after lunch.¡±


    Kato said glumly. It was unfortunate for him and his sisters to not be able to enjoy life with their old friends as normal children would. Since they came to this city, the deific children of the von Habsburg residence spent the majority of their time training with Master Chang at the hillside temple. They only went to school in the mornings to see their friends. Now that they have completed their training, they were allowed to go to school full-time.


    ¡°But how come Evie¡¯s taken afternoon classes last year?¡±


    ¡°She technically finished training a year ahead of me and Teto because she was too good. So she left us to go to school with you guys.¡±


    He answered Yui¡¯s question, still just a bit sad from being excluded from the fun.


    ¡°But is that really all it takes to be famous? We¡¯ve got another candidate that fits the description right here.¡±


    Kato pointed at Yui, who turned scarlet and sheepish in response. Yui usually let her bright red shoulder-length hair down around her, but sometimes when she was in school she tied it back in a ponytail.


    ¡°Together with the fact that they stuck together for a whole year made them stand out. Imagine the three of them in the same class sitting together for a whole year. Just take that in. You¡¯re just too used to having good-looking girls around you all the time.¡±


    Eon didn¡¯t hold back taking a shot at the harem king. Kato did live with four other girls, and despite one being their grandmotherly homeroom teacher, they were all, for some inexplicable reason, exceptionally beautiful.


    ¡°Shut the fuck up. I don¡¯t want to hear that from the other harem king.¡±


    Kato fired back at his oldest childhood friend, who coincidently also had a big family of sisters. Eon had one older sister and two younger sisters, three, three and six years apart respectively.


    ¡°Chill out, guys. You¡¯re both lucky bastards, so please share some with me. In any case, only Franco¡¯s been in the same class as the Three Heroines anyway, so he can tell us stories.¡±


    Caius, still leaning in his chair, smirked at both hooligans that started chortling heartily at each other and brought the conversation back on track.


    ¡°What. I dunno, there¡¯re no special stories. They just became famous, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Franco shook his head and his red bowl cut from popular culture of two decades ago. Like usual, he wore a clueless expression, and to be frank, he really was a clueless person.


    ¡°And I just met you today, Mr Franco Atkinson. God, you¡¯re so stupid. It¡¯s okay; we don¡¯t need to ask him. We¡¯ve got Evie, the primary exhibit.¡±


    Eon sighed with his usual impatience whilst Franco made an even more confused face. His friends around him also had apologetic looks on their faces, knowing Franco was an idiot through and through. It didn¡¯t help his image that he was a tall and strong guy, fitting of the stereotype.


    ¡°Did you know about the nickname from before, Evie?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Mira knows about it all and she tells me and Alice about it.¡±


    ¡°Then did you notice that there was something different about the class and the students around you?¡±


    ¡°Well, I could feel that most of the boys in the class were stealing glances at us, but I didn¡¯t know why until Mira told me about the Heroines thing.¡±


    ¡°I bet Evie only knew about it because she¡¯s a deity, and not because she can read the mood.¡±


    Eon said seriously as he interrupted Caius¡¯ interrogation. Evie shrugged.


    ¡°I am who I am. But not as low as Franco, obviously.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    No one missed a chance to wreck Franco.


    ¡°Unfortunate. It had to be the two who couldn¡¯t read the atmosphere that were in that class. Well, Franco, any piece of trivia to add?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I seem to remember that they were really close to each other physically too. They hugged and held hands together and that sort of thing all the time.¡±


    ¡°And how did you know that, Mr Nothing Happened?¡±


    ¡°I sat next to them in home econ ¡®cos I¡¯m Evie¡¯s partner for that class.¡±


    Eon took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, inhaled, and sighed.


    ¡°How does Franco even exist?¡±


    He grunted clearly and audibly, to which Caius and Kato roared with laughter. The idiocy was a bit too much for the more self-aware boys to handle.


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean? I don¡¯t get it!¡±


    Franco replied in exasperation as he started to panic, the confusion starting to overwhelm his poor grasp on common sense.


    ¡°I feel bad that they¡¯re berating you like this all the time, but I understand why they¡¯re impatient with you.¡±


    Yui too sided with the other boys in their struggle with Franco¡¯s blockheadedness. Her smile was one of pity.


    ¡°Not you too, Yui!¡±


    Franco cried again in despair. He also knew that he was kind of a dumbass, so all he could do was take the loss to the face every time.


    And the conversation between these children circled peacefully like this every recess, giving life to the otherwise bland and dull ordinary days.

 2.3 The First Check

    The Elites usually sent a couple of their own to the cafeteria downstairs to buy their lunches. Unlike most other school cafeterias, this one made good food from the Yue homeland so it was very popular among the students.


    The bell rang at one-thirty for the end of lunch, so the school began moving quickly again for the impeding fourth period bell. Students flowed out of classrooms and filled the halls with bodies and noise. The atrium with its lockers was always the most jam-packed area as the school transitioned between the morning and afternoon classes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you guys after school.¡±


    Kato waved the Elites goodbye as they left the 3-F classroom for their afternoon classes. Because afternoon classes were based on course selection, students did not move around with their homeroom classes. They only needed to go to the classroom they were assigned to in their schedules, and took the class with other students that chose that course. The purpose was to familiarize students with systems in post-secondary institutions.


    He stayed behind because there was a tiny thing he wanted to investigate in his classroom before it got filled up by students for the afternoon course taking place in his homeroom. While he was moving in and out of the classroom during lunch, he noticed a very peculiar sensation near the door that he couldn¡¯t put his finger on, so he decided to give it a search now.


    Kato understood that the sensation was related to something alchemical. As a deity and a Hearts candidate, if weaponized alchemy was not his specialty, then at least having a thorough understanding of alchemy was a must. Without becoming an expert in alchemy, it was not possible for him or his sisters to fight those who do specialize in alchemy.


    Alchemy in Korolev Senior was not uncommon; in fact, it had two large lab rooms dedicated to this subject, and a huge, usually invisible barrier enveloped the school¡¯s territory to protect it from unwanted entry by enemies of Eternia.


    As a secondary function, it was also used as a mechanism to create a sandbox area for the purposes of the Class Wars, so that the physical brawl between the classes result in no real injuries. When a Class War occurs, the barrier activates and turns rainbow-coloured. The school headmistress Eterna, as a master of alchemy, maintained the functions of the barrier.


    Within the barrier, regardless of it being activated or in passive mode, those who wore cleanse tags, which were bandage-like strips that students wore on their wrists all day at school, were protected from physical injury. Only the wearers of the cleanse tags in the offending classes could participate in the war. While the barrier was activated, those inside the barrier without cleanse tags too were protected by Eterna¡¯s magic that permeated through the barrier, including those who have taken off their cleanse tags, involuntarily or not.


    This particular case, however, had nothing to do with the Class Wars or the cleanse tag that was wrapped tightly around his left wrist, which was why he thought it was peculiar. Kato inhaled deeply as he stood next to the door, using his extrasensory perception to read the flow of magic in the small area around him.


    It wasn¡¯t hard to locate the source as it was stationary and was different from the kind of magic that Eterna used.


    Kato reached his arm around and behind the trash bin next to him and grabbed the small object that was emanating the pale, muted aura of magic that he sensed. When he took it out and had a look at it, he realized what it was. He leapt to his feet and put it away inside his schoolbag, and then left the classroom in haste.


    ¡°I dunno if that was lucky or unlucky.¡±


    Kato murmured under his breath. The type of alchemy that that peculiar alchemical sensation was associated with was already surprising enough, but the owner of the object was equally perplexing. If it were Teto or Evie who found this, they wouldn¡¯t be well versed enough in alchemy as Kato to recognize this much out of the magical scent.


    ¡°Hey, Kato!¡±


    Only moments after he left his classroom, he was stopped by a beautiful voice, soft in nature but sharp in use. Though it sounded ninety-nine per cent like Mirabelle, it wasn¡¯t her. By now, Kato had been around her enough to tell the difference.


    ¡°Bia? What is it?¡±


    It was Bianca, Mirabelle¡¯s identical twin within the Jupiter quadruplets. Their other two sisters, Ariel and Scarlett, were not identical and had very different physiques, but were still more than attractive enough to be popular in their school, which was a decisive factor in winning Mirabelle¡¯s student council presidency.


    ¡°Hmm, where are the other idiots? You¡¯re the only one left?¡±


    Bianca¡¯s messy black hair bounced in the air with her haughty attitude as she walked closer towards him. The bangs that hung in front of and around her face were impressive, while the rest of her hair were tied in a loose low bun. Her face was almost exactly the same as Mirabelle¡¯s, the difference only discernible by those close to the two.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m the only idiot left of the Elites. Are you looking for Eon?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean? I¨CI don¡¯t want or need to see that retard in full retard mode.¡±


    Bianca immediately turned red and stumbled a bit in her speech when Eon was mentioned, to which Kato snickered amusedly. To say the least, the two of them had a very long-standing belligerent relationship. To an outsider it was hard to know if they were actually friends, but if they could put up with each other¡¯s argumentative tendencies for all these years, there must be something special between them.


    The language she used was very different from her twin sister, who was much more prim and proper. It might have been the result of the years of rivalry with Eon.


    ¡°Believe me, sometimes I can¡¯t stand his full retard mode either. But that¡¯s okay. That¡¯s what makes him Eon.¡±


    ¡°And being an Eon gets me on my nerves. It hasn¡¯t changed since we were children. Can¡¯t he just chill the fuck down when he should?¡±


    Bianca was not one to remain flustered for long and already hurled complaints at Eon¡¯s best friend.


    ¡°Heh. The day he mellows out is probably the day he dies.¡±


    ¡°So never. I expect that. Anyway, these are what I need to give you.¡±


    Bianca handed him five large slips of hard paper that turned out to be tickets.


    ¡°This is the payment for covering for Mira this morning, I¡¯ve been told. Even if ye complain, I ain¡¯t got nuthin¡¯ else for ya.¡±


    The garbling of syllables of Old Yue at the end there was something that he would never hear from Mirabelle herself, but sounded very unique and fascinating all the same from someone who had Mirabelle¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Nah. No complaints. Sisi¡¯s too?¡±


    ¡°Ye. Ms Romana¡¯s going with us too. It¡¯ll be a family-friendly day at the Bozz.¡±


    The Bozz was a major theme park in Livia. On top of the regular attractions, it also hosted the biggest water park and aquarium, making it a favourite destination for both family and friends. This weekend Sunday, the Elites and the Jupiter sisters were going to the Bozz before all the priorities of school set in. There wasn¡¯t a choice on the day, really, since school was six days a week.


    ¡°Speaking of this, where¡¯s Mira? She said all of you were gone together, so I¡¯m assuming that she also came back with you.¡±


    ¡°No, she¡¯s not back yet. Unfortunately, something came up and she got more things to do, so she¡¯s not going to come to school this week. I¡¯ll be taking over as the Speaker of the Assembly today.¡±


    This year, the student council president was simultaneously the Speaker of the Assembly. Since Bianca was the student council treasurer and therefore Mirabelle¡¯s second in command, her absence meant that her duties fell on her twin sister.


    ¡°A convention of the Assembly, eh? It means I¡¯ll miss fifth period and it¡¯ll continue from three-ten to five-forty, holy moly.¡±


    ¡°And I had to pick up from where the two of you left off yesterday, but it¡¯s all right now. I¡¯ve got it down good.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good. But if Mira¡¯s not going to be here for the rest of the week, will she show up for the Bozz?¡±


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s the one thing she won¡¯t miss. If you haven¡¯t figured it out yet, she can miss classes all year and still score highest in our class.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I¡¯ve figured out that part a long time ago. That¡¯s why I¡¯m not worried about her absence.¡±


    Bianca mused for a short moment. She was suddenly upset with something.


    ¡°Hmm, that reaction is within expectations but still kinda... strange.¡±


    Kato pocketed the tickets that were meant for him and his family.


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not interested in what Mira¡¯s been doing?¡±


    ¡°I am, but she wouldn¡¯t tell me, so I left it at that. I would think that you¡¯re not going to tell me either.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡±


    She smiled brightly at that reply, suddenly the difficult expression cleared from her face.


    ¡°But why the long face initially?¡±


    It was now Kato¡¯s turn to question her on why she questioned him.


    ¡°I was just a bit disappointed in your reaction. Not that I don¡¯t understand your situation though. Being destined to become a Heart is a difficult and unenviable position.¡±


    Bianca gave an honest answer and shook her head coolly as she started to turn around to make her way to her class.


    ¡°At least for you, Bia, you have it a lot better, I¡¯d imagine.¡±


    He, too, slung his schoolbag over his shoulder to make his way in the opposite direction, towards the physics room that was only next door to his own homeroom.


    Bianca felt a familiar constricting feeling in her chest and wanted to say something else, but she stopped herself there.


    ¡°Perhaps. To each their own problems.¡±


    He didn¡¯t miss the faint sadness in her voice, and he knew exactly what it was about. Between the two of them was a history that, if possible, could be carried with them to their graves.


    Though many things were different from her twin sister, the way Bianca made her parting smile was one of the few things that remained the same. It was the same vague yet innocent expression of happiness that seemed to mask her true emotions underneath.


    <hr>


    ¡°Yo. Is anyone sitting here?¡±


    ¡°No. Nobody sits with me.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll sit here with you.¡±


    Fourth period had not begun yet, but Alice was already looking listless. They sat at the back of a big classroom with probably more than forty-five students, yet when Kato approached Alice, her counter had no one else sitting at its tall stools. For whatever reason, people gave her a wide berth.


    She was definitely distracted about something, and Kato had a feeling he knew what it was and it looked like it was something troublesome.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    Alice remained unresponsive to the outside world. The frown on her face reflected her dreary mood so clearly with no effort at hiding it. However, it was less of frustration that Kato expected, and more of sorrow and regret that she wore.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll sulk together with you.¡±


    The bell rang for fourth period, but their teacher had not showed up yet, so the students around them continued their chatter without pause. The combination of the siren-like noise and the bizarre quip snapped Alice out of her stupor and brought her back to the physics classroom.


    ¡°What do you mean, sulk together with me?¡±


    ¡°You look like someone who wants to destroy the world at this very moment.¡±


    Kato said plainly to her. She relented as her hard expression softened quite a bit.


    ¡°Did I have a really scary face?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you did.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. I hate how my face is so easy to read.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still there, buddy. It¡¯s okay to let it loose.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that. I¡¯m pretty upset right now.¡±


    ¡°Heh, I could tell. Do you want to tell me why?¡±


    ¡°How about you go first this time? Why are you sulking with me too?¡±


    Alice was a fast learner. She was starting to deflect the inquisitive questions from Kato back to him.


    ¡°Nothing much. I¡¯m just a bit disappointed that going to the Bozz is still five days away.¡±


    Kato, on the other hand, gave a reply that gave away the least as possible, unlike Alice¡¯s tendency to be honest pretty quickly.


    ¡°The Bozz? The theme park?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This Sunday.¡±


    ¡°With your friends?¡±


    ¡°Most definitely.¡±


    ¡°Sounds nice. It¡¯s probably the best time of the year to go too, since everyone is back in school now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why we go at the start of school.¡±


    Alice nodded quietly as the teacher, Mr Kiriaku, finally appeared, which led to the immediate quietening of the class. Kato made a dissatisfied ¡®tch¡¯ noise and pulled out his notebooks from his bag, a bit annoyed that Alice had the last say before class started, to which her mood lit up ever so slightly.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    She, too, opened her notebooks to write as Mr Kiriaku immediately began his lecture in earnest. The natural sciences of physics, chemistry, and biology were taught as separate classes and each had their own lab rooms such as this one. Alchemy was also a science but instead of being categorized as a natural science, it was a metaphysical science, as a nod to the agency of sentience as one of its fundamental axioms.


    Shifting on her stool as she spared momentary glances at him, she was surprised at Kato¡¯s diligence at listening to the lecture since her image of him wasn¡¯t exactly one of a good student. Indeed, he did pay thorough attention to the lecture, but only because he was interested in the subject.


    However, the differences in the state of their work spaces were stark. Alice¡¯s was very neat and tidy, while Kato¡¯s had a lot left to be desired. Kato was still the tidiest of the three deific children, but some of their insolence affected Kato too.


    Some time into the lecture, she took a pause in the note-taking to dig out her own cassette tape player from her schoolbag. Usually, there were about fifteen minutes left of the hour-and-a-half period where there was time for a bit of self-study, which usually devolved into a question-answer session for the lecturer. As Alice wouldn¡¯t be asking any questions and diverting attention to herself, she would take the time to start on her assignments in peace.


    Not too long after she took it out, she felt Kato tap her foot with his. Incredulous, she turned to him suspiciously only to be stopped by a note being passed to her on top of her notes.


    Who do you listen to?


    Letting out a small sigh, she wrote her reply on the back of the note. Her handwriting was beautiful and refined, and it was also in Old Yue. She also tapped him on the foot and placed the note next to his arm.


    I listen to EC.


    EC was the stage name for a famous male singer from Livia. He was very popular in recent years as he essentially replaced the previous generation of male pop stars.


    Nice. I¡¯m a big fanboy of his too.


    The game of footsie continued as a new note was passed to Alice, who realized this by now and was embarrassed by the fact that they were playing such a stupid game, but for some reason she didn¡¯t have the usual urge to blurt out something to stop it.


    Which albums do you like to listen to?


    Another note landed on top of her notebook. A simple question, but she took her time to write the answer. Her mind already disconnected from the physics lecture, the pen hovered over the back of the note for a while before she wrote a reply.


    U87 and H3M are my favourite. What about yours?


    Kato beamed at her as he read it, to which she avoided eye contact stiffly, still uncomfortable as a prideful princess who couldn¡¯t take compliments.


    Hah. Both are modern albums with grown-up themes, but still filled with youthful hope. I like. It suits you.


    He folded the first note before writing on the second, and then handing them both over to her together.


    My favourite is My Age of Bliss. Have you listened to it before?


    No. Isn¡¯t it an old album?


    Yes, this album is quite a bit older, but it¡¯s still good.


    Kato rummaged through his schoolbag to pull out a cassette tape. He handed it over to her and wrote again on another slip of paper.


    You can hand it back to me later.


    He gave her a quick wink before he turned his attention back to the front of the class while Alice turned a bit pink at the audacity in his parting glance. She was already behind on the lecture, so she might as well listen to part of the album as she tried to catch up from reading the textbook instead. She replaced the U87 tape in her player, rewound Kato¡¯s tape to the start, and began listening to it.


    <hr>


    When the day¡¯s lecture was over, there were the usual fifteen minutes left in the period for self-study, and Alice was satisfied that she was able to catch up to the lecture with just the textbook. The class began to move up and about as the free time set in, but she ignored the bustling around her and kept the earphones in.


    It seemed like Kato was doing the same, now having his earphones in his ears too. The tranquil atmosphere around them persisted and Alice felt mysteriously at ease. She caught herself staring at Kato¡¯s peaceful figure before she pinched her pink cheeks quickly and promptly dove into the assignment in front of her.


    But she couldn¡¯t concentrate. Her mind was still lingering on Kato as his favourite songs played along. Instead of getting a head-start with the homework, she instead wanted to reach out to talk to him.


    Why?


    She questioned herself when she realized what she was thinking about. There was no particular reason that came up in her mind, and just commenting on the album could wait until the bell, so why the urge? Alice ruminated for a while as the worksheet in front of her remained blank.


    Before she was able to start writing, an inconvenient disturbance appeared before her. She looked up to confirm its presence, and sighed.


    ¡°Alice. How are you doing?¡±


    An innocent greeting came from the tall and handsome third-year in front of them. His voice was deep and soothing, which complemented his calm and serene demeanour. His shirt and tie were thoroughly ironed with no extraneous folds, and it wrapped his toned build quite nicely.


    Behind him was another familiar young man, one with a much less tidy outfit and an imposing and dangerous aura. Though he was not nearly as tall or toned as his boss, it was easy to see that the shorter man was a nasty piece of work.


    ¡°I¡¯m doing fine, thanks. What do you need, Gilbert?¡±


    Alice¡¯s words were coloured with several shades of her customary abrasiveness. It wasn¡¯t hard to see that the handsome Gilbert wasn¡¯t welcomed here. Although she was normally rough with her tone, this time it sounded like the roots of her displeasure was much deeper, way more than what she gave strangers.


    Gilbert could sense the hostility too, but his expression didn¡¯t change. He idly twirled with his wavy black hair instead, knowing that Alice would give him a hard time, but he would have to get this conversation over with anyway.


    ¡°Alice. Father is hosting dinner this weekend, and your brother Albert is already invited. So it would be great if you would attend as well.¡±


    ¡°I already know.¡±


    ¡°Then has Albert invited you already? My apologies if he already did.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it doesn¡¯t matter whether you or by brother does it. What¡¯s the point of me having to go? I don¡¯t have anything to contribute to either businesses.¡±


    ¡°You already know why. It¡¯s an expression of trust.¡±


    ¡°Trust? I trust any of you as much as I trust that little green men live on Mars. I¡¯m fully aware that I¡¯m a political pawn in your games, but I won¡¯t play it unless it is absolutely necessary. So tell me. Is this occasion so important that everything falls apart if I don¡¯t show up?¡±


    Despite being so scathing towards Gilbert, he did not blink. Nothing flickered across his face during the entire tirade. Instead, he gave a very cool and realistic reply.


    ¡°No, but it¡¯ll be more beneficial to you if you did. If you don¡¯t show up, people around us are going to talk. And it probably won¡¯t be favourable for you.¡±


    Exasperated, Alice gave a grimace as she lost her motivation to continue complaining. She always hated Gilbert¡¯s responses. They were always fair, neutral, and impossible to refute. Alice knew that his suggestions were almost always right, but that was not what she wanted to hear in her moments of frustration.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    She gave a curt and rigid answer. Obviously, to her, this conversation was over.


    ¡°So you haven¡¯t given an RSVP yet. Then please, at least, give me a yes or no by the morning of.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    Gilbert bowed politely to the troublesome princess, satisfied that his official business here was done. He gave a thin smile to the blonde-haired girl who already began ignoring him and writing on the worksheet in front of her.


    ¡°May I ask who is this gentleman sitting next to you? Or rather, why is this gentleman sitting here?¡±


    Kato, of course, was sitting next to Alice the entire time listening to the conversation. He kept quiet and seemed to have minded his own business, but as soon as the two imposing men arrived he paused his walkman and pretended to continue listening to music.


    Alice looked to Kato expectantly, but he continued to put on a charade since he was not yet being directly addressed. After a few more moments of silence, her face slowly turned red as she realized that he was not going to respond and that she was making the atmosphere around them awkward. The struggle on her face was more apparent with each passing second, as it was just as awkward to start speaking after not initially responding.


    Seeing her on the comical verge of tears, though Kato knew why she was fuming, he stifled a laugh in plain sight anyway, which provoked Alice¡¯s wrath. Her childlike frustration suddenly turned emotionless and she pinched him hard on his arm, to which he reacted with a sudden twinge and retreated away from her.


    ¡°Ow. That tickles.¡±


    Kato made a delayed and lazy grunt, clearly trying to not sound like it hurt, which it didn¡¯t. Still, he ignored the black-haired boys in front of him, only giving his attention to the girl beside him.


    ¡°God, you¡¯re such an ass.¡±


    Alice flamed at him in his face, angry that he was still not helping her whatsoever in her conversation with Gilbert.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know him.¡±


    She finally gave an answer to Gilbert, which was obviously a throwaway answer that Gilbert would never accept. So he made his next point very clearly.


    ¡°I beg to differ; not only from the reaction just now, but also from playing footsie in class and passing notes to each other. So, why¡¯s the class representative of 3-F sitting next to a student of Class A?¡±


    ¡°Give me a break. You¡¯re not only here about the politics at home, but at school too? Please. Don¡¯t talk to me.¡±


    Stung from the embarrassment that someone else found out they were flirting in class, her latest poisonous comment was more muted than her previous ones. Even worse, Kato continued to ignore Gilbert¡¯s presence.


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of duty. After all, Class A has a casus belli on Class F that can be used any time.¡±


    Alice scowled at yet another one of Gilbert¡¯s matter-of-factly replies.


    ¡°Like I told you many times before, I don¡¯t have any investment in the Class Wars you guys have. If you have a problem with him and his class, then take it out on them. Don¡¯t involve me.¡±


    Gilbert¡¯s expression finally loosened a bit and sighed helplessly.


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried that you will get caught in the middle of such a conflict.¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes softened. Talking to Gilbert was like talking to a brick wall. In a different, so-called normal world, Gilbert and Alice would have never spoken more than a few sentences to each other their whole lives. So she never blamed him for anything despite her fits of anger. To her, Gilbert, as the person he was, was just at the wrong place and the wrong time.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me, Gil. I do everything for myself.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll put my faith into your words. That you¡¯ll do everything for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°But what was that footsie about?¡±


    Alice perched up from her seat again. She deflected it the first time, but she didn¡¯t expect the second reminder. Then again, Gilbert was a serious kind of person, so perhaps it should have been expected. She felt the uncomfortable heat on her back and the sweat on her face as she replied carefully.


    ¡°Nothing. Kato was just being a bothersome person.¡±


    ¡°Wow. Is that how you treat your friends?¡±


    Kato reacted to her with a grin. Alice was now convinced that Kato only replied to things she was saying and ignored Gilbert just to mess around with her. The footsie thing clearly involved him but he never helped out, so it was obvious he wanted to watch her squirm.


    ¡°That¡¯s the last thing I want to hear from you, because I want to tell you the same thing.¡±


    Her face turned dark for the second time in a matter of minutes. The dead fish eyes reminiscent of Evie drilled her dissatisfaction into Kato¡¯s, but it didn¡¯t seem to have the same effect on him as Evie¡¯s. Nevertheless, she twisted a piece of his flesh hard once again on the arm, and the same twitch and stupid response came.


    ¡°Ow. That tickled.¡±


    Gilbert remained silent at the two flirting in front of him. He was saddened by the scene but the emotion barely showed on his face. His lackey behind him, however, made a difficult face and was clearly upset. He opened his mouth, about to protest, but Gilbert waved at him to stop him.


    ¡°Stephen. It¡¯s not my prerogative.¡±


    ¡°But, Gilbert. He¡¯s obviously making a mockery of your and Miss Alice¡¯s¡ª¡±


    ¡°Enough. Even so, it doesn¡¯t change anything that¡¯s already decided.¡±


    Gilbert didn¡¯t want to interrupt, but he had to cool down his hot-headed sidekick. He spared a glance at Alice, who was evidently dismayed by the implication in his words.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It doesn¡¯t change anything. But it doesn¡¯t change me either.¡±


    Alice said indifferently, more to herself than anyone else. Gilbert nodded soberly as he began addressing the Class F student directly.


    ¡°As for Mr Danubius, I must congratulate you on your successful Class War last week. No doubt, your war was just and your methods clean and effective.¡±


    After all of this, Kato finally turned to Gilbert to make eye contact. The black eyes he saw were muted and colourless; it was not the same kind of deadness that was present in Evie¡¯s and Alice¡¯s moments of jealously or anger. Instead, it seemed like it belonged to a man who fought too many battles and saw too many comrades die, and had lost faith in the world around him.


    ¡°Thank you, Mr Lafayette. Or Mr Class A Representative. Which do you prefer?¡±


    ¡°Gilbert is fine.¡±


    ¡°Then Kato is fine for me, too.¡±


    Kato could see why Alice gets frustrated talking to this guy. He was way too strict and rigid for a delicate personality as Alice¡¯s. The word ¡®plain¡¯ matched this guy to a tee. Kato had had interactions with Gilbert on-and-off in the past as he was a famous enough person in his year, and he could see that this particular trait of Gilbert¡¯s had not changed.


    But it wasn¡¯t as if Gilbert was stupid. He was certainly a smart person. If he wasn¡¯t, he wouldn¡¯t have been the class representative for Class A. He was just severely lacking in the charisma department.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be taking my leave here. Thank you for bearing with me.¡±


    And just like that, Gilbert and Stephen left the two of them for the door, most likely going toward the Assembly Hall, which was a large auditorium that belonged to the music faculty but also used for convening the Assembly.


    The abrupt exit by the two Class A students left an awed audience of two at their table, who both were briefly speechless at their conversation just now, for different reasons.


    ¡°Well, that was tense.¡±


    Kato spoke first. He put his walkman away into his bag in preparation for departure for the Assembly Hall too. After all, he was the representative for Class F, albeit one for a low-ranking class.


    ¡°What¡¯s your relation to Gilbert? That conversation between the two of you didn¡¯t sound very friendly.¡±


    He asked her seriously, the tone now much different from earlier. The grin was gone and his face much more sober. Kato avoided eye contact, instead spinning the pencil in his hand idly.


    Alice noticed the change and her answer got stuck in her throat. She was about to say something poisonous to him, but Kato killed the mood for that kind of response. She debated internally with herself how much she could tell him.


    ¡°...you heard us, right? Our families are related in one way or another, and it¡¯s something I don¡¯t like.¡±


    Alice worded her eventual answer carefully, all the while thinking to herself about her relationship with Gilbert and their families. It brought a melancholic expression to her face as her mind wandered away from the classroom.


    ¡°Hah. Family problems, huh? I¡¯ll bite.¡±


    Kato said more to himself than Alice, who for the first time heard him in genuine frustration. The surprise pulled her out of her stupor and turned to see his face. He was upset, all right, but it felt like it wasn¡¯t exactly about her.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Alice asked hesitantly, but unfortunately the bell rang for the end of fourth period, cutting off their conversation.


    Kato realized that time was short, so he quickly searched his schoolbag and pulled out a small pendant, one made of a shard of Plexiglas. It was definitely not well-made or pretty. In fact, it looked like someone broke apart something into pieces and turned one of its fragments into memorabilia.


    ¡°I believe this is yours.¡±


    He held it in front of her, to which her eyes widened in shock. From that reaction, it undoubtedly belonged to her. Kato laid the small and light pendant into her open hands.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s mine. Where did it fall off?¡±


    Her voice was soft and trembled with relief, in contrast to her usual edge. She clutched onto it gingerly yet firmly, showing the importance of the pendant to her.


    ¡°In our classroom. From the looks of it, I was right to pick it up, but I only found it because this thing was an alchemical anomaly. Will you tell me what that¡¯s about?¡±


    Alice hesitated at Kato¡¯s question, and looked up to see anxiety and seriousness on his face. Although she had only met him today, it felt like he was no stranger to her. And that was why she was able to speak as freely to him as she did to Mirabelle and Evie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know what the specific alchemy stuff is about, but this fragment was part of an old alchemical experiment from long ago that involved a very good friend of mine. So it¡¯s a relic of my past, so to speak.¡±


    She said gently as he nodded sombrely. Though only knowing her for less than a day, he understood that Alice was an honest enough girl for him to believe in at face value. He accepted her tentative explanation, and moved on from it for now. There was probably a better place and time for it later.


    ¡°Then as your benefactor, I¡¯ll have you do something for me in return.¡±


    His usual mood returning, Kato grinned again to her bemusement. He dug into his schoolbag again to fetch out something else and handed it to her.


    ¡°You¡¯re coming with me to the Bozz. I know you have something else planned that day from the looks of things, but if you don¡¯t go, you¡¯re gonna owe me something else for finding that for you.¡±


    ¡°¡ª!¡±


    Alice paused as she turned scarlet again, colouring her porcelain cheeks beautifully with a deep hue of pink. She held onto the slip of paper, dumbstruck by the sudden invitation. Her mind entered yet another imaginative session as she remained momentarily wordless to her benefactor.


    ¡°Remember that Evie and Mirabelle are coming too, so you don¡¯t need to only endure my presence.¡±


    Then Kato brought her back to ground zero. She turned disappointed upon hearing that, as if something clicked in her head and now she fully understood the situation.


    Like a snarky kid, he snickered at Alice¡¯s clumsiness and misunderstanding, to which Alice immediately realized that what she was imagining, was a bit too obvious from her face. It wasn¡¯t hard now, putting one and one together.


    ¡°Wait, I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s all right. It¡¯s a common misunderstanding.¡±


    ¡°No! I didn¡¯t misunderstand anything!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You just forgot about that part about other people coming along.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care! You¡¯ve got it wrong!¡±


    Alice stumbled as she tried to explain herself to no avail. Kato was already laughing out loud as he made his way to the door, and left her to quickly grab her belongings and frantically chase after him. Surprisingly to Alice, some time between Gilbert¡¯s arrival and now, Kato had already silently packed up his belongings.


    ¡°Nope, I know exactly what I¡¯m doing!¡±


    He stood at the entrance, waiting for the slow girl to catch up.


    ¡°You¡¯re. Such. A. Jerk.¡±


    A bit upset, she gave him a light shove with her shoulder and went ahead of him. She had classes for fifth period, but the class representative of Class F needed to attend the first convention of the Assembly instead. Also, they didn¡¯t have the same fifth period classes either, so they were splitting up either way.


    Thinking about separating and moving on to her next class, she finally remembered, and she was shocked at how she had forgotten about it until now. Perhaps the loss of her pendant shook her frame of mind, but more than that, Kato certainly distracted from her usual pace.


    ¡°Is Mira back in school? I couldn¡¯t find her at lunch.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Mira. Apparently, she¡¯s gone off to do something else for the rest of this week. That¡¯s what her sister said.¡±


    Suddenly, his attitude softened up once again. Because of the abrupt change, Alice picked up on the tenderness in his voice, and became even more interested in what was between Kato and Mirabelle.


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s too bad.¡±


    Though she was curious about their relationship, Alice was nevertheless sad that she couldn¡¯t see another good friend of hers.


    ¡°Chin up. If you decide to come to the Bozz, you¡¯ll see her there. Ten o¡¯clock sharp.¡±


    He actually pushed her chin up, to which she brushed away with the back of her hand, annoyed. Kato chuckled at her displeasure.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    ¡°The correct answer is yes, by the way.¡±


    Alice gave him a ¡®tch¡¯ to make her indignation clear to him, but did not say any further.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow, I guess.¡±


    Kato laughed and waved farewell. The corollary was that she allowed him to continue sitting next to her in this class.


    As they began parting ways, Alice stopped and called out to him again.


    ¡°Kato!¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°... thank you. For finding my pendant.¡±


    Alice bowed at Kato, who was already several paces¡¯ distance away from her. An earnest smile formed on Alice¡¯s face, and he was reminded that between her short temper and pessimism, a kind girl existed there.


    ¡°You¡¯re very welcome.¡±

 2.4 Behind the Curtains

    The Assembly consisted of a portion of students from the third-year privileged classes, the Classes 3-A to 3-F, plus a special selection of students known as the functional constituencies. The class constituencies were heavily favoured towards Class A, while the functional constituencies consisted of the class representative of each third-year class, school club leaders and the student council leadership. Together, they were Members of the Assembly, or simply Members.


    So the Assembly was essentially a committee of third-year students dominated by Class 3-A which enacted policies that governed student life for all of the students in Korolev Senior. Policies such as lunch catering, school facilities, club budgets and cultural events would be tabled and debated in a convention of the Assembly. Once a policy was agreed upon, the student council would, together with other student organizations like the Activity Council, carry out these policies.


    There was no doubt that the system was not democratic. Class 3-A received exactly one over one half of the class constituency seats. Furthermore, the functional constituencies were easily manipulated by 3-A to put their allies into those positions. Because of the meritocratic system of class promotion, where students had chances at the end of a school year to be promoted into a class above their current one for next year, Class 3-A was supposed to be the most wise of the classes and therefore should have a major role in managing student life.


    A legislative body above the Assembly, the Senate, consisted of teachers of the third-year homeroom classes and policies required their consent as well. But the Senate was traditionally a rubber-stamp legislature that merely signed off the bills that came from the Assembly. In only extreme cases, when the Assembly was in a state of tyranny, did the Senate interfere. Finally, the policy would be given Assent by the headmistress, which put into force the new policy.


    The Assembly convened usually once a week on Tuesdays in the Assembly Hall, which was maintained by the music faculty since it was actually a fully equipped theatre. The velvet seats that filled the audience space in a curvature facing the stage were both removable and convertible into wide benches and tables, just as expected in a parliament building. There were even upper levels from which observers watched on the Assembly proceedings. The floor too, insanely, was adjustable along its inclines, so that making the audience space flat was a possibility.


    When the Assembly convened, alternating rows of seats were converted into long tables to convert it into a parliament space. The stage shrunk in area and revealed extra seats underneath. Student volunteers from the Student Liaison Office, or the SLO, a joint student organization between the student council and the AC, organized and prepared the facilities for a session of the Assembly every week.


    Unlike in other schools where the student council unilaterally decided on policy, the Assembly was where this power laid in Korolev Senior, by the principle of ¡®student life made by students¡¯. As a result, in theory the Assembly was the supreme body that made decisions, but in practice the student council leadership usually held disproportionate power in the Assembly, because it was almost guaranteed that a student of Class A was elected student council president.


    In fact, it was usually one of two second-year leaders of the two big student organizations: the Activity Council, versus the Public Safety Committee. Both were almost always Class 2-A students at the time of election and they had the energy and influence to maintain an election campaign.


    Of course, the election was at the end of their second year, and the winner of the election became president for the duration of their third year. Generally, the incoming president would bring their cronies into the student council while leaving their student organization to their other allies, effectively making themselves de facto leader of their faction of origin while heading the student council.


    However, for Kato¡¯s year, both Class A candidates lost the election race last spring to a Class B contender: Mirabelle. For the first time in living memory, the levers of power were disrupted and put into the hands of an upstart.


    But the system was not meant for non-Class A students to take the reins. This year was an anomaly in the usual power structure. The system by design discouraged non-Class A leadership; as a Class B student, it was extremely hard to pass policies simply because the Class A constituency was assigned forty seats, while the rest of the Class constituencies, from B to F, were assigned twenty, ten, five, three, and one respectively, totalling only thirty-nine.


    To defeat Class A¡¯s votes would be an uphill battle that Mirabelle would need to fight. On top of gaining the support of every class below her, she would also need to swing enough votes from the functional constituencies. This year, the three functional constituencies were allocated as such: Class Representatives at nine seats representing ten classes; Club Presidents at fourteen seats representing fourteen major school clubs from last year and continuing operations into this year; and Student Council Executives at four seats representing its leadership.


    Because Mirabelle was simultaneously the Class B representative as well as a student council executive, she would hold two seats simultaneously. Class B¡¯s seat in the Class Representatives constituency would be declared invalid once the Assembly convened and her seat would remain with the Student Council Executives constituency.


    The seating arrangement, traditionally, was only by class constituencies. The functional constituencies of class reps and club presidents were distributed amongst their respective classes, while the student council executives sat at special seats on the minified stage, lowered to near ground level for the convention. Class A¡¯s constituency sat right at the front rows, and the subsequent classes sat in sequence in the rows behind them.


    ¡°Kato, you made it in time.¡±


    Eon was wiping his glasses with his shirt while having his eyes closed. As he put them back on, he opened his naked eyes just before it was put back into place, and Kato saw a glimpse of his irises. It was a multitude of colours, almost like a rainbow, but with the glasses covering them, they turned to a dull brown. It wasn¡¯t because his glasses were special, it was because of a special phenomenon that his irises were multicoloured to the naked eye, but drained of colour once viewed through a lens.


    ¡°Never a dull moment for Kato.¡±


    Sitting next to Eon was Caius, leaning back into the chair and having his feet on the counter. For some reason, this kid was laid back, calm and collected in any situation. Even when Franco was on his airhead streak Caius¡¯ apparent attitude wouldn¡¯t change, though his jabs at Franco would go up a level.


    Kato took his seat next to Eon, carelessly flipping his schoolbag on top of the counter in front of their elevated seats. Their row was the last row of the Assembly, and it only consisted of students from their class and Class E, who also had three members including their class rep.


    Class F, in a Class War last week, stole one seat in the Assembly from Class E as a part of their victory, thus granting the Class F constituency two seats plus their class rep. They sat away from the three of them, making the animosity between the two classes apparent, though that wasn¡¯t uncommon. Most classes were hostile to each other due to the nature of the Class Wars.


    Mere moments later, the three student council executives entered and prepared to take their seat at the table on the lowered stage, directly facing outwards to the rest of the Assembly. As they took their seats, the auditorium quieted down considerably, eager to get the first convention of the Assembly started.


    Not surprisingly to Kato, Bianca was the one who took the centre seat, which was the seat of the Speaker of the Assembly. As the Speaker, she controlled most of the proceedings and agenda of the session. Normally, the student council president would be the Speaker, but as Mirabelle was absent, the responsibility fell on Bianca.


    On either side of Bianca were her two other sisters, Ariel and Scarlett. Ariel was much smaller than Bianca and had silver hair in a long and flowing hime cut. On the other side, Scarlett was evidently taller and had the curves of a supermodel, but sported a brown pixie cut instead.


    ¡°I, the Speaker of the Assembly, pronounce that the Assembly here is well-formed and qualified. The Assembly for Year 1887-1888 at Korolev Senior Secondary School is now in session, first convened on August the twenty-third. Please stand for a moment of silence.¡±


    Bianca spoke into the microphone in front of her. Seeing that enough people showed up for the meeting, the Assembly could be officially convened. The students stood up.


    ¡°Please remain standing for the playing of the national and Eternian anthems.¡±


    Two tunes played through the PA system in this big hall. The first represented the Auxirian nation as their home, and the second represented their loyalty to their cause. Their respective flags were hung behind the student council executives, above the stage. Although Eternia was a secret society from the Yue homeland that Auxiria had conquered, it was all of Auxiria that Eternia sought to lead and build a brighter future for.


    ¡°You may be seated.¡±


    Lots of shuffling and murmurs ensued, yet most people were still giving their attention to the front of the class. After the anthems, the Speaker would declare that the popular statements period would begin, and Members who wanted to address the Assembly for any reason could do so, if they have requested to do so to the Speaker before the convention.


    Each Member doing so had one minute to make their statements, and this whole period only lasted for at most ten minutes. To make it fair, if there were many Members who wished to make statements, the Speaker generally took one student from each constituency to make statements before repeating a constituency.


    ¡°Today, there were no requests for statements by the popular Members of this Assembly, so there will be no popular statements. Questioning is also moot, due to that fact.¡±


    Bianca continued to address the Assembly, announcing that she would be skipping both the statements and questioning periods. The question period followed the statements period. At that time, popular Members, i.e. Members who weren¡¯t part of the Student Council Executives constituency, were allowed to present questions, in a one-question-one-answer fashion, to the Student Council Executives constituency on any of the student council¡¯s matters within its jurisdiction, for a maximum of fifteen minutes. Follow-up questions were mediated by the Speaker. Once there was a change of topics, a designated Member, known as the Leader of the Opposition, would ask the first question in that new topic.


    ¡°I will begin with the routine proceedings in earnest. The agenda is as follows. There will be a statement from myself as a part of the student council¡¯s reports. There will be one student council policy and one popular policy to be slated for first reading. That is it. To start off, I will make an important student council statement.¡±


    The first part of routine proceedings was when the student council could present statements, reports, or otherwise to the Assembly, in contrast to the popular statements and questioning periods. After that, routine proceedings included the first reading of policies by both the student council and other Members, which was the introductory phase of a new piece of legislation that quote-unquote introduced the matter to the Assembly and Members had an intention to solve the underlying issues that the policy aimed to fix. Other routine jobs such as presenting reports by Members or tabling motions would also be considered and held by the Speaker in this period of the convention.


    ¡°As you can all see, I am not the student council president. I am Ganymede Bianca Jupiter, Class 3-B, chancellor of the Department of the Treasury. Due to the student council president Callisto Mirabelle Jupiter¡¯s leave of absence, I will be the Speaker of the Assembly for this convention. In addition, Class B¡¯s seat in the Class Representatives constituency will be declared invalid due to simultaneous seating.¡±


    She made her points short and concise, dispelling the abnormal silence of the masses. The Assembly rumbled at the fact that their popularly elected and glamorous president missed her first convention, and no doubt the student newspaper would present tons of coverage on this topic.


    ¡°That concludes the statements by the student council. We¡¯ll move on to first reading.¡±


    Bianca moved quickly through the routine proceedings¡¯ agenda, not even giving the Assembly a chance to be the peanut gallery it usually was. Normally, someone would have shouted out something rude or obscene to display their disobedience by now.


    ¡°The student council would like to table the policy of perpetual peace, officially the Ewiger Landfriede. To put it simply, the proposed policy will enforce peace between the classes for eternity.¡±


    The Assembly erupted in wild cries and shouts. Without a doubt, it took the attention of everyone in the hall.


    ¡°Are you proposing an end to the Class Wars?¡±


    One Class A Member exclaimed over the buzz of the room. So the lawlessness began. Knowing the nature of how the Assembly was run, Bianca did not even spare a glance before ignoring the shout and continuing.


    ¡°The draft policy will now be distributed to the Assembly.¡±


    A few runners spread out from the sidelines and into the different rows of the Assembly, handing out documents to each Member. One scrawny boy arrived at the Class F constituency that the boys recognized.


    ¡°Kirill! You¡¯re a helper for the Assembly. When did this happen?¡±


    Caius asked as he was handed a copy of the Ewiger Landfriede. It was the draft that Kato and Mirabelle worked hard yesterday to get it printed in time for the Assembly session today.


    ¡°Yeah. Last time you went and did something that wasn¡¯t goofing off was never.¡±


    Eon couldn¡¯t resist tacking on something spicy for their long-time classmate.


    ¡°Things change, my dudes. This year¡¯s the year.¡±


    Kirill grinned along with the other two. Kato chuckled and felt at ease with the light-hearted gentlemen next to him.


    ¡°You¡¯re SLO now, right? In the student council¡¯s side of things, I would guess.¡±


    ¡°Yup. I¡¯m in the student council¡¯s SLO.¡±


    The Student Liaison Office was a joint organization between the student council and the AC, but there was still a clear delineation between the students who belonged to one or the other parent student body.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. We don¡¯t see you because the SLO has its own meetings, separate from the student council.¡±


    ¡°You guys are on student council? Well, actually, I guess it isn¡¯t surprising.¡±


    Kirill waved them goodbye as he moved down to the next row of students, continuing to hand out the papers. Eon turned to his buddies with incredulity.


    ¡°Are we that conspicuous with our friendly relations with the Jupiter sisters?¡±


    ¡°If Kirill can see it, then I guess the cat¡¯s out of the bag. Not that either side kept it a secret. It doesn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that we¡¯ve known each other for more than ten years.¡±


    Caius shrugged at Eon with a reasonable explanation. Then he turned to Kato.


    ¡°But there¡¯s truth in that statement for only Kato here, since he actually has friendly relations with all of them.¡±


    Sensing that more jabs were to come from the smirking duo, he held his hands up as if for his early surrender. But even though he knew he would not out-banter the two of them, he took a pot shot anyway.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯m just a more likeable guy than you two.¡±


    Unexpectedly, the duo turned serious as they began talking amongst themselves, but within Kato¡¯s earshot to infuriate him.


    ¡°He¡¯s right. I need to be a likeable guy, too.¡±


    ¡°Eon, please. I¡¯m fairly neutral and I don¡¯t get preferential treatment.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re passive-aggressive. And I¡¯m active-aggressive. We¡¯re both troublemakers to the Jupiters.¡±


    ¡°And Franco doesn¡¯t get a pass for being a dummy?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because we made Franco do some stupid things that they won¡¯t respect.¡±


    ¡°And Kato gets a pass for being pranked into doing the same stupid things?¡±


    ¡°Obviously, Kato is doing something to make up for that.¡±


    The duo narrowed their eyes as they stared down Kato, to which he shook his head helplessly at their grandstanding.


    But there was no more time for the Elites¡¯ sideshow. Once the papers were finished distributing, Bianca continued on without pause.


    ¡°When shall the policy be read a second time?¡±


    ¡°At the next sitting of the Assembly.¡±


    Her formality for closing first reading was met with the traditional reply in unison by the Assembly. Because the policy was suggested by the student council, there was no need for ten per cent of the Assembly to second the policy for second reading, in contrast to popular policies.


    ¡°The next sitting of the Assembly means next week, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This is how it always worked.¡±


    Eon answered Kato¡¯s question. The Assembly certainly wasn¡¯t going straight into second reading and debate on this issue today. Those who want to oppose it would have a week to gather material for counter-arguments.


    ¡°Now that the selected student council policies have been read, we will move to the first reading of popular policies. There is exactly one first reading to be had. I will now call upon Ms Mona Mackenzie, the drafter of the bill, to perform the first reading. You have five minutes.¡±


    A short girl from the front row with auburn hair stood up and bowed to the student council executives before she turned around to face the rest of the Assembly.


    ¡°I, Mona Mackenzie, would like to table a new policy on the banning of public displays of anti-national material, officially the Act of Neutrality.¡±


    Rumbling amongst the Assembly sounded throughout the hall, as no doubt another controversial policy was to be pushed through the Assembly. The one tabled by Bianca was, of course, much more impactful to the school¡¯s day-to-day minutiae, but this one could have overarching and lasting effects on students in and out of school. It was an ideologically-charged policy, pitting one political camp against another.


    ¡°From the recent events of our neighbouring city of Lien, there is a worry that the political unrest there would spread to our own city. Of course, it isn¡¯t unfathomable that the same things here could happen, despite the relative independence we have in comparison to Lien.


    ¡°Therefore, to mitigate the radicalization of this school and potential damage to its reputation, public anti-national activity should be prohibited on school grounds. In addition, the school agrees to take a publicly neutral stance on the topics of the political unrest in Lien, including but not limited to the separatist manifesto of the protesters and the alleged misconduct of the police forces in Lien.¡±


    Unlike a student council policy, the first reading of a popular policy must include a general description of the scope and any justification for proposing such a policy. Especially when a policy was as partisan as this one, it was necessary to claim your justification for it, because a popular policy needed to be seconded by at least ten per cent of the Assembly to pass the motion for first reading and make it to second reading.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°I yield back to the Speaker.¡±


    ¡°The draft policy will now be distributed to the Assembly.¡±


    Bianca announced when she saw the nod from Mona. Like last time, the helpers began handing out drafts of the policy that was tabled just now.


    ¡°This sounds dangerous, eh?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got two big policies to debate on already to start off the year. Not that we¡¯ll be able to make a difference.¡±


    Eon commented to Caius. It was true what Caius said, though. Their three votes, two from Class F and one from Kato as a class representative, was most likely not enough to change the outcome.


    ¡°So, are there any seconders to the policy?¡±


    After the papers were given out, Bianca put the motion for seconding immediately, without giving much time for the rest of the Assembly to read the draft in detail. Usually, the drafter from Class A had enough clout in the Assembly to pass the seconding motion easily.


    And expectedly, about fifteen students from Class A¡¯s constituency raised their hand, more than ten per cent of the one-hundred-and-six strong Assembly. Murmurs continued to hum, but the pace was not to be broken.


    Ariel, the student council secretary, was also responsible for recording the minutes of the Assembly. She bounced loftily off of her seat to move up to the Assembly, counting the raised hands in the open.


    ¡°There are fifteen who seconded the Act of Neutrality. Are there any complaints?¡±


    To ask for complaints was a formality that the secretary needed to perform. If there were any serious complaints other than a harmless miscount, it would mean that the secretary could be removed for being in contempt of the Assembly.


    ¡°When shall the policy be read a second time?¡±


    With that statement, Bianca acknowledged that Ariel¡¯s count was not in contempt and readied it for second reading next week.


    ¡°At the next sitting of the Assembly.¡±


    The hall replied again. Both policies were now ready for the next stage of the legislative process.


    ¡°Now, the routine proceedings of today are concluded. Because there are no policies for second reading yet, there will be no student council orders or popular orders for today. We will instead start closing remarks immediately.¡±


    Bianca continued unabated. On a typical day for the Assembly, student council orders and popular orders took the bulk of the time because this was where the second reading and debates occurred. Depending on how important the policy was, it could take the remaining time of the convention and push out the closing remarks section. In addition, if the Assembly did not think it was ready for completing second reading, the draft policy would be assigned to a committee for review and amendment of the details of the policy text. The committee would come back and re-introduce it at a later sitting, starting the cycle of debates and amendments again, until a motion of concurrence was passed and allowed to move to third reading.


    For closing remarks, the Speaker would be provided with a list of Members who wanted to make any statements at the end of the convention, and would, at her leisure, call upon those Members to make their statements.


    Bianca was provided a list by one of the helpers. While the Assembly was in kind of a lull, such as when the drafts were being handed out, Members had the chance to notify helpers that they would have statements to make for the closing remarks.


    ¡°There will be two Members who will make statements. I will now call upon Mr Gilbert de Lafayette to make his statement. You have two minutes.¡±


    Gilbert got up from his seat and turned to the Assembly, his face as emotionless as ever.


    ¡°Thank you, Madam Speaker. First of all, the Ewiger Landfriede. It is clearly a reach to strip power away from Class A and give it to the Senate. Because Class B has won the presidency for this year, it is their best opportunity to reduce the influence of Class A on school affairs. Since it is impossible to remove this power from Class A to other classes in the Assembly, in the legislative, their only choice is to soft-return it to the Senate, by weakening the power of the executive through removing its ability to manipulate peace in the Class Wars.¡±


    He made a good point, to which many nods and cheers came from the Class A constituency. The student council executives arbitrated the peace negotiations after a Class War, and peace treaties had vast sweeping powers to make changes to the school¡¯s ecosystem. Since it was only Class A who consistently won the presidency, it was Class A who controlled the peace system for generations.


    ¡°Now, the Act of Neutrality. It is a blatant attack on the freedom of speech within this school, to which no student should support. Without a place for free discussion and dialogue, only bias, ignorance and indifference would foster among students. Note that the Act only bans anti-national material, but pro-national material remains unchecked. This is exactly what we do not want from a society based on free thought and expression.¡±


    Now onto the partisan bill, his speech was met with claps from students from different classes. The Class A students who sat within his vicinity stood and clapped furiously, while the Class A students who sat around Mona remained seated and silent. They watched on with neither complaint nor excitement for their comrades in Class A.


    ¡°I yield back to the Speaker.¡±


    Satisfied with his discrediting of both tabled policies, Gilbert waved and took his seat after the applause died down. Bianca nodded, understanding that he had finished.


    ¡°I will now call upon the next Member, Ms Mona Mackenzie, to make her statement. You have two minutes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Madam Speaker.¡±


    Mona rose elegantly from her seat, already drawing applause from the Class A students around her, but was met with indifference from those near Gilbert. Evidently, Class A was split along two factions, each led by their respective faction leaders.


    ¡°I, for one, welcome the Ewiger Landfriede, for the Class Wars have, in recent years, become a relic of the past. There were not enough challengers in recent years amongst our classes to justify maintenance of this martial tradition. Perhaps in the time of Ms Romana, when there were at least six challengers and a deity per privileged class, that this tradition was acceptable. But times have changed and so will the system. I yield back to the Speaker.¡±


    She sat down after another round of applause from across the Assembly, without addressing the criticisms of Gilbert. Since they requested to make statements, they were not allowed to ¡®respond¡¯ to each other¡¯s statements because that would be considered a debate.


    ¡°From the sounds of the claps, both Mona and Gilbert have a similar size for their support base, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Mm-hm. It¡¯ll be on the Jupiters to either cut out their own faction or play for both of them carefully.¡±


    Eon and Caius continued to whisper to each other while Kato listened on contently.


    ¡°No comment on Mira¡¯s absence, though? At the very least I expected them to make a fuss.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting, actually. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s because Bia looks enough like Mira. Most likely for them, they don¡¯t care who¡¯s in charge if the president is not from Class A.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. Their plans wouldn¡¯t be different. They¡¯re probably thinking it¡¯s a good sign that the most charismatic of the Class B faction is absent.¡±


    Unfortunately, not all of Class B was on the side of the Jupiter sisters. Most were, but at least a few of the Class B constituency had vested interests in either of Class A¡¯s factions.


    ¡°Then let us conclude the closing remarks section.¡±


    Bianca took the initiative again to push through the Assembly¡¯s agenda and close off the day.


    ¡°I declare that the motion to adjourn is deemed carried, and the first convention of the Assembly is finished.¡±


    The Assembly stood up together to the sound of a bell, which officially dismissed the Members from the session. And so, in only a little over thirty minutes, the Assembly¡¯s job was completed.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we just leave this to the Gilbert faction? He seemed like he was totally against the Act of Neutrality.¡±


    ¡°I agree. I¡¯d prefer to focus on the Ewiger Landfriede for now and leave the partisan bill for them to fight it out.¡±


    The three Jupiter sisters and the three Elites sat around a large conference table in the office-like student council room. Indeed, it looked like a typical office space with its cubicles and stacks of documents and spreadsheets.


    ¡°Then we¡¯re not even going to have a contingency plan if the Gilbert faction doesn¡¯t end up doing anything?¡±


    Bianca mused, somewhat disheartened by the seemingly uphill battle in the Assembly.


    ¡°First of all, Mira¡¯s Ewiger Landfriede is ambitious enough by itself. It¡¯ll take all we could to bring it to the forefront of public awareness and convince them to be on our side.¡±


    ¡°Second, the Mona faction¡¯s support of the Ewiger Landfriede right now is at most tentative. So we have much to lose if we lose focus on our own policy.¡±


    Eon and Caius continued to advise Bianca, as they were doing yesterday. The other three, who weren¡¯t as fired up by school politics as the former three, sat on the other end of the table working on their own things. Scarlett was eternally struggling with her schoolwork, Ariel was tidying up the Assembly session¡¯s minutes she recorded, and Kato was idling on his physics worksheet.


    ¡°I know. Neither of the Class A factions could be trusted. But by that logic, then shouldn¡¯t we have something on the Act of Neutrality? Especially if it isn¡¯t guaranteed that Gilbert will try to block it.¡±


    ¡°We know, but we have to pick our battles. We just don¡¯t have enough influence, is what we¡¯re saying, to do both things. We don¡¯t have as much resources as either of the Activity Council or the Public Safety Committee.¡±


    Caius¡¯ reference to the AC and PSC was related to the Class A factions. The two factions were split along a clear boundary; the chairwoman of the Activity Council led one faction, while the marshal of the Public Safety Committee led the other. Go figure.


    ¡°So we should prioritize on what we can actually do. And I¡¯ve got to say, without Mira¡¯s magic, our student council thing here is not going to go far.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting that I don¡¯t have what it takes to be at the helm of the student council leadership?¡±


    Bianca¡¯s eyes narrowed. She wasn¡¯t particularly upset. She was just used to challenging Eon on every little thing.


    ¡°As an advisor to the student council executives, I have an obligation to be precise and truthful in my guidance.¡±


    Eon was similarly unrelenting. He had never missed a confrontation with Bianca, and would continue to maintain this tradition.


    ¡°So, what are the parts of Mira which I don¡¯t have that makes her more suitable?¡±


    ¡°The part where you have to have an endearing and cheerful aura that immediately puts everyone at ease and sways the general populous to her side, instead of a condescending prick that looks down on people beneath¡ª¡±


    She reached over to pull on his cheek hard before she let him finish his sentence. She was mad, but not that mad.


    ¡°What¡¯s this about me, huh? The only condescending prick in here is the person right in front of me.¡±


    ¡°You must be looking into a mirror, then.¡±


    ¡°I must respectfully disagree. Clearly, it¡¯s a bespectacled young brat whom I know and love for many years.¡±


    ¡°Why, thank you. I know I¡¯m a very lovable person. My amiability runs through my blood.¡±


    ¡°And apparently your mouth runs off like a sewage pipe too.¡±


    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re not wrong. Sometimes it comes out as it is.¡±


    ¡°Okay, enough, you two. Let¡¯s get back on track.¡±


    Caius clapped his hands together to bring the bickering children back to the matter at hand, and perhaps surprisingly to outsiders, they did so without commotion.


    Spinning the pencil idly in his hand as he listened to the three of them debate, Kato finally noticed that Ariel was sitting next to him now and awaiting his attention.


    Ariel was a quiet person of few words, but for some reason always found her way into influencing if not leading every adventure that their childhood group of friends went on, and to that, she was well-respected by the boys of the Elites. Together with Bianca, they challenged the Elites at every opportunity possible.


    ¡°What is it, Ariel?¡±


    ¡°Hold me.¡±


    With her outstretched arms toward him, Kato gave her a bemused look. Although this happened countless times before, it still threw him off a little every time she did it. Ariel¡¯s expression seemed blank like Gilbert¡¯s, but she was by no means a boring person. She was just a person who was slow to show her emotions and found comfort with a low energy demeanour.


    He got off his seat, picked her up off of hers and let her clutch onto him, perching her head on his shoulder. He patted her head lightly, impressed at the silkiness of her waist-long silver hair. Though she was as tall as his little sister, her frame was a lot smaller and more fragile than Teto¡¯s well-built body.


    She squished her face into his shoulder as she wrapped her arms and legs around Kato, hanging onto him like a child would a parent. Interestingly, besides the fact that she even does this, she would only do this with her three older sisters, Kato and Eon; the people with little sisters in their families. Luckily, Kato, Scarlett and Mirabelle were all physically superior, so they could always entertain Ariel like this.


    ¡°Are you sleepy? Do you want to sleep?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. But they won¡¯t shut up. So I will just rest.¡±


    ¡°Aye aye, little missy.¡±


    Seeing Scarlett pulling at her own hair while attempting miserably to finish her homework, it was easy to see why Ariel came to him to satisfy her peculiarities. Scarlett usually took care of Ariel.


    Of course, Ariel didn¡¯t do this to strangers. In fact, she was even more cool and listless than she normally would be. If she was showing her idiosyncrasies in front of someone, it meant that she had a lot of trust in that person.


    ¡°Go outside.¡±


    ¡°Where outside?¡±


    He motioned to the three rowdy wanna-be politicians that he was going to look after Ariel, picked up a familiar key from the key rack and made his way out of the student council room.


    ¡°You already picked.¡±


    ¡°I certainly have.¡±


    Climbing up the stairs, he opened the locked doors to the rooftop. He carried her across the tiled open area to the roof¡¯s edge and sat them on a ridge that was a leg¡¯s span away from the fenced edge.


    From their vantage point, they saw a hilly city that rolled across the landscape. The mountains surrounded its fringes, while behind them were more hilly cityscapes that led up in the direction of their homes. The sun was already low in the sky, but it shined just as fiercely as it did midday.


    They sat together in peace for a long while. Occasionally, light gusts of wind tickled their faces and Ariel, still perched onto Kato¡¯s body with her eyes shut, would rub her cheeks with the back of her hand in response, almost like a cat. In a sense, Kato was indeed taking care of a pet.


    The school sounded for the end of fifth period, which meant the official end of classes. Students were now flooding the atrium once again, putting away their things and preparing to go home or do club activities. No doubt, the rest of the Elites were headed to the student council room to gather the gang to go home.


    Unexpectedly, she turned around to face the city and sat in his lap, but only seconds later, she began sinking farther and farther down and ended up sitting on the ground between the ridge and the fence, kind of like a lazy white-collar worker slipping out of their office chair. In the process, the back of her skirt flipped up and she was sitting directly on her butt.


    ¡°Up you go. Let¡¯s not get you dirty.¡±


    Kato grabbed her by the stomach like he would a kitten, and to that she rolled herself out of his clutches and sat up properly next to him. He gave a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Are you done?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    She smiled radiantly, with traces of Mirabelle in it.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get down to business. What do you have for me, Madam Secretary?¡±


    ¡°Business first? Then let¡¯s start with Alice.¡±


    Kato¡¯s eyes widened as he became wary about what she would say next. He kind of expected this, but still felt surprised as much as he was impressed with Ariel.


    ¡°You got very close to her in a span of a day. I¡¯m impressed. You even played footsie with her.¡±


    ¡°How do you even know this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in your class.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you are?¡±


    ¡°I started going to that class today.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He gave her a helpless look, signalling the end of his objection.


    ¡°She looks like she will join us, thanks to you again. Only last week, you¡¯ve added Yui.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯ve known Yui for years. Alice¡¯s situation is different. I¡¯m not sure if she will, but she seems to be good friends with Mira and Evie.¡±


    ¡°And they were her only friends. She is a complete loner in Class A.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ¡°Definitely.¡±


    Kato raised an eyebrow, but he had a lot of faith in Ariel¡¯s abilities. She was born for the job of student council secretary because not only did she have photographic memory, but could also process the information from it instantly. As a result, she could recount everything she saw in great detail together with the right context.


    On top of that, now that she actually was the student council secretary, she headed the Department of the Administration and its child organization, the Records Office. It was responsible for the records of the school¡¯s past, including Assembly minutes, accounting receipts, and much more. With her abilities, she could probably memorize the details of the past few years of this school with only a week of reading.


    ¡°She¡¯s pivotal to the next point, which is Gilbert and his faction.¡±


    Ariel continued in her lazy voice, and even ending her sentence with a yawn.


    ¡°Their family relations are cordial, but they themselves don¡¯t seem to be on good terms. Of course, Alice is not happy. She is engaged to Gilbert.¡±


    He doubled over upon hearing the punch line. Of course, somehow, she would know.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I checked with father over the summer when I suspected so.¡±


    ¡°Wait, how did you get to it?¡±


    Kato was slightly confused by the timeline of events.


    ¡°The Records Office¡¯s historical repository is open to the incoming student government at the end of last school year. I read through all the records related to students in our year, and Alice and Gilbert were two names that were interesting to me, since Mira was spending a lot of time with Alice.¡±


    ¡°Did I make it into the records?¡±


    ¡°I already knew everything in there though.¡±


    ¡°Bless up.¡±


    The Records Office recorded many, many things. Depending on the relative power of the Records Office that school year, they could ostensibly record every little interaction inside a club meeting, a classroom, or even in the open atrium. There were official records that clubs and other student organizations must submit, such as attendance and minutes, but other, more sinister records were also made by gathering intelligence from informants.


    ¡°Is the Records Office going full Stasi this year too?¡±


    ¡°You bet. It¡¯s a tradition.¡±


    Kato snickered amusedly as this little girl said something so dangerous.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just leave this responsibility to the Records Office.¡±


    ¡°As it should. Anyway, you understand now? Alice and Gilbert will be married once they graduate from here.¡±


    ¡°No wonder she was on edge. Do you know why their marriage is a thing?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Do you know their families¡¯ businesses?¡±


    ¡°The Lafayette Group we know is a big arms designer and supplier. They were part of both sides of the unrest in Lien recently. Mostly the protestors¡¯ side.¡±


    ¡°Correct. And what about Alice?¡±


    ¡°Alice Westgrove... Westgrove Logistics?¡±


    ¡°Bingo. Another arms designer and supplier. Specifically, they also do the supply chain business themselves too.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s a political marriage.¡±


    ¡°Of sorts. From what I understand from father, there is a power struggle among the elders of the Westgrove side, and the Lafayette marriage is supposed to abate that struggle temporarily.¡±


    ¡°Jesus. That sounds nuts.¡±


    He understood more clearly now, knowing Alice¡¯s temperament, why she made a fuss like she did.


    ¡°The details about why the marriage would form a truce, though, I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s your job to find out.¡±


    ¡°Why is it suddenly my job?¡±


    ¡°Because she seems to like you a lot. Use it to your advantage. Use her to influence the Gilbert faction to follow her lead, and therefore your lead, and therefore our lead.¡±


    Kato stood up and picked her up by the armpits, holding her up high in the sky.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a miracle worker, miss cat.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s time you start being one, nyaa~¡±


    ¡°Then help me be one. I can¡¯t do this all day.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve seduced too many women in your time. You don¡¯t need any help.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not me! I¡¯m merely the object of affection! In any case, that¡¯s not a real argument anyway.¡±


    He let the long cat back down on the ground. Again with her antics, she curled up and rested her head on his lap, and demanded him to hold onto her and stroke her head, which he did with infinite disbelief.


    ¡°Yeah. I was just being facetious. It was low-hanging fruit that Eon would pick.¡±


    He also tickled her underneath her chin, to which she, for some reason, appreciated.


    ¡°But still, are you for real about using Alice?¡±


    ¡°No. It wouldn¡¯t be mentally good for her. On top of that, it¡¯s an impossible task, even for my standards. But still, don¡¯t get any heroic ideas from this. This isn¡¯t as black and white as Yui¡¯s scenario.¡±


    Ariel gave him a stern warning. It was no joke. After all, entire sectors of this country¡¯s economy were at stake.


    ¡°It is just unfortunate that she has no choice in her future. But if somebody could help her out, that somebody can only be you.¡±


    ¡°I thought you just told me to not do it.¡±


    ¡°I never said you¡¯ll fix everything. She only needs to be told that she¡¯s important to the friends she holds so dear. That inside of her misery, there¡¯s someone out there completely unrelated to her family¡¯s world who would see her as the friend she is, and not a pawn in a political game. If you can do that, then it¡¯ll definitely help her.¡±


    ¡°That was awfully profound. Are you sure you¡¯re not a hundred years old?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just cut from the same cloth as Mira.¡±


    ¡°Hah. You¡¯re right.¡±


    Like Mirabelle, Ariel too read people like a book. However, unlike Mirabelle, Ariel somehow remained ambivalent, even unconcerned, in the interpersonal clashes between the Elites and the Jupiter sisters, so he sometimes came to the sagely feline for reality checks. If the lawgiver in The Social Contract existed, Ariel would be it.


    ¡°Business over?¡±


    ¡°One more thing.¡±


    Ariel cleared her throat.


    ¡°Mona Mackenzie is dangerous. She is the daughter of a property tycoon in Lien. She will, for sure, try her best to gain influence in this school, and probably for the second-years under her too.¡±


    Kato nodded. If a Class A faction leader had enough influence, they could even groom a puppet successor for next year, ruling the school from his or her first-year college dormitory. The faction leaders from last year didn¡¯t have enough influence, as evident in Mirabelle¡¯s victory, but it was possible that Mona had ambitions for when she departs.


    ¡°And they want this influence because they want to build a clique, gang, and network of students for their future in college and post-college, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Having a full contact list of people who owe you favours is definitely a plus. Often times, these people are in high positions in society, so clout, recognition, and ability to influence people are important for them to sustain such positions.¡±


    ¡°I see. A real estate tycoon would want to have a gang to crush competition by force.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not uncommon, unfortunately. And where else to build a loyal gang than the people you struggled in school together with?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. We are a gang. We¡¯re the most lethal gang, with three deities to boot.¡±


    Ariel paused. She stood on her two feet and faced Kato, who remained sitting on the ridge.


    ¡°Business is over. Now it¡¯s life counselling.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t had these in a while. But is there even anything left to discuss?¡±


    ¡°You have nothing for me?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Everything seems all right from here.¡±


    She leaned back into the fence behind her, finally showing some emotion on her face. It was one of mute sadness and disappointment.


    ¡°Then, I have something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m listening, Madam Secretary.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just Kato who confided with Ariel. She also reciprocated her own troubles to him on occasion.


    ¡°It¡¯s not anything new. I just want a status check.¡±


    Status check. It was their shorthand for the last stretch of drama between the two groups of childhood friends at the end of middle school. It was now more than two years ago, but to this day, some things lingered and were left unsaid.


    ¡°No. Nothing changed on the Elites¡¯ end. It got a bit more complicated with the addition of Yui, but you already know what happened.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean she won¡¯t stop trying. You underestimate that girl.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps you¡¯re right. How about the Jupiters¡¯ side?¡±


    ¡°Nothing concrete here that I could discern. Or rather, nothing yet. This is your last year here, no?¡±


    ¡°Not just mine. Evie and Teto too. After this year, we¡¯re leaving this city for good, or for ill.¡±


    ¡°Then do I need to explain it to you? Or have you learned enough by now?¡±


    ¡°I can expect something to happen from your side, then?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t tell me what it is?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not me who needs to find a happy ending.¡±


    He sighed.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, Madam Secretary. I guess it has to be them.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re not going to do anything about it?¡±


    ¡°You know me. I¡¯ll take them on as they come. Fits my style, right?¡±


    ¡°But these are my sisters we¡¯re talking about. At least give them something to work with.¡±


    He snickered, but not in the manner to sabotage their efforts by refusing her request. Actually, the grin on his face read ¡®as if they needed it¡¯. Ariel suddenly smiled brightly. Something roused her good mood.


    ¡°What if I told you, all of us Jupiter sisters were the same?¡±


    ¡°Please, no. Don¡¯t even think it.¡±


    Kato twirled on his bottom, swung his legs onto the other side of the ridge and bounced onto his feet.


    ¡°We¡¯re quadruplets. It isn¡¯t impossible.¡±


    ¡°Tell me when y¡¯all actually look like quadruplets first.¡±


    ¡°If we go by that logic, then the situation makes sense, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    Ariel climbed onto Kato¡¯s back, who settled in snugly as she let him carry her away and back towards the student council room downstairs.


    ¡°That was exactly what I was going for.¡±


    Locking the doors with his stolen key, they descended the stairs in peace as the halls were already almost cleared of students and most of them had headed for home or after school activities.


    ¡°Even though I didn¡¯t end up like them, I¡¯ll still miss you and the gang. It was fun. If I could, I would have wished you weren¡¯t a deity.¡±


    Kato smiled wistfully. He was always touched by Ariel¡¯s frankness with him, and this time was no different.


    ¡°You can still wish it. A cat can make all the wishes it wants.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a cat. I¡¯m a little sister who wants a big brother with an incurable little sister complex to spoil me.¡±


    Ariel dismounted from her ride and gave her chauffeur a wide smile, one of plain innocence. Her silver hair shined just a bit brighter than usual, as if to reflect the pure sincerity in her feelings.


    ¡°Aye aye. I¡¯ll be your big brother, until the day I depart.¡±

 2.5 The Everyday That We Wanted

    Because they were in student council now, they were leaving school later than they usually would, so Sisi could walk home with them.


    However, instead of Mirabelle¡¯s usual presence, her spot today was temporarily replaced with Alice. Though her role was different, she nonetheless made quick friends with the rest of the Jupiter sisters. Interestingly, Alice was already well-acquainted with Bianca, to the surprise of the Elites.


    ¡°Eh, I didn¡¯t know Mira was like that at home.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she¡¯s kind of like Teto in that sense, but she¡¯s just more of a diva in general than anything else.¡±


    ¡°I can see that. Mira likes to have things done her way.¡±


    ¡°As the lesser twin, I see it all the time.¡±


    Their group passed through the playground that they held so dear, and at the same time climbing onto the structures as they walked by.


    ¡°The slides.¡±


    ¡°The monkey bars.¡±


    ¡°The jungle gym.¡±


    ¡°The swings.¡±


    Four boys stood atop their respective playground equipment, complete with exaggerating hero poses.


    ¡°Y¡¯all wished this was a photoshoot. Too bad you guys aren¡¯t male models.¡±


    The other girls giggled at Bianca¡¯s accusation. The boys were impenitent.


    Past the fence beyond the playground, the two groups waved each other goodbye. Last year, the number of people on the suburbs¡¯ path outnumbered the city¡¯s, but now the pilgrims on the city¡¯s path increased almost twofold, including Alice.


    The diminished gang waved Eon farewell when they arrived at his apartment, not too far from where the Eternian children lived. They continued along the main road, slipped between a narrow alleyway between two shops and onto a smaller road behind them, where their apartment building was. They were home.


    Arriving at the door to their doubled-up flat, they bustled through the opening hurriedly and tumbled into their side of the flat. Evie and Teto landed on the couch and flipped on their radio set, letting the radio station¡¯s music sound through their apartment.


    ¡°Wow. This scene is terrible.¡±


    Alice commented on the state of their side¡¯s living room. It was quite messy, as usual.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault.¡±


    Both Yui and Kato raised their hands, distancing themselves from the chaos. Kato was one of the minor perpetrators, though.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get to cleaning up, okay?¡±


    Yui smiled elegantly as she pointed to the mess in front of her. The two nodded and Yui left them to take care of the two other sisters and the clusters of clothes and belongings scattered across the room.


    ¡°If this mess happened in my home, I would be so angry. You wouldn¡¯t want to see it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a stickler for tidiness?¡±


    ¡°You bet. Still, this place is nicer than I expected.¡±


    Kato took her schoolbag and hung it with his own on the new coat rack that Yui insisted on buying as to try and fix the stormy situation in their flat.


    ¡°What do you mean by that? Did you expect us to live in an actual dump?¡±


    ¡°No. But then again, feeding three kids from the wild takes a lot of effort. Yui doesn¡¯t count since she¡¯s been here for only a week.¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s a shame you couldn¡¯t meet Karl. He singlehandedly raised three problem children from the start of grade school ¡®til last week.¡±


    ¡°He must be a really patient and talented person then, to have raised the three of you.¡±


    ¡°Truly, a one of a kind.¡±


    On the carpeted floor was a large enough coffee table for Teto to slip her legs under and sit on the carpet at it as if it was a real desk. Evie following suit, they took out their homework for the day and began working on it furiously.


    ¡°And those two are surprisingly enthusiastic about doing work.¡±


    ¡°Teto I understand, but Evie is a surprise, yes.¡±


    ¡°What about your homework?¡±


    ¡°Mine is whatever. What about yours?¡±


    They locked eyes, but Alice did not back down this time.


    ¡°My work is easy to finish.¡±


    ¡°Good at school, eh?¡±


    They looked to the two sisters who were already scratching their heads in frustration, mere moments into starting their assignments.


    ¡°On the other hand, they need to get started because they¡¯re not the studious type.¡±


    Kato shrugged while Alice giggled at the struggling duo. Teto continued to pull at her hair, and Evie turned to the two better students, giving them a tired expression that told them she was already utterly defeated.


    ¡°Give them a break. Not everyone¡¯s born with talent for studying.¡±


    Yui consoled the deific sisters as she paused to give direction on their homework. In only a span of a week, she became a splendid elder sister to every one of them.


    As Old Yue music played in the background from the big metallic box that was the radio, Alice turned to the window behind her. It was large and spanned the length of the living room of the flat, overlooking the pedestrian road, shops and the main road they came from earlier. Lying atop the plastic screen covering the bottom of the protruding metallic cage that secured the wide window was their altar.


    ¡°What kind of an altar is this? And these spirit labels?¡±


    ¡°Ah, these are our spirit names. Our master gave these labels to us after we completed our training under him.¡±


    ¡°All of you are deities? Not just Evie?¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes widened, incredulous.


    ¡°Forgot to mention it earlier. And Evie forgot to mention it for a whole year. The three of us are deities. Yui is not.¡±


    Kato pointed to the three to make his point clear.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s why there are only three names here. Which one¡¯s yours?¡±


    ¡°That one.¡±


    He pointed to the one named ¡®sunrise¡¯ and Alice giggled at the name, to which he was a bit upset.


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny about it?¡±


    ¡°It just sounds so corny, and also to describe you with it.¡±


    ¡°All literary names are like this. The other two didn¡¯t get any better names.¡±


    Kato was defiant, but it was true that they were weird names. Even they themselves made that observation yesterday, but still, less ammunition for Alice the better.


    ¡°So I¡¯m guessing ¡®sunset¡¯ is Teto to complement yours, and ¡®sparks¡¯ is Evie. I¡¯d say those are better names than yours. Yours just sound so arrogant, like the high and mighty person you are.¡±


    ¡°High and mighty, that sounds like me, all right.¡±


    ¡°What is it that you all are now? Hearts candidates?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re next in a long line to becoming Hearts.¡±


    ¡°Eternia¡¯s greatest deities. Sounds like a hard job.¡±


    She looked beyond the altar and over the shops and the main street. They were only one floor up, so the main street itself was somewhat obscured by the shops. Below, the pedestrian street continued to flow with occasional passersby and small motorized vehicles.


    ¡°I like this place a lot. It¡¯s a lot noisier than my home.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s your home?¡±


    ¡°In the new town Tseungkwano. The newly developed city area that once only had rich people¡¯s houses.¡±


    ¡°And they still have the rich people¡¯s houses there.¡±


    ¡°Well, of course. Just a typical mansion.¡±


    ¡°A typical mansion.¡±


    He scoffed.


    ¡°If I had a choice, I¡¯d prefer to live here than over there. Ugh, I hate that place. Why does it exist? Why is this suffering?¡±


    She furrowed her brows and made a pained face, perhaps with a slight twinge of melodrama, as she was reminded of the disappointment she had for her residence. Kato was bemused at her melancholia, but nonetheless pulled her back out of her distress.


    ¡°Why choose here over there?¡±


    ¡°Although that area¡¯s gotten better compared to a few years ago, I still feel like everything is way too far apart from each other there. It makes it feel inconvenient and empty of people.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you prefer the busy lifestyle than the suburban one.¡±


    Alice took her schoolwork out from her bag that hung from the standing coat rack. She made her way over the carpet and sat at the now-crowded coffee table. The two who were struggling continued to do so.


    ¡°Of course. Who wouldn¡¯t want to live in a warm home like this one?¡±


    Kato too took the same physics assignment out of his, but instead of squeezing himself at the table, he placed his belongings on the wide windowsill and leaned against it, enjoying the warm and mild winds as he easily penciled in the answers.


    And so the fairly peaceful scene remained for a long while. With excruciating pain and effort, Yui and Alice were able to teach Teto and Evie how to do their assignments in time. Because Kato knew how hopeless those two were, he declined to join them in the first place.


    As the sun approached ever closer to the city¡¯s skyline, the sunlight stretched further into the orange spectrum. On the other side of the flat, the sounds of a kitchen hood rumbled on for a long time. Only until the smell of food reached the siblings¡¯ flat did the fan turn off and was followed by the sound of cluttering furniture.


    ¡°Dinnertime!¡±


    Sisi called out to the children on the other side, who immediately dropped whatever they were holding and hurried into Karl¡¯s flat.


    ¡°Impressive. Ms Romana, this is all your work?¡±


    ¡°Except for the roasted pork Sisi bought from downstairs, everything is mine creation.¡±


    They all sat around the cramped folding table and began eating immediately. The impressed Alice, however, remained wide-eyed and hesitant to start. On the table were the roasted pork, white-cut chicken, stir-fried seafood with rice noodles, steamed egg with dried shrimp, and pea sprouts. In the kitchen was a pot of pork bone soup combined with various herbs.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Sitting next to her was Kato, who used the common chopsticks to fill her bowl up with the rice noodles. Since Sisi decided to go with frying rice noodles today, there was not a need to cook too much rice.


    ¡°Eat up. You¡¯re here exactly for this, right?¡±


    Kato laid down the bowl in front of her, and then picking up some other foods to put into her bowl as well until it was filled with a variety of meats and vegetables.


    On the other side of Alice was Evie, who took a morsel of shrimp and held it up to Alice¡¯s mouth with her chopsticks.


    ¡°Eat up already.¡±


    Alice saw the calm smile on Evie¡¯s face, and she acquiesced. She ate the food that Evie boldly held up to her, and she was markedly moved. Her eyes turned watery at the force of her emotions. It was as delicious as she remembered it, the Yue food that she would eat on occasion outside of her childhood household in Breisgau.


    ¡°Are you crying already? Isn¡¯t it too fast?¡±


    ¡°The first bite is always the most emotional, Evie.¡±


    Yui chided Evie as they watched on expectantly at Alice¡¯s reaction. It wasn¡¯t hard to tell that Alice really liked the food.


    ¡°Thank you, everyone. It¡¯s only this good because I¡¯m able to enjoy Ms Romana¡¯s food with all of you here. Let¡¯s eat.¡±


    Alice smiled at everyone. They returned it graciously, and continued eating again.


    <hr>


    ¡°I never thought Evie would come up with something like this. I¡¯m glad that we¡¯re friends.¡±


    ¡°Evie¡¯s got some really good ideas when you least expect her. That¡¯s my precious older sister.¡±


    After finishing dinner, Kato brought Alice to the local bus stop for her to make her way home. Though Sisi had tried to insist calling a taxi, Alice unsurprisingly wanted to make her way home travelling through the city by herself.


    ¡°I told you, right? Even though I lived in Breisgau for most of my life, and now in Livia, there wasn¡¯t actually a lot of opportunity to eat locally. First world problems.¡±


    Breisgau was a large city in the Kingdom of Rine near the Auxiria-Ava-Rine border, coincidentally also a major exclave of Old Yue speakers and the hometown of Franco¡¯s family.


    ¡°But when you did, you liked it a lot, even making Yue cuisine your ¡®mother tongue¡¯, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Somehow, it was always my mother tongue.¡±


    The busy main street began lighting up with its night time displays and signage. Many passersby took an extra moment to get a better glance at the elegant and attractive blonde girl, and rightfully so. Alice was that deserving of her popularity at school.


    ¡°Even though I¡¯m born Rinian, I¡¯ll always be more like a person from Yue than Rine. That¡¯s not changing, no matter how much traditional Rinian food they serve me at home.¡±


    ¡°Fair. I¡¯m born Auxirian and can still speak Standard Candoran, but I have no emotional ties to Auxiria. Yue, in its old form, is my sole identity. It¡¯s the case for everyone who grows up here.¡±


    ¡°I can tell.¡±


    She chuckled lightly. At a nearby store, a radio was turned on and music played loudly from it, though the streets were already noisy enough to dampen the music.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that Ms Romana would be this good at Yue cuisine. She¡¯s supposed to be from Royal Candor, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, part of why Sisi¡¯s Old Yue is so good is because she was born to be a Heart, so naturally, Old Yue would be her first if not second language. She is also a graduate of Korolev Senior.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. That means she spent her youth here in this city, lived as a student and fought the Class Wars, once upon a time.¡±


    ¡°No doubt she learned to be so prideful of the Class Wars from winning it too.¡±


    ¡°She was in the winning class of her year? Then is she in her year¡¯s photo in the West Hall?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we all looked for her photo the next day she told us about it. She looks exactly the same as she did back then.¡±


    ¡°Her youthfulness is truly mysterious.¡±


    ¡°Mysterious indeed. One day, I¡¯ll find out why.¡±


    The bus that she needed to take had stopped in front of them.


    ¡°Thanks again for the food. You have no idea how uncommon this is for me.¡±


    She said, a tiny bit tearfully. Kato nodded sympathetically.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s hope we can all hang out some more and enjoy. We¡¯ll turn it into commonplace.¡±


    <hr>


    The week rolled by in an instant and already it was Saturday, the last school day of the week. Morning classes continued as normal, but there were no afternoon classes on Saturday, so class was dismissed by lunchtime. However, the school remained open until the regular end of school day for extracurricular activities.


    ¡°Give me that.¡±


    ¡°Okay, fine.¡±


    Kato passed a carton of the tea drink he got from the vending machine outside the student council room that he wanted for himself, but Alice decided that he shouldn¡¯t drink packaged tea drinks and instead, should drink the herbal tea she brewed at home and brought to school.


    In fact, Alice also brought homemade lunch for Kato, knowing that the Elites normally got takeout from the cafeteria. Surprisingly, Alice knew Yue cuisine well enough that it was no different from a native cook¡¯s food.


    ¡°Thanks for the food, Alice. I most definitely recommend.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Of course my food is good. I¡¯ve never had anyone who thought it was bad.¡±


    Alice turned pink and tried to hide her delight with a prideful assertion.


    ¡°If there were, those guys don¡¯t know what Yue food is.¡±


    ¡°Right? Yue cuisine¡¯s flavours are light, so foreigners usually complain about a lack of taste. But that¡¯s what makes it great.¡±


    ¡°The use of scallions, garlic and ginger is why it¡¯s so good. It normalizes the flavours so that it remains light to your taste buds, even if the flavour itself was originally heavy.¡±


    After her experience with Sisi¡¯s handwork, this was the result. The day before, Kato too cooked a meal for Alice, and they spent a good chunk of time too praising and criticizing the results of his efforts.


    ¡°I think your cooking is better than mine, even with the power of love for my sisters on my side.¡±


    ¡°The culinary arts are about diversifying your experiences. If you cooked food for your sisters all this time, then of course it would be tailored to their tastes.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯m a master of cooking for sisters.¡±


    ¡°Calm down there, son. You said you only got time to cook once or twice a week, so you¡¯re most definitely not that practiced.¡±


    The two sat at one end of the conference table of the student council room, whilst the rest of the Elites and the Jupiter sisters, over the course of lunch period, gathered at the other end of the table.


    ¡°What the hell¡¯s going on?¡±


    Caius whispered to the other guy and girls around him, together watching the two cuisine enthusiasts ramble on.


    ¡°I know and I don¡¯t know. But in other news, this is what a romantic comedy should be like.¡±


    Bianca flicked at Eon¡¯s forehead upon hearing that, to which Eon yelped reflexively at the pain.


    ¡°Although I have some choice words for you, it wouldn¡¯t stop you anyway.¡±


    ¡°That flick was kind of like a choice word!¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s not stopping you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed correct.¡±


    Evie continued with her bento box as their vanguards began bickering again. She ignored the noise from her childhood friends, and instead, she watched on Kato and Alice¡¯s conversations silently. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t entirely silent as an ominous aura emanated from her, which contributed to the spooked nature of the rest of the gang.


    There were two people missing, one Teto and one Franco. Teto, belonging in second year, had her own group of friends to hang out with at school, to the dismay of her brother. On the other hand, Franco stayed home as he had to go visit a temple with his parents.


    ¡°Evie¡¯s going to get mad soon, is she? She does this with Mira all the time.¡±


    ¡°I can see it going either way. Alice is not Mira, after all.¡±


    ¡°Though Evie¡¯s been stone-faced the entire time, she¡¯s usually like this, so let¡¯s give it more time.¡±


    Scarlett asked Ariel and Yui of the student council room¡¯s current situation.


    ¡°Okay, to be fair, we all kinda moved away from them, so this is the result.¡±


    ¡°That is to say, we¡¯re part of the problem too.¡±


    Eon and Bianca rejoined in their mumbles when they finished throwing punch lines back and forth.


    ¡°Evie, come here.¡±


    Suddenly, Kato called out to his sister, which caused everyone else in the room to freeze. Evie gracefully moved over to the seat next to him, her eyes only on Kato.


    ¡°Wanna bite? Say ¡®ah¡¯.¡±


    Kato smiled brightly as he held a spoonful of Alice¡¯s fried rice out to her. Alice, like the rest of the room, was perplexed at the kindness that Kato showed to Evie, in contrast to his usual attitude towards her.


    Without hesitation, Evie closed her mouth on Kato¡¯s spoon, having a taste of Alice¡¯s culinary abilities.


    ¡°Mm. It¡¯s great.¡±


    Evie¡¯s cheeks tickled pink as she revealed a softened expression and let Kato wipe the corners of her mouth with a napkin. The wariness she had up until now was gone completely.


    ¡°Evie! Take a bite of this, too!¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes lit up at Evie¡¯s docile response. She pushed her lunchbox in front of Evie and began feeding it to her too. Evie didn¡¯t resist and let the unusually joyful Alice take care of her.


    Meanwhile, the other children watching on let out a collective sigh of relief as the ticking time bomb known as Evie had not detonated.


    ¡°I guess living with Evie for your whole life teaches you some things that could tame her.¡±


    Eon remarked. Evie just wanted some attention from Kato, and Kato knew that very well. Since everyone was not holding onto their breaths anymore, they finally felt safe enough to continue with their own lunches as well.


    With peace restored temporarily to the student council room, the timing was ripe for a foreign invasion, and indeed, the action never stopped for the Elites.


    A knock on the door came after a long lull in the tension, and once the door was busted open by the intruders, the tension returned in a flash.


    Of course, the Elites were not overly perturbed by the disturbance as among them were two deities. And they were most definitely not perturbed by the two burly third-years that flanked the two very familiar faces.


    ¡°Greetings, student council. Pardon my intrusion, but I¡¯ve invited myself in because the door was unlocked.¡±


    The deep voice echoed through the spacious and silent student council room. Next to Gilbert was his usual lackey in his usual sloppy yet menacing form, Stephen.


    Alice turned away from the scene at the door, instead continuing to feed Evie like she would a pet. Bianca rushed out from her seat to make a stand before the four unruly men with their shiny shield-shaped badges attached to their breast-pockets. They were badges that members of the Public Safety Committee wore.


    Kato and Eon followed behind Bianca quickly to meet the challengers to their new after school hangout place. And also to support Bianca, of course.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Kato started before Bianca could get a word in, asserting his dominance not only on the PSC members, but also Bianca. That particular part didn¡¯t fall on deaf ears, and Bianca elbowed him hard in the ribcage.


    ¡°Sorry about this brute. He can be rude sometimes. Now, Marshal, what do you want?¡±


    Eon stifled a giggle upon hearing her make the same barbaric demand. The scene was as usual for them as it could get.


    ¡°Madam Chancellor, and Madam Secretary as well. It looks like I have a few businesses I can take care of together here, but let¡¯s go with one thing at a time.¡±


    The marshal was the official leader of the PSC. In its internal deliberations last year, Gilbert was way more qualified to take its leadership than any of his competitors, and thus gained a student organization that was more or less under his complete control.


    ¡°Without going into too much detail, I would like to propose new legislation in next week¡¯s convention of the Assembly. Here¡¯s the draft.¡±


    He motioned for Stephen to hand over the folder he was holding onto. Bianca took it from him and handed it to Eon without looking at it.


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    Bianca made it obvious that he was not welcome here. Gilbert, like always, was unmovable. Instead, his right hand man got agitated for him.


    ¡°Is this attitude necessary from the student council? Don¡¯t forget you¡¯re a role model for students in this school.¡±


    ¡°And so are you. Whoop-dee-doo.¡±


    ¡°You¡­!¡±


    Bianca¡¯s shrug was met with a snarl from the lackey, but nothing else came of it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it at that. Onto the next order of business. I intend to bring forth a motion for hoisting of the Ewiger Landfriede. If whichever Madam Speaker next week would add this motion to the agenda, that would be great.¡±


    Hoisting was basically putting a delay on the policy. Policies could be defeated if it continues to get hoisted until the end of the year, when there wouldn¡¯t be enough time to debate on it anymore and it dies off.


    ¡°This is the formal order for the hoisting motion. I will inform you now that you will find the submission of it acceptable on the convention day.¡±


    This time, Stephen took out his clipboard with two copies of the order on it, ready for them to be signed by Members during the convention, which would garner enough support to justify putting forth this motion.


    ¡°Can I take this as an extortion attempt to force us to first-read your draft?¡±


    ¡°No. They¡¯re two separate functions. But if you want to take it that way, then you¡¯re more than welcome to.¡±


    Obviously he wouldn¡¯t say ¡®yes¡¯ to that question, but it nonetheless was an obvious threat to first-read Gilbert¡¯s legislation, or else they would attack the Ewiger Landfriede immediately.


    ¡°Whatever then. Thanks for your warning. It¡¯s Saturday afternoon, dear Lord. Done?¡±


    ¡°My business with you, Madam Chancellor, yes. There is one more thing to take care of.¡±


    While everybody else stood in place, Gilbert moved in Alice¡¯s direction, who was trying her best to ignore the approaching man.


    ¡°Alice, have you decided on attending tomorrow night?¡±


    She paused for a short moment as he asked her that question. Eventually, she let out an exaggerated and impatient sigh. Standing up from her seat, she looked up into the face of her fianc¨¦ and grimaced.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll be attending, but only when supper starts. I won¡¯t be there for the pre-party and reception.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be awaiting your attendance with anticipation.¡±


    She rolled her eyes at the formality. Without another word, she sat back down and ignored Gilbert.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this? A fan of yours?¡±


    Evie asked her neighbour innocently as everyone else froze on the spot, for a variety of reasons. The Elites and the Jupiter sisters were holding their breaths again, eagerly waiting for Evie or Alice to say something, while the marshal¡¯s lackeys balked in disbelief.


    Alice, too, turned red at Evie¡¯s question, but didn¡¯t make a scene of it. Even with Alice¡¯s mild awkwardness, she saw that Evie had no ulterior intent behind it and was genuinely just unaware.


    ¡°No, Evie. He¡¯s my fianc¨¦. We¡¯re getting married after we graduate from high school. I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t told you this before, but it was a real deal since the end of last year.¡±


    Decided that the cat was out of the bag, she obediently explained it to Evie, almost pleading with her to understand. Of course, confusion flickered across Evie¡¯s face at her explanation.


    ¡°Alice...¡±


    And then something clicked in her head, possibly in an unexpected and unnecessary way. She stopped and embraced Alice, who was surprised at the sudden physical contact.


    ¡°I feel sorry for you.¡±


    Then the other student council members burst out laughing. Evie most likely didn¡¯t have any deep meaning to that remark, but her honesty was ridiculous nonetheless. Stephen and his goons, however, were livid, and were only stopped by a signal from Gilbert.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you, Stephen. Whatever it is, there¡¯s no changing the fact that she is engaged to me.¡±


    Alice¡¯s face turned sour for a moment, but was instantly cured by Evie¡¯s touch.


    ¡°But this is disresp¡ª¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need it. Not here. These people are not my enemies, Stephen. And it¡¯s time for us to leave.¡±


    He looked expectantly at Alice, who took a moment before sighing apologetically and had Evie let go of her, to which Evie looked a bit sad about. She began packing her things and her half-finished lunch into her schoolbag.


    ¡°Alice, what are you doing?¡±


    Kato was the first to speak up at the sudden change of events.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for me to go. Gil¡¯s here to pick me up too, actually, probably because I haven¡¯t showed up at the front of the school by now. Sorry, I should have told you guys first.¡±


    ¡°But why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m responsible for taking her home on Saturday¡¯s half-day, so here I am.¡±


    Gilbert answered for her as they all headed for the door, the rest of the room still frozen in place. Alice consoled Evie as she got up and followed behind Gilbert.


    ¡°Evie, guys, I¡¯ll see you all tomorrow. It¡¯ll be fun!¡±


    Alice¡¯s smile was genuine. She looked forward to tomorrow as much as the rest of them did, so all they could do was return the smile.


    ¡°You bet!¡±


    ¡°See ya!¡±


    ¡°Bye-bye!¡±


    A flurry of goodbyes went by in a flash. As they passed through the door, Alice turned around once more, with the smile still there.


    ¡°Kato, I¡¯m glad that you were the one who invited me.¡±


    Feeling surprised and somewhat puzzled, he didn¡¯t have a witty response for her. That phrasing felt different from usual.


    ¡°No problem. I¡¯m here all day.¡±


    Then it was followed by a solid thud of the closing door on the student council room, and all the Class A students had vacated.

 2.6 The Demons From the Past

    ¡°That ending was quick.¡±


    The Elites and the Jupiter sisters were at their usual playground, now some time after lunch and halfway home. One additional character was present in the form of Sisi, walking with the children home as she was dismissed too.


    ¡°What ending?¡±


    Sisi looked quite out of place among the gang of high school students due to her small stature. People might mistake her for being somebody¡¯s younger sister, despite being a seventy-year-old elder.


    ¡°Alice suddenly left the student council room with Gilbert, so we closed shop early. It was weird.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, hopefully she doesn¡¯t run into too much trouble.¡±


    ¡°On the contrary, I¡¯m hoping she doesn¡¯t cause so much trouble that she can¡¯t come with us tomorrow. You know how she runs her mouth off like Eon.¡±


    ¡°Nah, she¡¯s not as bad as Eon. She knows her cards well enough.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you should use me as a standard for bad. Mine is way too low.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Your standards are low enough that normal insults have no effect.¡±


    They idled there for quite a while, looking at a map of the Bozz and comparing wishlists of rides they wanted to go on. Naturally, there was a lot of argument between Eon and Bianca, but they would all end on an agreement soon enough. Franco was still missing from their group, and unfortunately he would not have much say on their itinerary because of that.


    ¡°We should start off with the tallest, most exciting rides in the morning.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re ready to throw up so early?¡±


    ¡°Better than throwing up after lunch.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. We can do all the less physically demanding things after lunch.¡±


    ¡°Haunted house, please.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I want to hear you squeal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fairly certain it¡¯ll be the other way around.¡±


    ¡°Please, both of you went mental last time.¡±


    Interestingly, the two of them agreed on as many things as they disagreed.


    ¡°Kato, do you have a minute?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sisi?¡±


    Sisi pulled Kato a bit ways away from the group huddle, and had him sit next to him on the steps of one of the picnic shelters. They watched the others fight on every little detail amusingly, complete with Evie¡¯s awkward and heavy-handed interventions.


    ¡°Do you have any interest in a mission tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Mission?¡±


    ¡°A simple mission for a Heart. Think of it as an apprenticeship opportunity.¡±


    ¡°What kind of a mission is it?¡±


    ¡°Bodyguard duty. Starting tomorrow night at the Lafayette residence. Can you guess who we shall be protecting?¡±


    ¡°No. Not enough hints yet.¡±


    ¡°Think of it this way. Sisi asked you first, instead of Evie or Teto. In fact, Sisi shall only ask of you, and maybe Evie, for this particular mission. Now, how are you two related to the Lafayettes?¡±


    ¡°Ah... If I were to guess, the person we¡¯re guarding is Alice.¡±


    ¡°Correct. Are you in?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what Sisi likes to hear.¡±


    Kato said without hesitation, and Sisi smiled approvingly like a proud grandmother.


    ¡°But what¡¯s the impetus?¡±


    ¡°No idea. It is an order from the top. Sisi thought it would be important for you to come along. Alice is now a part of your gang, is that right?¡±


    ¡°She should have been last year, but you know Evie. She just leaves things where they are.¡±


    ¡°Sisi understands. And you¡¯re quite close to her after only a week.¡±


    ¡°Now, I¡¯ve heard this multiple times and I have to explain it every time, she¡¯s friendlier than she appears, and you just have to push her in the right direction.¡±


    ¡°Well, the girl has to like the boy first before she lets you do that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t decide that. Make effort into getting her to like hanging out with you. That¡¯s life, sister.¡±


    Giggling, she motioned towards the cluster of children.


    ¡°Sisi has heard from both Master Chang and Karl. They are your reason for spending a final year in Livia, is that so?¡±


    ¡°Hah, yeah. How much of it do you know?¡±


    ¡°Just on the surface. You only had this idea after you found out you¡¯d be erased from Livia¡¯s memory. It¡¯s understandable.¡±


    Kato and his sisters Teto and Evie were raised to become Hearts. Once they leave their city of origin, in order to protect their interests and the Hearts¡¯ in their duties, Eternia would seek out all the people related to the trio and wipe them from their memories. Part of that responsibility fell on their caretaker Karl, and that was why Karl was now absent from home all the time.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re right on the mark. That¡¯s exactly why I want to spend time with them.¡±


    A sinister grin appeared on Sisi¡¯s face as she leaned in towards Kato, who naturally became wary of this senior citizen.


    ¡°Which of those girls did you make this choice for, to take this year for yourself?¡±


    Kato began sweating profusely as his head churned out his possible courses of action, but it was too late. This nosy old lady already had an iron grip on his arm.


    ¡°It¡¯s... complicated.¡±


    ¡°Hmmmmmm. Let¡¯s hear about it.¡±


    Feeling the heat on his cheeks, he squinted warily at the grinning cat at his helm. He could feel Sisi was subliminally suppressing her presence so that people around her didn¡¯t notice her in their peripherals. This was a basic alchemical technique that all deities and challengers mastered and obviously needed to become an assassin.


    Kato too followed suit subconsciously, shielding his presence from his friends so that they were less likely to interrupt their conversation.


    ¡°Do I have to explain it?¡±


    He tried one more time to escape her hold, but even he thought the chances weren¡¯t very likely.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to, then Sisi shall start guessing.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re no fun.¡±


    Sisi crossed her arms and pouted at the disagreeable Kato. For a moment, he really thought he was talking to a meddlesome middle-schooler, but her unnatural beauty reminded him of her real age that she so far had not been acting as. Still, he remained silent and was unwilling to say anything to her.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Another round of arguments flared up in the distance, this time Caius and Ariel entering the fray as well. Since it was still pretty much midday, not many other children were around and the main street beyond the fence was fairly busy and crowded.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of Mirabelle or Bianca, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Kato¡¯s eyes widened nervously, to which Sisi grinned once again.


    ¡°Dude, you already knew!¡±


    ¡°And Sisi just confirmed it.¡±


    He put his palm to his face, exasperated at the tiny girl¡¯s determination.


    ¡°There was no need to confirm with me. Karl must have told you everything he knew.¡±


    ¡°Sisi did get a lot of it from him, but not all the details were there. That¡¯s why Sisi is asking you right now, and you¡¯re not telling Sisi.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯ll stay that way.¡±


    ¡°Should Sisi go ask them directly?¡±


    ¡°No! You shouldn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°Bianca¡¯s right there. Sisi can start with her.¡±


    ¡°Most definitely not.¡±


    ¡°Then you can tell Sisi about it, or Sisi can have them tell Sisi about it.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, there was no hope in sight. He definitely didn¡¯t want to bring it up with the two girls she mentioned; not yet anyway. There should be a better time to do so.


    ¡°Do you want to break the status quo that bad?¡±


    ¡°So there is drama between you and those two.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Kato made a pained expression. Unbelievable.


    ¡°Okay, fine. I¡¯ll only give you an abstract. That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°Ooo, not bad.¡±


    He climbed behind her, began untying Sisi¡¯s hair and retying it in different ways. It was a way to help him gather his thoughts.


    Sisi didn¡¯t complain. In fact, she looked pleased that someone was doing her hair. After all, Kato did Teto¡¯s hair all the time as a child.


    ¡°Even though we were tight since we were kids, starting in primary school, Mira slowly disappeared from our group. Apparently, she went to another school on top of ours, so by middle school she barely hung out with us anymore.


    ¡°By the end of middle school, Bia became especially close to me. It was unexpected, but Mira¡¯s absence was definitely part of why things came to be. Then I learned about the erasure. Can you guess what happened afterwards that led to today?¡±


    Sisi nodded solemnly as he continued to gently brush through her blonde hair. He wouldn¡¯t go through the details.


    ¡°Unexpectedly, it was Eon who brought us back from the brink. That¡¯s why, in the end, it isn¡¯t just about one or two people, even if Bia was initially why I sought for this year of freedom.¡±


    He unconsciously ended up tying one big braid behind her, though it wasn¡¯t very long because her hair only reached a bit past her shoulders. When he realized what he was doing, he also immediately knew why he chose to braid her hair. He replaced her ornamental hairpin through the braid to finish it off.


    ¡°Once Mira returned to us for high school, things went back to the way they were before. Mostly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Mostly.¡±


    Looking up from behind Sisi¡¯s head, he saw a familiar black-haired girl standing in front of them under the bright sunlight. Kato froze in place, complete with gaping mouth and open eyes. At the same time, he realized that Sisi, at some point, was no longer suppressing her presence. On the contrary, she was probably actively signalling Bianca to come over.


    ¡°Sisi shall be right back. Don¡¯t you dare follow after Sisi, Kato.¡±


    Sisi said merrily as she sprung up from the steps and ran away in the direction of the other children, leaving Kato and his incredulity behind.


    ¡°No, Sisi. I wasn¡¯t going to follow after you anyway.¡±


    He mumbled feebly as his new guardian took control of the children and their discussion. It now looked like as if Sisi was making all the final calls.


    ¡°You¡¯d better not be.¡±


    Bianca crouched down to Kato¡¯s eye level and smiled vaguely. He didn¡¯t say a word, but his eyes remained trained on her face, watching her carefully. Though she was blushing under his gaze, that was all he could discern. To be fair, a part of it was also avoiding looking up her miniskirt.


    ¡°You¡¯re still playing with other girls¡¯ hair, aren¡¯t you? I was one of your patrons of your hobby.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all for the sake of Teto.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Sisi¡¯s now-braided hair did not miss Bianca¡¯s eyes. Kato was the one who braided her hair so many times during that summer two years ago.


    She slowly untied the large bun behind her head to let her long hair down around her, and then grabbed it with her two hands to make it into two makeshift pigtails.


    ¡°Do I look like Mira?¡±


    She beamed, but it was touched with a tint of sorrow.


    ¡°No. I can already tell the two of you apart.¡±


    Once upon a time, it was not easy to tell the two apart if they were trying to imitate each other. It was one of the many frustrations the Elites struggled with in their childhood rivalry for mastery of the playground. However, in the present, he could always recognize the two apart.


    ¡°Really? I guess this will never work anymore.¡±


    She sat down in the same place where Sisi was sitting previously and pointed to her hair.


    ¡°Here, tie it up.¡±


    Kato, still sitting there on the wide step, hesitated for a moment before he reached out to touch her hair. He waited for a few more moments for Bianca to say something about how to tie her hair, but none came. It was his choice, so to speak.


    So he began tying up her hair in silence. Not being able to see her face was a bit worrying, and he handled her hair with excessive care, as if he was trying not to wake Bianca up from her dreams.


    ¡°Thank you. You¡¯ve kept your promise.¡±


    Bianca uttered those delicate words along with all her hopes.


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. The year has to end in a blast for it to be kept.¡±


    She laughed lightly. He just had to pick out small details so he could be a contrarian.


    ¡°It¡¯s as good as kept to me. You¡¯re really spending the year with the rest of us without doing anything for Eternia.¡±


    ¡°Technically, no. I just accepted a job from Sisi, but the job is also related to us, so that¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°The point is, y¡¯all shouldn¡¯t be tied down all the time by Eternia and be able to live a relatively normal life with us.¡±


    He began to spin her hair into her usual bun.


    ¡°Bia, will you... how much does it mean to you? The die is cast, since that time, right?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s been set in stone a long time ago, way before that time. As much as I hate to admit it, it was a lost cause from the very start.¡±


    ¡°You mean the erasure?¡±


    The mind wipe, of course, included the people who they¡¯ve known their whole lives. And Bianca was no exception.


    ¡°Not just the erasure. There are other obstacles in my way too. One person in particular, I¡¯ve never ever been able to overcome.¡±


    Bianca whispered softly. There was only one person she could be talking about.


    ¡°How did you live under her shadow for so long?¡±


    ¡°Dunno. It did help that she was gone most of the time, remember?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still like this right now. Mira¡¯s been absent since Tuesday.¡±


    Kato shook his head disapprovingly.


    ¡°I love my sister, but at the same time I can¡¯t bring myself to accept her superiority.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You have your own parts that are better than her.¡±


    ¡°Such as?¡±


    ¡°Being an honest person when I need you to be, but more than strong-willed enough to not hesitate to act. She¡¯s nothing like that.¡±


    A smile flashed across her face, and then just as quickly, disappeared.


    ¡°That¡¯s so unfair. It¡¯s actually all your fault.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s all my fault.¡±


    They fell silent under the shade of the gazebo, now growing slightly longer than it had been at midday.


    ¡°... then what will you do from here, Bia?¡±


    Kato finished up retying her bun and let go of her hair. Noticing that his fingers were no longer combing through her hair, Bianca reached behind her head to touch her new bun, as if to make sure it was really there.


    ¡°No braid?¡±


    ¡°No. No braid.¡±


    Bianca sighed. She turned around to face him, finally meeting eye to eye.


    ¡°Then here¡¯s my answer. It doesn¡¯t mean a lot to me. In a year¡¯s time, I¡¯ll forget that you even existed, much less our shared experiences.¡±


    She frowned, but she maintained eye contact with Kato. He could see both the determination and the tears in her golden eyes.


    ¡°Everything has been futile from the very start, but I don¡¯t care anymore. At the very least, I want you to never forget about me. That¡¯s a promise I¡¯ll have you keep, even if I forget about you.¡±


    Kato averted her gaze. A swirl of guilt, helplessness, and frustration overwhelmed him.


    ¡°How can I ever forget about you?¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you braid my hair?¡±


    Kato paused for a moment. He clenched his fist as he struggled to find the right words.


    ¡°Because this, is what¡¯s here in the present.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Then I want you to remember the Bianca from the past. Forever.¡±


    Her face was now mere inches away from his. The scene felt nostalgic, coming from the same place, but a different time.


    ¡°When you leave Livia and travel across Candor, when you wake up and head out to perform your duties, when you go to sleep after a day of risking your life for Eternia, promise me that I will remain vividly in your memories, until the very end.¡±


    Bianca leaned in and kissed Kato on the lips. In that moment of contact, she wanted to let go of an important part of her that she held onto for so long. But she realized, no matter what kind of closure she was going to get, as long as her memories remained, she would continue wishing for the impossible. And so the pain in her heart, too, remained.


    <hr>


    Some time earlier, before the Elites have left school, there was a tense standoff on the main boulevard of Korolev Senior. On one side of the road closer to the school was Gilbert¡¯s party, while on the other were members of the Mona faction.


    If this wasn¡¯t happening in front of the school and they were a few years older, having guns out wouldn¡¯t have seemed misplaced. No one except their ringleaders dared to move or speak.


    It was the Mona faction who was waiting first for Gilbert¡¯s men to appear. Standing behind Gilbert was Alice, who felt just a bit bemused by the seriousness of the situation.


    ¡°Mona. What do you need from me?¡±


    Gilbert was the first to speak up, in his usual no-nonsense style.


    ¡°Gilbert. I see that you¡¯re still taking good care of Alice. I know it¡¯s late coming from me, but many congratulations on your engagement.¡±


    Inexplicably, the tone did not carry any of the goodwill that the words might suggest. In fact, it was clear that there was bitterness in her voice.


    ¡°You have my thanks. We both appreciate your best wishes.¡±


    Regardless, Gilbert replied graciously and held onto Alice¡¯s hand as he said that, to which Alice did not make any response. Mona¡¯s gaze turned even more hostile, mostly at the indifferent Alice.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re doing your best to shoot down both policies that were introduced to the Assembly earlier this week, but that¡¯s not what I¡¯m here for. I want to know your position on Class F.¡±


    Mona, along with her gang, walked across the street to Gilbert¡¯s side to confront them. She crossed her arms and demanded.


    ¡°What exactly do you want to know about my position on Class F?¡±


    ¡°You are our class representative, so I have to seek your opinion on them, if they are due for punitive action.¡±


    ¡°I see. I understand.¡±


    Gilbert closed his eyes and mused. Beside him, Alice undoubtedly became more attentive at the conversation with the subject being Class F.


    ¡°You, of all people, should understand that this year isn¡¯t like other years. With the deities from Class F, we¡¯re the ones who need to compete with them, not the other way around.¡±


    ¡°I know. But I don¡¯t believe that they require punitive action yet. Every other class above them except Class E has the restoration of order casus belli on them. So far, they only fought against Class E, and won with a righteous casus belli on top. I don¡¯t see the rush for war yet.¡±


    Hearing Gilbert praise her friends¡¯ class was surprising and weird, but at the same time it was expected from Gilbert that he would give everyone a fair assessment. As much as she couldn¡¯t accept his way of life, Alice appreciated their friendship nonetheless.


    ¡°What¡¯s important is the status of Class A and its hold onto power in this school, not if our enemies waged righteous wars. You do realize that Class F is invariably allied to Class B, who are the ones in power right now? And therefore, they also control the peace processes after a Class War?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to see it first-hand today, so I understand your concerns. But Class B is already powerful by itself. Unlike our class, theirs is not fragmented into two factions. A war with Class F would be playing straight into their hands with Class B¡¯s leaders controlling the peace process.¡±


    ¡°Then is it not time we work together and bring them down? If we do, we¡¯d have the support of Class C and D in the Assembly, and the necessary manpower to win a war against one or the other of Class B or F. If they enter into an official alliance before we can take punitive action, we will lose our opportunity to keep them down.¡±


    ¡°The premise you put forth is exactly what prevents Class A from maintaining its supremacy. Do you actually believe our factions can work together?¡±


    Mona¡¯s face turned sour, offended by Gilbert¡¯s plain accusation against her.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m suggesting it here! A shift in paradigm is not so alien to you, is it? If this is going to be the year of anomalies, then we should use unorthodox methods too. Besides, this was totally possible, even likely, only until the end of last year.¡±


    Her voice trailed off at the end there, turning quieter as her expression softened, but it was only momentary. Her business-like appearance returned in a flash.


    ¡°Your points are valid, but I don¡¯t believe that Class A¡¯s supremacy can only be secured through war. Diplomacy is just as effective, even if it is more frustrating than war.¡±


    ¡°Diplomacy? What kind of a world are you looking at? We¡¯re high schoolers, not politicians with corrupt benefits. We only play on the path of least resistance.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. Are we not the same as politicians? That¡¯s why we¡¯re the leaders of the PSC and the AC respectively.¡±


    ¡°And you intend to play games with Class F? They have nothing but their brute force behind them, and they¡¯re being used as pawns by Class B to do their dirty work.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The only thing we need to do is to stop Class B from taking over the Assembly, and as long as Class F remains a politically indifferent entity, there¡¯s no real threat coming from them.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Class F¡¯s power consists only of the deities, and therefore concentrated in the hands of a few. To monitor and manipulate the wills of a few is not hard to do.


    ¡°In fact, both you and I already know these deities well enough to understand how they think. We didn¡¯t climb through Class F in middle school for nothing.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I don¡¯t think Class F is worth fighting over, especially with the divisions within our own class.¡±


    He explained soberly as Mona became visibly more frustrated. It wasn¡¯t because of his reasons, but of the reminder that they once fought together to climb up the hierarchy.


    ¡°Having so much faith in people to act the way they should is idealistic if not stupid. If you insist on doing so, it only serves to prove you¡¯re too naive to be our class representative.¡±


    ¡°Is this a challenge to my authority?¡±


    Gilbert took the naked challenge head-on like he always did. Mona was unperturbed, but gave up in the end anyway.


    ¡°No. I wouldn¡¯t need to. And I¡¯ve made my stance clear on Class A¡¯s situation. I hope you¡¯ll come to an enlightened decision, class rep.¡±


    A car pulled up beside the two groups. It was Gilbert¡¯s ride, and not a moment too soon either.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be taking our leave. I¡¯ll consider your position.¡±


    Gilbert nodded as he led Alice into his car while the rest of this entourage watched on.


    ¡°I have faith in you. I know you won¡¯t let Class A down.¡±


    Mona sneered. Not even blinking, he merely waved and got into the car with Alice as well. The car took off, leaving the school behind.


    As expected of a luxury car, it felt more like the interior of a limousine than a regular car. There was even a mini-fridge for serving drinks and snacks.


    Normally, they would drive Alice home to the Westgroves¡¯ residence in Livia, which was a comparatively small compound for their social status. It only had two floors with a small lobby area, but obviously it was still bigger than most homes. It was more like an upsized country home than a mansion.


    However, there was a detour for today. Alice was visiting a shrine for a special occasion for her.


    ¡°Is it true? Class A will be going to war with Class F soon?¡±


    ¡°I thought you had no interest in the Class Wars?¡±


    Answering a question with a question was not Gilbert¡¯s usual style, so it surprised her a bit.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in it for myself, but my friends are definitely part of it. It concerns me in that sense.¡±


    ¡°The Class F guys, huh. Well, it depends on the political situation. I know I have firmly rejected war with Class F at the moment, but it may change with time. One thing¡¯s for sure, war with them will be inevitable. This is a zero-sum game after all. For every winner, there¡¯s a loser, and my role is to bring Class A to victory.¡±


    ¡°And why did you have to take on this role? Isn¡¯t there better things you want to do?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a noble responsibility that¡¯s fallen onto me, so I take it wholly and with pride. And isn¡¯t Class F the same?¡±


    ¡°No. They aren¡¯t in it to fulfill a stupid role in society. They¡¯re doing it for fun, for their own sake, and so is Mira. They don¡¯t believe in your sense of noblesse oblige.¡±


    ¡°I see. And your stance too is the same as theirs. Then there¡¯s not much to talk about. Like I said, with the current state of affairs, war is inevitable, whether I was in power or not. You saw the determination in Mona to wage war.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way for you to stop this?¡±


    ¡°If there was, Mona¡¯s faction would not even exist to begin with. A war isn¡¯t the be all end all.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯d still rather not see my friends having to hurt each other. Not in this way.¡±


    ¡°Ah. I understand your concern, but it¡¯ll be fine. The cleanse tags are made for this reason. In any case, if you were to choose, you¡¯ll firmly stand on the Class F side.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but you¡¯re not giving yourself enough credit. At the end of the day, you¡¯re my fianc¨¦, right?¡±


    The edge was cutting, to say the least.


    ¡°You only need to do that in front of our families. Just be prepared to accept the consequences when you do take their side.¡±


    ¡°Consequences?¡±


    ¡°Your sympathy for Class F has not gone unnoticed. Contrary to your belief, your profile is quite visible and of interest to a lot of groups.¡±


    ¡°Mainly because I¡¯m connected to you, to be honest.¡±


    Gilbert shrugged.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re being watched. I will acquiesce to your treason, but it doesn¡¯t mean others from our class will do the same.¡±


    ¡°Then make them, mister class rep. That¡¯s your job.¡±


    ¡°If only I could.¡±


    The road led into the less densely packed outer fringes of the city where grass and trees were a slightly more common sight. The place was still lively with people, but not as much as it was in the inner city. It was one of the more suburban areas, similar to where Caius, Franco and the Jupiter sisters lived in.


    Finally, they turned into the Oriental temple that was boxed inside the main boulevards of this outer district. In addition to the Yue shrines and places of worship, within its grounds was also large common cemetery for the deceased.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait in the parking lot. Take your time.¡±


    Gilbert opened the door to let Alice out. She left her schoolbag with Gilbert in the car and marched onto the open square of the temple while the car drove off of the pickup-dropoff zone for the parking lot nearby.


    This was the second time she visited this temple. The air was slightly different from the temples in the Rine; it was probably closer in spirit to the Yue homeland. There weren¡¯t many grand steps she had to climb as this area was quite flat. The entire temple grounds were level.


    Passing through the main gate, flanked by grey statues of animals and wooden arcs painted in red, she entered a smaller square with many paths that led to different areas and wooden buildings. Each of those buildings housed a statue of a mythical deity from Yue folklore, complete with tables of fruits, shrine tablets and incense. Some smaller deities did not have their own private rooms, but instead were outside in the small square under rain shelters.


    Although she obtained some incense and a small bouquet of flowers from one of the temple¡¯s server, she wasn¡¯t there to kneel on the prayer cushions and pay her respects to the gods. Instead, she followed a path on the side that led to another open area: the cemetery.


    Standing there at the entrance, she met an unlikely person standing some ways further along the main path. The red-haired boy waved to her the moment they recognized each other.


    ¡°Yo, Alice.¡±


    Franco walked up to her with his parents in tow. Alice, too, greeted him well-naturedly.


    ¡°Franco. You¡¯re here to visit someone as well?¡±


    ¡°Yup. I came to visit my older brother who left us a long time ago when I was a kid. So our fam comes here every year on his anniversary.¡±


    ¡°I see. I also witnessed the death of a good friend when I was a child, and only in recent years I learned that his grave was here in Livia, so I too come and visit on his anniversary.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then my brother and your friend shares the same day. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s lucky or not.¡±


    ¡°Hah. I¡¯d say it¡¯s pure luck. Life goes on.¡±


    ¡°For sure, for sure. Did you just get here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did. Are you about to leave?¡±


    ¡°Just about to. We also have an altar at home, and my mum wants to prepare for the prayers there too.¡±


    ¡°You missed school to come here?¡±


    Franco nodded.


    ¡°To be honest, it doesn¡¯t take too long to do everything, but my mum insists on staying at home together as a family on this day, so I don¡¯t get to go to school.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fair. Well, it¡¯s my turn to get my business done, and I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    She smiled earnestly. They waved.


    ¡°See you!¡±


    She walked down the main stone path to nearly the very end of it. This particular cemetery was the only Candoran-style cemetery in the city with its tombstones. Because of space concerns, most others serviced in shrines with traditional Yue spirit tablets for the dead.


    Walking off the main path and onto a row, she stopped in front of a small gravestone. Surprisingly, she saw fresh flowers and incense laid at the helm, and subconsciously looked around to see, but it was obviously futile. The incense was already all burned, so whoever visited had already left.


    She kneeled down in front of it, placed her one incense stick into the incense pot, untied the shard of Plexiglas around her neck, and said her prayers with it in her hands. Etched on the gravestone were only two things: a Rinian name, Percival Lippmann Rockefeller, and a year, 1876.


    ¡°Percy, I¡¯ve returned again this year. How are you doing? It seemed only not so long ago that you¡¯ve left, but I¡¯m already about to graduate from high school.


    ¡°Though, I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯ve changed much since we last saw each other. It¡¯ll make it easier for you to recognize it¡¯s me, right?


    ¡°Also, I¡¯m engaged now. Weird, huh? We were supposed to be engaged, but look at the state of affairs now. Life moved on without you, sadly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I had a choice in the matter, though. Don¡¯t worry about that. If I had any say in this, I¡¯d never marry.


    ¡°But it¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll manage it somehow. I¡¯ve met a few good people recently, and I hope we can remain friends, so that the dreariness of the family business isn¡¯t so hard to deal with.


    ¡°There¡¯s this one boy who keeps making fun of me for his own amusement. Not only that, but he¡¯s surrounded by many other girls too. Remind you of anyone? It¡¯s as if I can see you in him. And whenever I think of you, it brings me back to those old days and takes me out of today¡¯s reality.


    ¡°Heh. You don¡¯t have to be jealous about what¡¯s happening here on Earth today. All these things are merely a curse for the living. Whether or not I can move on from your departure, a part of you will always be there in my heart.¡±


    She re-tied the pendant around her neck and stood. The incense continued to burn as its ashes fell into the pot that housed it.


    ¡°Goodbye. I¡¯ll try my best to come with better news next year.¡±

 2.7 Day of Recess — Bianca’s Resolve

    August 28, 1887. Clear skies, 21¡ãC.


    Like usual, the Habsburg house and Eon arrived first at the gates of the Bozz, before the Jupiter sisters or Caius and Franco. Though it was said the Habsburg house, unfortunately, Karl was not coming and instead, Sisi was taking his place. There was some regret with Karl not being able to go with them as this was their last year together and this was a rare opportunity, but alas, it was unavoidable.


    Holding onto Kato¡¯s left hand was his dearest little sister, Teto. She decided to go with a big loose t-shirt over a chequered frilly skirt with sandals today, and true to her phobia of clothing she continued to refuse to wear socks. Her twin drills were rolled up around her hair rollers to maintain the strength of the curls.


    Sitting on the bench were his two older stepsisters, both beautiful in their own right. The supermodel Evie chose to go super casual with an open shoulder sweater and pleated skirt, somewhat muting her naturally powerful sex appeal. On the other hand, his newest stepsister Yui went with a very mature look, complete with a light short-sleeved jacket over a dress shirt and a tight skirt. Standing up next to them was their guardian Sisi in a frilly tank top exposing her tiny but bare shoulders and arms.


    Crouching next to the road some ways away from the bus stop where they got off not too long ago was Eon in his trademark cardigan. Kato himself was in his tight long-sleeved shirt and skinny jeans. There weren¡¯t many options for men, to be honest.


    ¡°Get over here.¡±


    Eon called out to Kato as a bus came in. He motioned for Teto to let go of his hand, and she ran into Evie¡¯s open arms.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I believe the dudes are here.¡±


    They crouched together and watched from afar as the people got off the bus one by one. Sure enough, a short blonde-haired boy in a hoodie followed behind a tall man with a red-haired bowl cut in a polo shirt.


    Next to the amused Kato, Eon waved frantically at the new arrivals but remained silent as to not disturb the girls on the bench. As scripted, Caius and Franco knew exactly where to look and immediately found the two of them. It wasn¡¯t the first time they had this drill here at the Bozz.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    They all huddled together on the side of the road, perhaps comically, all crouching if not already sitting down on the curb.


    ¡°Need a light?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    They didn¡¯t actually smoke. There were lots of kids who did, but because Kato had a very physically demanding job waiting for him, he¡¯d rather not take up such an unhealthy habit. Instead, they did lollipops and Caius handed one out to the each of them.


    ¡°Caius, you saw them already?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they were there. They¡¯re as glamorous as always. They should be coming off the next bus.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡±


    Caius and Franco took the express bus to get here, but the stop that the Jupiter sisters would have waited at wasn¡¯t an express stop, so they would pass by the Jupiter sisters waiting there and conveniently snoop on them.


    ¡°Glamorous as in expected?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Beautiful but we¡¯ve seen them before.¡±


    ¡°Franco was very lucky that he joined our circle. He can join us gawking at our childhood friends.¡±


    Kato snickered at Eon. That did sound kind of ridiculous, he thought, but hey, they were all men here.


    ¡°There¡¯s more eye candy over there too, if you want.¡±


    ¡°I mean, they¡¯re all really good too. I guess the fresh new figure is Yui, who¡¯s not too bad herself.¡±


    ¡°No, she¡¯s really good. Evie¡¯s form is just unfair, but in isolation, Yui should be top of our class if Evie was excluded.¡±


    ¡°Yeah what the eff, Kato, how do you live with Evie when she¡¯s the living definition of sex?¡±


    ¡°By spending every minute of your life with her so that every part of her becomes normalized. I¡¯ll dig up Pavlov¡¯s dog from the grave for you.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re immune?¡±


    ¡°No, not all the time. Evie¡¯s really unfair.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡±


    They said in unison as they exchanged chuckles. Of course, they were always on the lookout for the girls in both ways, to appreciate their form and to make sure they were out of earshot of their conversation.


    ¡°How¡¯s yesterday, Franco? Everything went as planned?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it was a peaceful day. Mum didn¡¯t freak out.¡±


    ¡°Bless you and your brother.¡±


    Kato patted Franco on the back.


    ¡°Bless him.¡±


    They all replied together again. Due to some extraordinary circumstances, his deceased brother was the reason why Franco was here with them today.


    ¡°I saw Alice yesterday at the white temple, actually. She was there to visit someone who passed away. Did she go to school?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she was at school. She must have gone afterwards? That¡¯s interesting. Didn¡¯t she say she came to this city only last year? And she already needs to visit the white temple?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, a mystery we can¡¯t solve.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what do you think Alice would wear for casual?¡±


    The conversation inevitably returned to gossiping.


    ¡°She seems like a Bia, so maybe something a bit mature.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know that yet. She could be a cutie. I think that would suit her better.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty sure Alice is the type who would go unexpectedly risqu¨¦. She doesn¡¯t like bland or boring stereotypes.¡±


    ¡°Huh, Franco making a decent point for once. Do we have a Franco with a brain or a drain?¡±


    ¡°Eon!¡±


    ¡°Looks like we can make a bet on this.¡±


    Kato grinned as he saw the apprehension on Franco¡¯s face and the amused scepticism from the other two.


    ¡°I bet on a drain.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡±


    The Eon-Caius duo confidently predicted against Franco.


    ¡°We don¡¯t even know what we¡¯re betting on yet.¡±


    ¡°How about a dare? Absolute orders.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll side with Franco this time, boys. I, too, will believe in Alice¡¯s diverse taste in aesthetics.¡±


    Though Kato wasn¡¯t too confident in making that call, it was just all in good fun. If he really had to choose one or the other, he would definitely think that it was more likely that Alice would dress glamorously to express herself. Simply being different would be something Alice would seem interested in.


    ¡°Look, the next bus is here.¡±


    They watched the bus come to a halt at the stop, and to their delight, already the first group of people who got off the bus included the Jupiter sisters.


    Bianca led the way with a long heavy skirt where its waistline started from just below her ample assets, which her blouse shaped nicely around. Although it was old-school, she could still give a run for Evie¡¯s money, even if she would lose. Eon commented.


    ¡°Bia¡¯s expected outfit. Mature, plain, yet somehow sexy.¡±


    Then the petite girl of the Jupiters followed, wearing a denim overalls dress over a white T. Between her listless expression and her small form, it masked a competitiveness and endurance that no one would expect, so the boys often gave her the respect fitting of an elegant little lady like Sisi. In other words, they felt sorry for her lack of assets. Caius remarked.


    ¡°Ariel¡¯s still like a middle-schooler. A cute one.¡±


    A figure as tall and impressive as Evie¡¯s kept pace beside the tiny one. She was the trendiest of the sisters, today wearing super short denim shorts with her v-cut t-shirt exposing her cleavage and midriff, and finishing with a sleeveless hoodie over it. Franco noted.


    ¡°Scarlett¡¯s secretly the MVP of this group. She has Evie¡¯s body but fashionable. Do ya think she gets lots of love letters?¡±


    Then a trail of other people followed them out of the bus. Although Kato shouldn¡¯t be too expectant, it was saddening all the same. Knowing her personality, he couldn¡¯t help but think that she was pulling at his heartstrings on purpose.


    And finally, the last of the sisters, Mirabelle, got off of the bus and onto the pavement with the rest of them. She wore a simple pink blouse with short frilly sleeves and a low cut which revealed a baby blue tank top underneath. Like Bianca, they wrapped tightly around her torso and accentuated her curves. Her khaki miniskirt contrasted nicely with her pantyhose, and she topped it off with a pair of tan-coloured boots.


    Kato breathed a sigh of relief that he didn¡¯t realize he was holding onto, and he too observed.


    ¡°Perfect. Simple, but elegant. It sits nicely right between cute and mature.¡±


    Because his eyes were trained onto Mirabelle¡¯s exquisite form, Kato didn¡¯t notice the pleasant surprise following behind Mirabelle until Eon and Franco pointed it out.


    ¡°We lost already, what the hell.¡±


    ¡°Aw yeah, I was right. Light loose t-shirt over dark tank top, exposed midriff, denim mini-shorts. A lot more like Scarlett than Bia.¡±


    Alice followed Mirabelle off the bus with her usual wavy hair and red headband. If Kato didn¡¯t know her any better, she really did look like a delinquent from the lower classes, and not a part of a powerful semi-aristocratic family. The rigid and uncompromising expression on her face made it the more convincing, but he was more impressed than anything else.


    ¡°We¡¯ll think of a dare for the two of you later on.¡±


    Franco said as he got up and out from their huddle and motioned towards the congregate of the girls. The rest followed him, and it was time to get the day started.


    ¡°Yo.¡±


    ¡°¡®sup.¡±


    A flurry of salutations exchanged between the two parties, the girls and the boys. Fortunately, ten of the thirteen people here actually knew each other since primary school so there were more embarrassing than awkward moments, mostly due to Eon.


    ¡°All right, now that everyone¡¯s here, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go! Get the fuc¡¯ in there¡ª¡±


    Pompous as Eon was, this time not only did Bianca pull on his ear, but Sisi too pulled hard on his other ear, comically reducing him to tears together. Sometimes, Kato suspected he had some masochistic tendencies.


    As the group headed through the massive front gates, Kato looked for and kept his stride alongside the new star of their group.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Travelling with the Jupiter sisters?¡±


    ¡°I thought it would be more fun if I did. And it was.¡±


    Now that he was up close to Alice, her exposed skin became the more alluring to his optical senses. It really was a stark contrast from her usual self at school.


    ¡°You¡¯re a lot flashier than I thought. It looks awesome on you.¡±


    ¡°Th-thanks.¡±


    Surprisingly, a stammer was followed by an aversion of eye contact and fidgeting hands. She was not used to being praised, and her reaction was met with a hand-muffled ¡®pfft¡¯ from Kato.


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?!¡±


    Without even letting him respond, she elbowed him in the ribcage. Needless to say, it only tickled, and a laugh followed from his muscle memory.


    ¡°You¡¯re still Alice, eh, even after such a drastic change.¡±


    ¡°Is it such a drastic change? You just haven¡¯t seen me out of school uniform.¡±


    ¡°The personality is finally matching the appearance, so maybe you¡¯re right. You¡¯re returning to normal and not false advertising anymore.¡±


    She rolled her eyes.


    ¡°You should be thankful that I¡¯m willing to come here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Thank heavens I¡¯m blessed with such a wonderful girl.¡±


    Kato clasped his hands together in prayer, and because of the pretension, she turned away from him entirely in embarrassment. Too late. Teasing her was too much fun for him.


    He silently stepped over to her other side, lowering his head to match her eye level to see a beautiful face flushed red. A tiny gasp escaped her when she saw Kato in her field of vision and snapped back upright in surprise.


    ¡°W-w-w-what is it?¡±


    Another cute stutter. More ridiculous words were forming in his mouth, but an unholy interruption stopped him right there.


    ¡°¡ªnothing. Right, Kato?¡±


    Mirabelle suddenly appeared in front of the two with an innocent smile on her face, but Kato had seen this before; many times before, when the girl was Evie instead of Alice.


    ¡°Absolutely nothing.¡±


    Reeling himself back and metaphorically recovering onto his two feet, Mirabelle¡¯s eyes narrowed as she continued to scrutinize Kato. He had no doubt that she had been watching them.


    Or actually, she was just watching him, and he could guess why. They hadn¡¯t seen each other for a while, and the first girl he went up to was Alice and not her.


    But that was not fair to start with, he thought. She was the one who said she would be back the next day.


    I wasn¡¯t in the wrong, Mira! You had to be the one to make it up to me!


    ¡°Mira!¡±


    Next to Kato, Alice thrust herself into Mirabelle, clutching onto her tightly. She seemed relieved to have been removed from his clutches, and even Mirabelle was patting her on the back tenderly. Then, for a split second, Alice turned her face back towards Kato over Mirabelle¡¯s shoulder and stuck her tongue out in defiance. Kato swallowed a rebuke while trying not to grin at the absurdity.


    ¡°¡®Nothing¡¯ is right, Kato.¡±


    Mirabelle¡¯s smile never faltered. Although this time it had some of Evie¡¯s aura in it, what was quintessential about her form remained as pure as Kato remembered. She carried Alice away with an air of arrogance around her, leaving him behind.


    Though Alice was easy to fluster, her personality demanded her to fight back. Kato admired that prideful part of her and it let her assimilate into the Elites easily. As he stood in place and watched Alice walk arm in arm alongside Mirabelle, he was again surprised that she didn¡¯t have many friends in Class A, when she seemed to have no problem befriending the Elites.


    As they walked away from him and towards the front of their group, Bianca noticed and shook her head smugly in Kato¡¯s direction. She stopped as to let him catch up to her.


    ¡°Alice decided to abandon you already.¡±


    ¡°That was entirely Mira¡¯s fault. Alice would have stood her ground if there wasn¡¯t such an easy way out.¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that Mira¡¯s playing you like a fiddle, still.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re fookin¡¯ right. I should have known that from the start.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the first day you¡¯ve met Mira. Are you sure you¡¯re not just dumb, or are you subconsciously a masochist?¡±


    ¡°I might be part of the first category, but not the second. I¡¯ve had enough of Evie for one lifetime.¡±


    They trailed behind the group considerably, which was loud and noisy as always. They could see that Alice and Mirabelle were at the vanguard with Evie, leading them deep into the Bozz.


    ¡°Kato, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°Of what?¡±


    ¡°Of how I look today.¡±


    Bianca asked him directly with little hesitation. Her expression was a bit sheepish, not knowing what to expect.


    ¡°You¡¯re as beautiful as always, Bia. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    His praise here was different from how he praised Alice earlier. It was carefree and had none of the gung-ho attitude in it. Perhaps because he had known her for so long, there was no uncertainty in his voice. She breathed what Kato thought was a sigh of relief.


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that; I¡¯m Mira¡¯s twin. I just wanted to hear it from you.¡±


    He smiled wryly, impressed. Within the confines of his consciousness, a fanciful world emerged from his imagination, one where he and Bianca existed in a different, perhaps simpler, circumstance. She, too, made a content smile, affirming the honesty in her words.


    <hr>


    ¡°Franco¡¯s still doing all right. We made it through everything in one piece.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s shaking, but the good news is that it¡¯s all over now.¡±


    Out of everyone, only Franco suffered from a near-fatal case of fear of heights, and all they did all morning was go on the extreme rides. From the Behemoth to the Minebuster, the roller coasters were a bit too much for Franco¡¯s tiny heart.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out and get some food.¡±


    Eon led the way out of the park to the adjacent roads where the local restaurants were. Although their group was always big, this year was and would be at its biggest iteration, for all time.


    They sat down at a long table inside of a fairly busy Yue caf¨¦, a bit of a ways away from the Bozz as most of the places near the park were fast food parlours. Here, they could stuff their faces with familiar Yue foods.


    ¡°Black bean sauce and beef with rice noodles. Cold lemon tea, no sugar.¡±


    ¡°Baked cheese and seafood casserole with fried rice. Cold milk tea.¡±


    ¡°Tomatoes and egg with rice. Hot honey lemon.¡±


    ¡°Chicken steak and black pepper sauce with rice. Hot coffee with tea.¡±


    The children fired off their orders one by one with dishes native to the Yue caf¨¦, which were really an adaptation of Yue food incorporating elements of Auxirian cuisines. The food was unquestionably from Yue, but had a bit of Auxirian flair and flavour in it.


    Alice, Mirabelle and Evie decided to sit together at one end of the row and away from Kato, aggravating him as they had been avoiding him since this morning. It was even more surprising because Evie never listened to Mirabelle and was always doting over Kato, so it must have been Alice she listened to.


    In lieu of their presence, Bianca joined him at the opposite end of the row, also away from the Three Heroines. She sat opposite to Kato, with the good-natured Ariel sat next to her and Teto next to Kato.


    ¡°Bia, it¡¯s been the whole morning and they¡¯re still ignoring me.¡±


    ¡°Serves you right, though I¡¯m surprised they let us sit together like this. At the very least, Mira and Evie should have been all over you by now.¡±


    She sneered. It was true, though. Kato couldn¡¯t help but shake his head.


    ¡°Two can play at that game. It¡¯s time I hang with Teto and the boys instead.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been doing that.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s been fun.¡±


    He hugged Teto tightly, to which she giggled but continued talking to the grandma and the Jupiters¡¯ little sister, one column over. Apparently, they were talking about the current metagame of the trading card game they all played, and Sisi seemed intent to join in playing that game too.


    Bianca sighed. She twirled the straw in her drink idly.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t got the chance to get your opinion on it yet, but what do you think of Gilbert and Alice?¡±


    ¡°Why suddenly these two?¡±


    ¡°Gilbert is our enemy in school, remember? It¡¯s not inconceivable that he¡¯s after Class F, especially with such an easy casus belli to use.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in worrying about that. If war comes, it comes. We¡¯d fight, and someone will win.¡±


    ¡°Then what happens to Alice?¡±


    ¡°She said she¡¯s not invested in the Class Wars, so I assume she¡¯ll just be there for the ride. It¡¯s not like she¡¯s an asset for the war.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking. Do you think Alice is trustworthy enough? To not influence the Class Wars? She¡¯s the fianc¨¦e of our enemy.¡±


    Kato raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°I believe so. Her face is not hard to read. Now that can backfire, I¡¯ll admit, but even if Gilbert¡¯s able to weasel something out of her, that¡¯s not a reason why I won¡¯t be friends with her. The Class Wars aren¡¯t that important to me.¡±


    ¡°Then what about Gilbert?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s an enemy, right?¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t permanent enemies. Only permanent interests.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we can use him?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Through Alice, perhaps.¡±


    She grinned. From her tone, he could hear a bit of Ariel in it. Historically, Bianca and Ariel were the masterminds on the Jupiters¡¯ side, while it was Kato and Eon on the Elites¡¯ side. And it was probably not a coincidence that both Bianca and Ariel thought of the same idea here.


    ¡°Unlikely. You¡¯re giving her too much credit. You already know that they aren¡¯t on very good terms.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Alice may not think of Gilbert as someone she could make a close relationship with, but she still has to make a compromise at some level because he¡¯s her fianc¨¦. Similarly, Gilbert will do the same, if not more for her.¡±


    ¡°More? How so?¡±


    ¡°Do you think in this day and age, someone can get away with being so callous about their life partner?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but only if you¡¯re the girl. Because in this day and age, the patriarch has lost its position in the social hierarchy.¡±


    ¡°Spare me the socioeconomic issues of the modern day. Just think of it from a normal person¡¯s perspective.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know. I was just being a smart-ass. You¡¯re suspecting that Gilbert¡¯s being lenient on Alice¡¯s attitude not just out of his personality?¡±


    Bianca nodded as she took a sip out of the cold lemon tea before continuing.


    ¡°Yes. I believe that Gilbert wants to make their relationship work out, even progressing enough to something resembling a couple.¡±


    ¡°Wait, how do you know so much to even deduce this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in your physics class, dude. I see everything going on there.¡±


    ¡°Wait, how the fuck is everyone in my class and how do I not notice this.¡±


    Bianca laughed heartily. The disbelief on his face must have been comical.


    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. We all share home econ fifth period. Alice and Gilbert are in that class with me, Evie and Franco. Alice always sticks to us and away from Gilbert, but Gilbert of course tries to appease Alice constantly.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see. So I¡¯m not going crazy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to say, ¡®damn it, I don¡¯t have any classes with Bia.¡¯¡±


    ¡°What a shame.¡±


    Kato took a sip from her drink using her straw. She watched without a change in her expression, but that itself gave it away. She was definitely thinking about something.


    ¡°You deserve to be ignored by Alice and Mira.¡±


    So that was what she was thinking. Internally, Kato concurred. He accepted her charge of wrongdoing.


    ¡°Okay. In conclusion, Alice¡¯s position is as clear as day, but Gilbert¡¯s position is more open-ended than one might suspect. It¡¯s still a question mark if that¡¯s advantageous for us or not.¡±


    ¡°Yes. And it¡¯s important that Class B has the support of a usable Class F, where most of our firepower will come from.¡±


    ¡°By usable firepower you mean pure physical ability to fight in a Class War and make a dent in all the other classes.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°How would we win a war against Class A? We don¡¯t have intel on them.¡±


    ¡°You probably don¡¯t have much intel on any of the other classes, but Ariel¡¯s got the docs on them ready already. You can come by the student council room tomorrow morning to have a look at it. Or tell Eon to come.¡±


    ¡°You mean our new hideout. Aight. We¡¯ll see. And I¡¯ll be on the watch for Gilbert.¡±


    At this time, the waitresses arrived at their table with their food. Most everyone else got their main dishes, but Kato¡¯s and Bianca¡¯s were the only ones left without their main dish. This particular caf¨¦ was one of the fancier ones so there were appetizers to go with the meal, and so the two of them only had the appetizers to start with.


    ¡°Enough about work. How¡¯s life?¡±


    ¡°Life? Same as ever. Eat and sleep. How ¡®bout you?¡±


    ¡°Enjoying life.¡±


    Without thinking too much, Kato used his fork to stab into the small loaf of white bread in Bianca¡¯s tray, and held it up to her.


    Oops. She was right. I probably deserved it.


    She too, seemingly without thinking too much, gobbled it up from the outstretched fork in one go. As if reading his mind, she shook her head disapprovingly, confirming the truth in her earlier accusation. Then, she also forked his bread and held it up to him.


    ¡°Now, eat this.¡±


    Though it couldn¡¯t be heard in her voice, you could see she was just a tad bit embarrassed by the act. Cute. Instead of eating it whole, he took a bite out of it.


    ¡°You can have the rest.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡±


    ¡°No, I just want you to eat that.¡±


    There was a grin on his face. If it came down to this, he didn¡¯t care about her accusation anymore. She was going to eat it and he wanted to see her reaction.


    Again, without hesitation, she ate the other half like it was nothing. She put down her fork and tidied up their fronts before chiding him.


    ¡°Did you think I¡¯d give you the reaction you wanted?¡±


    ¡°No, but it was worth a try. It was still within my expectations.¡±


    Maybe it would have worked a few years ago, but apparently not anymore.


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t work with me, it¡¯ll definitely not work with Mira.¡±


    ¡°Did it completely whiff? Absolutely nothing?¡±


    Kato¡¯s eyes narrowed. He refused to believe it didn¡¯t at least make her heart skip one beat.


    ¡°Absolutely nothing.¡±


    She said with a poker face reminiscent of Mirabelle. He could take it at face value, but still, it seemed too unlikely to be true.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s try something else.¡±


    Then he reached over and used his napkin to wipe the corners of her mouth. Like the good girl she was, she let him do it without a fuss.


    ¡°Am I a little kid now? I¡¯m not Teto.¡±


    Bianca smirked. Her determined resistance too reminded him of Mirabelle, and like she said, these clich¨¦s wouldn¡¯t work with Mirabelle.


    ¡°Kato! Me too!¡±


    Reacting to her name, Teto, who was already halfway through her lunch, pointed at her lips. Of course a big brother should take care of his little sister. He wiped hers as well.


    ¡°Me too.¡±


    A soft voice echoed Teto¡¯s words from across the table, on the seat next to Bianca. Kato nodded at her request. He leaned over the table to wipe Ariel¡¯s too.


    They giggled, satisfied that they were babied by an older brother, and went back to talking about that card game. Kato was very satisfied too, being able to baby two little sisters.


    ¡°Your little sister complex is acting up again. Will you ever be cured of it?¡±


    ¡°No, and I don¡¯t need to be cured of it.¡±


    Kato said affirmatively. No shame in loving his little sister and her little sister.


    And then their food arrived just in time. They were just a bit slower than the others.


    ¡°Do you think the gang will stay together like this? After the end of this year?¡±


    She asked under her breath, just out of earshot of those sitting next to them.


    ¡°For sure. Why wouldn¡¯t you guys stay together? You¡¯re a part of the gang as much as we are.¡±


    ¡°Dude, you¡¯re the pivot centre in our gang. Anyways, I¡¯m talking more about our futures. We¡¯re third-years now, and we¡¯re going off to college or university next year if we could.¡±


    ¡°Ah, life. Just think about it when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°Think about it when the time comes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I mean, it¡¯s not like we all will always be together. We may have to separate soon, but until then, we¡¯re all together, right? Enjoy your life right now, and when the time comes, say what you need to say.¡±


    ¡°What I need to say?¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t have any regrets when we do say goodbye.¡±


    Bianca nodded slowly. She used to be a very melancholic kid and some of it resurfaced just now, but she kept it under control.


    ¡°How mature. If only you were that mature a couple of years ago.¡±


    Another smirk. He could see the accusation clearly in her face, and he had no retort. It was totally justified.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    She began eating her lunch, her smile still bright and unyielding. Kato¡¯s head suddenly felt heavy, allowing it to droop. Despite the time passed since then, he still felt guilty seeing it, as he knew he didn¡¯t deserve it.


    ¡°Have you thought about your career?¡±


    He asked her hesitantly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be a musician, what else? I¡¯ve been playing since I was a kid.¡±


    ¡°Sticking to your guns, eh?¡±


    ¡°And you? Your future hasn¡¯t changed?¡±


    ¡°No, it hasn¡¯t. This is the way things are meant to be.¡±


    ¡°Then when that time comes, I¡¯ll wish you good health. That¡¯s what I¡¯ll need to say, right?¡±


    ¡°And in return, I¡¯ll wish you good luck.¡±


    Kato avoided the question, one that he felt like he shouldn¡¯t answer. He knew she wanted him to say what she wanted to hear; to give her hope, which he could not.


    Bianca held out her fork with food on it once again. He looked up to see her still smiling. It reminded him of how she put herself into a special place in his heart. How things had changed so much since they were children.


    ¡°For now, we¡¯re still here in Livia.¡±


    She said sweetly, hiding behind her vague words. With her other hand, she held up a small trinket that she made him buy for her at a souvenir shop earlier, out of sight of the others. It was all she could get him to do. Seeing the metallic star-shaped keychain he bought her, he nodded and smiled back.


    He let her feed him and their conversation continued, leaving their baggage behind them for the time being.

 2.8 Day of Recess — Alice’s Choice

    After having a delicious lunch, the crew made their way back to the front of the gates. Thankfully, the weather remained cool past noon, a rarity in late August. Normally, people would be sweating over noon if they weren¡¯t inside the air-conditioned school.


    ¡°So what¡¯re we doing?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to see the kids¡¯ hero show. For the kids of course.¡±


    Caius had to emphasize the ¡®kid¡¯ part of it.


    ¡°So you¡¯re the kid.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re the kid.¡±


    ¡°Noooooo. You are.¡±


    ¡°Ultraman is a classic so it doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯m a kid or not. It¡¯s a must-watch.¡±


    Eon declared confidently to the rest of them. That¡¯s the spirit, brother.


    While Mirabelle was helping Evie sort out the issue with her bizarrely damaged entry ticket at the gate¡¯s counter, the rest of them passed through the gates and waited for them on the dry and dusty pavement. Coincidentally, Alice was finally separated from them for Kato to approach her again.


    ¡°How¡¯re ya enjoying the Bozz so far?¡±


    ¡°Much more fun and easier on my mind without you around me.¡±


    A painful response followed, as if picking up right from where they left off a few hours ago. Enough was enough. It was time for him to cry and beg.


    ¡°Please, have mercy. I promise not to be stupid for the rest of the day.¡±


    She turned away and paused for a moment, but fortunately, she was relenting.


    ¡°You¡¯d better keep it then.¡±


    Kato breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, Alice was not one to mince her words. She meant what she meant, and to that, he grinned widely.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Alice peeked back at him to see the grin, and immediately got the wrong idea.


    ¡°You¡¯re already doing it again!¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯m not doing anything! I¡¯m just relieved that you were so agreeable.¡±


    ¡°Then should I have been less agreeable?¡±


    ¡°No. You should keep being agreeable.¡±


    ¡°Apparently at my expense.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think of it that way. I appreciate that part about you, really.¡±


    ¡°Now you sound so fake.¡±


    ¡°Stop! Mira and Evie are rubbing off on you.¡±


    She finally smiled.


    ¡°They told me a lot. I was like, how were you two able to bear your presence, and their answer was to make it unbearable for you.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like them, all right. Now, don¡¯t learn from those two, please.¡±


    ¡°Too late, this is the only way to not make this one-sided.¡±


    Alice was laughing by now, and Kato too laughed with her. Unfortunately for him, it might have been inevitable that she would be influenced by Mirabelle and Evie.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have at you. I¡¯ve been in the business ever since I¡¯ve known them. Bring. It. On.¡±


    Alice¡¯s warm laughter echoed through the air like sleigh bells. The moment was blissful, a complete contrast to her fiery personality.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I haven¡¯t been doing this as long as they have. No wonder you¡¯re such a prick.¡±


    ¡°A newbie is no match against a veteran of a thousand battles.¡±


    A bit of his snarky self resurfaced there, but it was only a bit. He just needed to keep it dialled back.


    ¡°We can put off this battle to another day. Today, you¡¯re laying down your arms and spending the rest of the time with me.¡±


    She smiled radiantly. He returned it.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I did say that.¡±


    Then he noticed a familiar person walking through the front gates, directly towards their group. Unfortunately, Mirabelle and Evie were still stuck at the booth, so they didn¡¯t notice this bigwig passing by. The newcomer¡¯s presence silenced everyone as he approached, specifically toward the two of them.


    ¡°Good afternoon. I hope the two of you are doing well.¡±


    Gilbert gave them a cool and steady salutation. Beside Kato, Alice shuffled closer to him and held him by the end of his shirt sleeve, wide-eyed and wary of the surprise visit by Gilbert.


    ¡°We¡¯re doing well, and so is the rest of the crew here, thanks.¡±


    Kato corrected him implicitly on who he should have addressed, and he nodded in acknowledgement and apology. The Elites and the Jupiter sisters looked on curiously without any interruption.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    Alice¡¯s animosity was obvious. Although it was nice to have such a prideful girl clinging to Kato like this, the disdain on her face reminded him that her situation was something very serious.


    ¡°I¡¯m just here to spend a bit of time with my fianc¨¦e. Is that too much to ask?¡±


    She furrowed her brows, confused by the light response from Gilbert. He did come alone and without his usual crowd of lackeys, so she was right to be confused.


    ¡°Then what¡¯s your plan? I¡¯m here to enjoy the day with my group of friends, not you.¡±


    Alice huddled even closer to Kato, arms touching and her hand still tugging on his sleeve. Kato appreciated the skinship, but this was her way of rebelling against Gilbert.


    Gilbert, as expected, remained unfazed. Initially, he suspected it was because of his personality, but if Bianca¡¯s words had any truth to it, then half of it might be pride as well.


    ¡°You can still enjoy the day with your friends. I¡¯ll just be taking about an hour of your time here before I must make my leave. Is that possible?¡±


    ¡°An hour? Doing what?¡±


    ¡°Enjoying ourselves at this theme park. Afterwards, you¡¯re free to join with your friends again.¡±


    She loosened her iron hold on Kato¡¯s sleeve, evidently less nervous than she was a moment ago, but she didn¡¯t let go. And as long as she didn¡¯t, he wouldn¡¯t let her go either.


    ¡°That sounds a bit tame. Is that all there is to it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±


    Alice turned to Kato apologetically. He could see it in her face that she was going to acquiesce to Gilbert¡¯s demand. It was still in her best interests to do things in her family¡¯s best interests, and this request wasn¡¯t too hard to swallow.


    But for some reason, it didn¡¯t sit well with Kato. Maybe it was because she gave up too easily, or maybe it was because he had seen her leave him for Gilbert one too many times by now. Despite that, Kato too thought it was, unfortunately, the best course of action she could take.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with him. Where can we meet up later once it¡¯s over?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll meet again right here at the front, but you¡¯re not going alone. I¡¯m coming with you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    There were multiple ¡®whats¡¯ actually, from Alice and from the Elites.


    ¡°I have to make sure you come back to us.¡±


    ¡°But, you need to take care of your own people, right? Mira and Evie are waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°They can keep waiting. Also, I am taking care of my own people. You¡¯re one of them.¡±


    Ah, I feel like I¡¯m spewing out some really irresponsible things right now.


    However, to Kato, the Elites were his heart and soul. He would never give up on any of them, including Alice.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. We can bring Kato along with us. In fact, I welcome it.¡±


    Gilbert, surprisingly, agreed to this arrangement without a fuss. Alice was looking back and forth between Kato and Gilbert, confused to no end. Kato responded first.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there¡¯s no problem with you coming with us.¡±


    Kato held tightly onto the hand that was tugging on his sleeve, not letting it go. She jumped a bit on contact, but she didn¡¯t resist. Excellent. Tacit agreement. Gilbert, like always, did not show any emotion.


    ¡°Kato...¡±


    She squirmed a bit, but Kato¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t on her. It was on the statuesque black-haired man, trying to find any read on his emotions. Kato¡¯s spirit rose in anticipation of conflict. There was no doubt that Gilbert was here to maintain the status quo with Alice, and there was no way Kato would let Alice remain under her family¡¯s shadow, when clearly she was happier outside of it.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Gil, did you have time to mail in the request?¡±


    ¡°Marley¡¯s doing well. Recently I¡¯ve been able to walk him consistently, so he¡¯s quite happy with it. Usually it¡¯s been our domestic staff taking care of that big boy.¡±


    ¡°My home¡¯s making a bit of a renovation starting next week. Albert thought some parts of the house were getting too old.¡±


    ¡°The business is chugging along just fine. There¡¯s not much right now besides maintaining the current market situation.¡±


    They sat around a small lawn table with Alice in between the two boys. It was in a small open area with several stalls that sold candies, cold desserts and on-the-go hot food. In front of them were bowls of ice cream, which for Kato was still a tad too cold to eat in this unusually mild weather for August.


    Kato was half-listening to their idle conversation, to which he was surprised about its amiability. Then again, there had to be some kind of familiarity between the two if they were going to be married.


    Somehow, he had not yet let go of Alice¡¯s hand. It remained connected from the beginning, and through this contact, he could make out what Alice was feeling. At the same time, she didn¡¯t seem to want to let go of his hand either, so he let it be.


    Kato was a bit sad that he was left out of their conversation, and here actually, it was the first time he heard this much about Alice¡¯s everyday life outside of school. At school, they would just be throwing jokes around or arguing with each other like every other normal high-schooler group. Here, the atmosphere felt more like between coworkers than high school students.


    She finished her ice cream before either of them, and suddenly turned to Kato.


    ¡°Kato, give me some of yours.¡±


    She reached with her spoon into Kato¡¯s bowl without even asking for permission, only declaring her intent. She showed no shame at all.


    ¡°Yes, you can have some of mine, but I¡¯ll have to reprimand you in return.¡±


    He reached out with his free hand to tug on her cheek lightly. Alice froze up on contact to brace for the pull, but giggled once he let go of her.


    ¡°That pinch is gonna cost you the rest of your ice cream.¡±


    ¡°Go for it, you gluttonous beast.¡±


    ¡°FYI, I can eat as much as I want and never get fat.¡±


    ¡°That may be true, but it seems like all that food isn¡¯t going into the right places anyway.¡±


    Then she waddled on her seat like a child and threw her free arm up in the air.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even remind me! I already know! I get it every time I see Mira and Evie.¡±


    Somehow, this was a trigger for Alice. Kato made a mental note for later. At least she didn¡¯t blow up at Kato.


    ¡°I know all you guys like them big, so I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m born with these small, useless things.¡±


    She didn¡¯t sound any calmer. She narrowed her eyes at Kato and continued on her rampage.


    ¡°You like them big, right?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I? If you¡¯re a man, you¡¯d like them big. Any guy who tells you otherwise is lying.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Aggggh! This world is so unfair!¡±


    She threw herself back in her seat again as Kato snickered, triggering her once more. Looking over to the gentleman on the other side, Gilbert maintained a serene look on his face that he had from the start.


    ¡°All your sisters¡¯ are bigger than mine. Probably even Yui, too. Am I truly irredeemable?¡±


    Speaking more to herself than to anyone else, her melancholic side made a rare appearance as she continued to curse at the unfairness of this world.


    ¡°There¡¯re other things to be proud of yourself, my flat princess. You¡¯re one of the Three Heroines for a reason.¡±


    ¡°That may be true, but in the end we would be ranked by size. I¡¯d be last out of the three every time.¡±


    Then she narrowed her eyes, suspicious towards Kato. She started again.


    ¡°I was expecting a more scathing reply than that. What gave you the change of heart to help me feel better?¡±


    Kato almost face-palmed.


    ¡°I was bound, by somebody with blonde hair and a big ego, to not say anything so scathing to her for the rest of the day.¡±


    Impatiently, he made it very obvious in his tone that he was pretending to explain to her as if she had no clue about it. Her usual fire returned in an instant.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you remember that, so you¡¯d better end this insolence at once.¡±


    A clap from the third man out severed their conversation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get to our next destination before our time is up, shall we?¡±


    Gilbert was still in good spirits despite having watched them from afar.


    ¡°Sure, we can go to the arcade. The Elites aren¡¯t going there, right? The Jupiter sisters didn¡¯t want to go.¡±


    Alice suggested right off the bat. She was already off of her seat before she finished her sentence. In that moment, Kato¡¯s eyes were drawn to her exposed midriff and her bare legs, which had the curves and smoothness comparable to Evie¡¯s. She was a tall girl too, so it amplified its allure and was definitely worth a swallow.


    ¡°What are you staring at?¡±


    She accused Kato with a look of disgust on her face. He grinned, and he probably shouldn¡¯t have.


    ¡°Nothing. There¡¯s nothing worth staring at¡ª¡±


    She immediately twisted the hand that she was holding onto and he winced. Saying anything at this point would have ended in the same way.


    ¡°If there¡¯s really nothing worth staring at, then stop staring and get going.¡±


    She pointed to a nearby building that was the arcade. This was probably the reason why she chose to take a break at this ice cream stand. Plus, spending time in the arcade would pass the time quick enough to get rid of Gilbert.


    So they made their way indoors and out of the mild sunlight. The arcade was a more recent addition to the park since its electronic games were a fairly new-age thing. It caught on quite well in the last couple of years and now there were plenty of arcades around the city. The vast, dark space lit by the machines¡¯ neon lights definitely gave that sense of modernism.


    The venue wasn¡¯t too busy yet as it was too early in the afternoon. The space was divided into two, actually¡ªone for the arcade games, and the other for a small bowling alley.


    ¡°How about a game?¡±


    The bowling alley was no place for the lower class like Kato, despite technically living in a middle class home. They just didn¡¯t have the time or facilities to learn bowling.


    ¡°Alice, here¡¯s your bowling ball. I believe this is the weight for you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Thanks, Gil.¡±


    Gilbert and Alice, however, played this game perfectly while Kato stumbled along in frustration. He struggled to get a single strike as they both spared and struck one after another. Their forms were excellent and made it seem effortless, but Kato would not gain an advantage through reading their forms. He felt prideful in learning this game by himself.


    A few rounds and a sore arm later, when Gilbert showed a faint smirk and Alice smiled apologetically, Kato conceded defeat and sat himself on the bench. Even with his physical superiority, it wasn¡¯t enough to learn the game fast enough on his own.


    ¡°Kato, wanna take a break?¡±


    ¡°Please let me do so. The two of you can keep going, though.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s a good time for us to stop, too.¡±


    She instantly shed her bowling shoes, jumped off the bowling alley¡¯s ledge and onto the arcade floor, going towards the arcade games. Now, that was what the Elites were good at. Arcade games.


    Although Kato had no qualms about losing to Alice, losing to Gilbert was maddening, especially after he made a scene that would have pissed off any other man. To that, he could respect Gilbert¡¯s character.


    Perhaps surprisingly, Alice went straight for the shooter game and shoved away the small crowd to get to the front. Declaring her intent to play, the boys at the front yielded to her command and handed over the laser gun to her.


    As Kato carefully untied the laces on his bowling shoes, he watched her form from a distance and smiled at the energy and spirit she had. Her attitude had slowly gotten more cheerful from that first day he sat with her in physics class.


    ¡°Kato. I¡¯m surprised that you let Alice take over you like that.¡±


    ¡°Let her take over? How so?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s attached to you because it¡¯s her way of expressing her will. Though you two were holding hands the whole time, it¡¯s not of a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re half-right. We aren¡¯t boyfriend-girlfriend, but it wasn¡¯t Alice who wanted to impose her will. I led that charge.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s in it for you?¡±


    ¡°Alice is a friend, after all. Sticking with your friends when they¡¯re in trouble, is what friendship is all about.¡±


    ¡°Friends, huh. I was almost sure that it was Alice who wanted to do this, since she is defiant when it comes to anything related to her family.¡±


    ¡°And from the looks of things, the two of you are actually friendlier to each other than that first encounter I had. Care to explain why?¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t want anything to do with me at school for some reason. It¡¯s the one place where we see each other on a daily basis, so I¡¯ve always found it strange that she¡¯s so against it.¡±


    Gilbert switched over to Old Yue mid-sentence, now that Alice had gone elsewhere.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? School is her escape from her duties for her family. Of course she would make a big fuss about it.¡±


    ¡°But running away doesn¡¯t make her accept her fate any easier. In fact, it makes it harder, speaking from someone with experience.¡±


    Gilbert sighed heavily as Kato continued to bombard him with questions.


    ¡°Is that why you¡¯re so patient with her?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s part of it. I¡¯m also a patient person to begin with, if you haven¡¯t already realized.¡±


    Kato detected a feeling of helplessness from Gilbert. With that, he basically confirmed his previous suspicion that, for one reason or another, Gilbert was someone who was worn down and tired.


    ¡°I guess you are. You were like that in middle school too. You haven¡¯t changed.¡±


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. Also, perhaps surprisingly to you, I appreciate your leadership of Class F.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°It motivated me to get to and come on top of Class A. Your determination was inspiring for me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad it helped you out, though you¡¯ve only stayed in Class F for about a couple of months or so? If I remember correctly.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that sounds about right. I transferred and was new to this school, and was temporarily placed into Class F.¡±


    They replaced their bowling shoes at the check-in counter and made their way back into the middle of the arcade, where Alice continued to break top scores.


    ¡°I think you skipped to Class C right away? That was the last I heard of you, and we never got to know each other. Unfortunately.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunate indeed. Otherwise, I would have a reliable contact in Class F right now.¡±


    Kato popped open a can of soda that he got from the vending machine on the way back, and Gilbert too followed suit.


    ¡°How do you think of Alice?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°What is she to you? A classmate? A fianc¨¦e? Or to put it ungratefully, a means to an end?¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, there¡¯s no meaning to answering that question, because our individual existences are meaningless. We only live for our parents and our company. To put it in other words, what she is to me is not as important as what she is to the family.¡±


    ¡°Then do you think she¡¯s aware of that?¡±


    ¡°Way more than she shows, at least to me.¡±


    Upset, Kato scratched his head as Gilbert said, albeit with a distant tone.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s the wrong way to think. That you¡¯ve been defeated before you¡¯ve begun.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the moral victory or defeat. Even with such a victory, our fates will not change. Rebelling against our families won¡¯t bring us freedom.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯ve thought about doing it, right?¡±


    ¡°Why, of course. But as you get older, you¡¯ll come to understand that escaping your responsibilities is not acceptable to the people around you or yourself. In other words, the people and places you came to meet and love were made possible because of the situation you were given, so to return their favour, you¡¯re responsible for playing your role as well.¡±


    They leaned against the plastic railing, chilling next to a cool air-conditioning vent amongst the many heat-generating arcade machines.


    ¡°As much as I don¡¯t like to admit it, I understand that line of thought.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate your understanding.¡±


    It was true. What Gilbert described was exactly Kato¡¯s circumstance. He was forever indebted to Eternia for the life he lived, so he must shoulder the responsibilities that came with living that life. So to Kato, it sounded arrogant and presumptuous of him that he wanted Alice to be freed from her chains, when he himself came to Gilbert¡¯s conclusion when Kato was forced to evaluate his own circumstance. And hurting Bianca was the price he paid for that evaluation.


    ¡°Then is that your expectation of Alice? To realize that it is best for her to play her role in society?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, she knows it all too well. But she will need some time to accept it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because she hates this world she lives in. The pendant she keeps around her neck, it belonged to a boy she once loved and died in front of her eyes.¡±


    Kato¡¯s eyes widened in shock, at both this premise and the heartless voice he used.


    ¡°Is that why she visited the white temple?¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ve heard? Yes, the person she visits there is that boy.¡±


    The mystery of her pendant was being solved piece by piece. She held that pendant in such high regard because of its connection to a past where she found happiness.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°And she sees the world she currently lives in as somewhere devoid of happiness.¡±


    Kato thought it was hypocritical enough of himself already to wish Alice happiness when in the past he chose to give up, but that was his past self. What he learned was that their paths should remain as true to their desires as possible, whether or not if the end was already predetermined. And Alice should have came to the same conclusion too.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not right. Alice may hate this world a lot, but she still believes in finding happiness for herself. That¡¯s why she¡¯s able to make friends with us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Alice escaping reality. But it isn¡¯t like I¡¯m forcing her to recognize it. It takes time for that to happen.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s your attitude towards her? Wait for her to recognize it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m kind and patient enough to do it. Believe me, if it was somebody else, our families would have smothered her rebellious will out of existence by now.¡±


    Kato gritted his teeth. Gilbert didn¡¯t understand. He was still hung on the end than the means to it.


    ¡°You may know her situation, her past and even her future, but you don¡¯t know what she likes and what she dislikes, what idiosyncrasies she has, and what makes her happy. That¡¯s the difference between us. You may be kind towards her, but that¡¯s true only for you. To her, your kindness is nothing but static noise.¡±


    Maybe for the first time ever, the expression on Gilbert¡¯s face was unrepentant and he was visibly frustrated.


    ¡°What do you mean? Explain yourself.¡±


    ¡°Can you name, off the top of your head, three things she dislikes?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t want to speak in Old Yue because of her accent. She hates how easy it is to read her emotions from her face. She doesn¡¯t like it when things are untidy.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Things she likes?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°She loves playing the trumpet. She loves listening to EC¡¯s modern albums. She loves the Yue caf¨¦ menu and cooking it.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Her mannerisms?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s an honest girl. She goes for the physical abuse without hesitation. She¡¯s bossy and will act on it.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°What makes her happy?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°She wanted somebody to want to know the real Alice. That her friends want to know and accept her for all those things I listed. ¡°


    Kato ran his mouth off like an uncontrollable chainsaw. That had got to hurt Gilbert¡¯s ego a bit, but he was not down and out yet.


    ¡°When the year ends, she must face the same reality she always needed to. No matter what she does, the cage she¡¯s trapped inside won¡¯t change.¡±


    He fired back, but Kato stood defiant.


    ¡°Knowing your fate doesn¡¯t justify leaving yourself in despair. She¡¯s desperately trying to find her way out of that despair, even though what awaits her at the end won¡¯t change.¡±


    ¡°Even if the end brings her despair anyways?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Because you¡¯d regret keeping your wings folded. A bird¡¯s wings are still meant for flight, even if it¡¯s caged. She may resent that cage, but she still looks for happiness within it.


    ¡°Living is not just about the end. It¡¯s also about the present. She must have learned that when that important person to her passed away. To learn to appreciate living in the present.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    A very big roar of the crowd around the shooter game caught their attention. Alice, unequivocally alluring in her skin-exposing outfit, raised the laser gun high in triumph. Apparently, she beat the game on her first try and completely wrecked the previous high score. She blew away the imaginary smoke from the muzzle of the laser gun and laughed haughtily like the stereotypical princess, garnering laughs and cheers from the crowd.


    Kato nodded approvingly at the snobby pretentiousness that gave off, true to the spirit of the Elites. Beside him, Gilbert¡¯s expression remained hard, but ironically it probably showed more of his real thoughts than when he was docile.


    ¡°Hmm. I didn¡¯t know that she could laugh like that.¡±


    He let it slip under his breath.


    ¡°If anything, this is the Alice I see every day. Though to be fair, I¡¯ve only known her for a week.¡±


    Kato threw his empty soda can into a nearby trash bin.


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    As Alice handed over the laser gun to the next person, she grinned widely at the crowd that returned her good nature with cheers. She caught sight of the two of them and waved in their direction as well.


    ¡°Gilbert. Do you think she will ever smile for you like that from within her cage? She already had for me.¡±


    Kato promptly walked into the crowd and up to Alice, pulled her along by the hand and out of the arcade, leaving Gilbert behind inside. Kato picked up the pace after they were under the sun again and brought her to a corner of a nearby open resting space.


    ¡°Kato, what¡¯re you doing?¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I thought it would be better if I can talk to you alone.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    She did not seem spooked or surprised. Kato thought his forcefulness would have put her off, but it worked out somehow.


    ¡°Are you okay with your engagement with Gilbert? The two of you were pretty peaceful today, but the last few times I saw you with him, you were... dissatisfied, to say the least.¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes widened and her expression turned dark. She let out an anxious sigh.


    ¡°Is that what the two of you were talking about?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Though I probably did a number on his mental.¡±


    ¡°I guess it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯m the reason why you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already used to it. As a daughter of the Westgrove family, there¡¯s no other way to live. So it can¡¯t be helped.¡±


    She let go of his hand and looked away, dispirited. Though she was a bit unsteady, she spoke with an affirmation in her words that let him believe they were her true thoughts.


    ¡°It really can¡¯t be helped?¡±


    ¡°No. From childhood, I was taught to obey and follow the path of my family. Just like the aristocracy, my marriage is one of political convenience. I¡¯ve had many suitors in the past, and many families wanted the alliance that this marriage would bring. Somewhere along the way, I realized something important.


    ¡°Most of them don¡¯t care about me, the person. They only wanted the status and prestige that came with the marriage. It took the death of a real friend for me to realize that.¡±


    She held onto the pendant around her neck softly.


    ¡°That pendant...¡±


    ¡°Yes. This is a reminder of that friend. He died in the most mundane and normal of accidents, and only after losing the first shred of happiness I¡¯ve enjoyed did I begin to feel how cramped and tiny the space I was allowed to live in was. If it weren¡¯t for Percy, I would have been an insufferably selfish bitch by now.¡±


    She smiled wistfully at her assessment of herself. Seeing her lighten up a bit, Kato¡¯s mouth opened before he knew it.


    ¡°Assuming you ain¡¯t one already.¡±


    Luckily, Alice snickered. He breathed a sigh of relief after realizing what he said.


    ¡°Fortunate for you, I suppose. In any case, I probably seemed that way anyway because of how callous I am normally. I closed myself off from everyone when I learned that my family¡¯s world doesn¡¯t have what I sought for.¡±


    ¡°But you became friends with Mira and Evie. And you¡¯ve made friends with the Elites. And myself.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re all from a different world.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. You said it yourself, right? We¡¯re your friends because we want to be your friend. Gilbert, unfortunately, doesn¡¯t. It¡¯s not about being in different worlds.¡±


    ¡°To an extent. I¡¯m definitely less guarded against you than I am against Gil. My biases of these two worlds are still different.¡±


    ¡°This is less guarded?¡±


    Alice laughed again.


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen how I acted in front of Gil before. It used to be a lot worse.¡±


    ¡°Point taken. But it still sucks to see you looking so resigned. If it isn¡¯t that, then you¡¯re frustrated. Is that what you¡¯ll be all the time once you¡¯re married?¡±


    ¡°Haha. I hope not. That¡¯s why you¡¯re here, right? And Mira and Evie, too.¡±


    Ah. So it was true. Alice did come to the same conclusion. Although her walls were high and nearly impenetrable, she nonetheless let people in, accepting that their journey together might not last. From within her cage, she sought for happiness anyway, no matter how futile it was.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re here to enjoy life together.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not perfect. I might stumble a lot along the way, so please help me when I do.¡±


    ¡°You can count on me.¡±


    This time, she took his hand of her own accord and held them as if they were kindergarteners, swinging them back and forth and pulling on each other. They couldn¡¯t help but smile at each other like idiots.


    ¡°There you two are!¡±


    Gilbert finally caught up to them. Kato actually didn¡¯t expect to have had this much time to talk to Alice, and thought Gilbert would be right on his coattails. Gilbert took his time because, clearly, he was still a bit shaken, probably by the conversation with Kato.


    ¡°Gil!¡±


    Though they stopped flinging their arms around, their hands remained connected. Gilbert paced himself perfectly to stop elegantly in front of the two of them, which surprised Kato quite a bit. His presentation was worthy of praise.


    ¡°Sorry, Alice. I¡¯d have to cut my time here short. There¡¯s a bit more work I need to take care of, so I¡¯ll take my leave here. Have fun, and I¡¯ll see you tonight.¡±


    Alice frowned at the reminder, but she remained well-behaved.


    ¡°No problem. I¡¯ll see you soon.¡±


    He then turned to the Class F rep.


    ¡°And Kato. We¡¯re not finished just yet, but for now, please take care of Alice.¡±


    ¡°I definitely will.¡±


    They met eye to eye for a single moment, and in it Kato saw the apprehension which told him that Gilbert didn¡¯t accept his way of living. Not surprised that one conversation couldn¡¯t convince Gilbert.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be on my way.¡±


    He bowed, and when he raised his head, his composure returned. The calm and emotionless expression that was his usual demeanour had been recovered, as if he was mentally prepared for something that was to come. Of course, at the time, he didn¡¯t leave any clues for Kato as to what that was. And just like that, he left.

 2.9 Day of Recess — Mirabelles Desires

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    Alice and Kato found and rejoined their group without issue, but upon arrival they were separated immediately. Pulled along by Mirabelle and Evie, Alice smiled helplessly as they once again took her away. The others seemed to have no qualms about the continuity of this arrangement, and only shrugged or snickered at Kato¡¯s despair.


    ¡°Divine punishment, Kato. You must have done something to incur their wrath.¡±


    ¡°I did nothing today. And Alice has already forgiven me about it, so we¡¯re supposed to be good.¡±


    ¡°So you did do something, ya rascal. Typical.¡±


    ¡°But hey, at least I¡¯m hanging out with you guys, right? Bros before hoes.¡±


    ¡°Tell me that again and I¡¯ll have to shank you.¡±


    Eon slapped Kato on the back as they smirked at each other and continued on their way. While Alice and Kato were away with Gilbert, the rest of them watched the hero show and traversed a haunted house. Though it was unfortunate that he missed the scene that Franco would have made, there were always opportunities later on.


    ¡°Hey Kato, we need to get Eon and Caius to do something for us today. We won the bet, remember?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. We could get them to do something.¡±


    ¡°A very unfortunate predicament for us.¡±


    ¡°Need a light?¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    The ever lovable Franco and the calm Caius joined them, and again the lollipops were distributed among the men, a sign of their unwavering bonds of brotherhood.


    ¡°Coming up with something right now is hard. There¡¯s nothing I want yet. Can we just have the two of them owe us for a while?¡±


    ¡°Hold the phone, you¡¯re asking for a bit too much here. The bet is for today, only.¡±


    Eon comically tried to put a stop to it as the others chuckled. They would lead each other in circles around this for a while, debating on the many facets of the bet except, amusingly, for the bet itself.


    Somehow, it was already way past three by the time they regrouped and set off once more. Gilbert¡¯s interruption must have eaten into more time than Kato expected. But then again, they also took their precious time eating lunch, so the late afternoon arrived seemingly too soon.


    ¡°Why the hell are they on the merry-go-round?¡±


    ¡°Sisi wanted us to take a picture of her on it.¡±


    Scarlett said to Eon as Sisi, Ariel and Teto appeared around the corner on one of the plastic horses. She waved to the little girls as they approached closer, and held up the camera that Sisi had brought with her. Sisi had been snapping photos all day, and had probably replaced the roll of film at least twice already.


    Nearby, the Three Heroines went with Caius and Franco on the bumper cars. There was initially a long line-up for this ride, but they toughed it out anyway. True to their reputation, it was not hard to see that the other men in and out of line were staring at this unusually heavy concentration of physical attractiveness. Probably, Franco¡¯s somewhat imposing presence prevented the onlookers from approaching the three princesses.


    Though Kato saw this happening in the morning at every turn, the place had less people earlier compared to the now late afternoon, where there were bound to be lots of people wherever they go. To see the number of eyes on them multiply over time was as intriguing as it was unnerving. Something in the back of his mind told him that it should only be a privilege for him and his band. Jealousy? Seemed like it.


    As he watched the five of them finally make their way to the front and hop on, he noticed that there was something amiss about his friends. He couldn¡¯t put a finger to it so he kept looking on, but it gave him no further clues as to what was misplaced. His friends drifted around aimlessly in the arena, letting the electric cars bump into each other.


    But he put a pause on his train of thought as a familiar voice called out from behind him. Actually, it halted that train completely and he exited from it immediately. That was fast, he thought.


    ¡°Yo. You¡¯re not looking after Teto?¡±


    ¡°The eye candy over here is a bit better, is why.¡±


    ¡°Who here¡¯s giving you the better eye candy?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say it¡¯s you, Bianca.¡±


    ¡°You were only allowed to pick from one of the two separate groups though.¡±


    She smiled vaguely at his unusual emphasis in his words. He peeked over at her, now also leaning against the railings of the bumper car arena. Determined and unreadable as always, it seemed.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan? After this.¡±


    Kato asked nonchalantly.


    ¡°Plan? I don¡¯t know the plan. Eon¡¯s been leading us the whole way, along with those three of course.¡±


    ¡°Not knowing the plan? Weren¡¯t you and Eon yelling at each other yesterday at the playground? You can¡¯t possibly not know the plan.¡±


    ¡°You know how it goes. There¡¯s always room for impromptu work.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d imagine the two of you already planned for this impromptu work, though.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯d be right. So let¡¯s go somewhere else together.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°I have a place in mind.¡±


    ¡°Leaving the rest of them behind?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve calculated this part of the impromptu script too.¡±


    She put a finger to her head cheekily, proud of the big brain ideas that she could always come up with. Without reason to deny her, Kato laughed and followed, parting from the group and walking after her.


    <hr>


    As they wandered through the busy park side by side, Kato was reminded of the times they had escaped from their group of friends by themselves and spent that time alone together. What was more ludicrous was the way that she managed to peel him off from the Elites this time around. The bigger their circle got, the harder it was to chase after these moments.


    Then, as they passed through a route that they had been through before, he thought of a great idea. Something fun to test with.


    ¡°Hey, do you wanna pick out the thing you wanted now? You said earlier that you wanted one from here, right?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    She turned to him in surprise as Kato pointed to a nearby souvenir stand. There were many small trinkets for sale such as pens, stuffed toys, keychains and their various combinations.


    ¡°Come on, you were pretty insistent this morning about it.¡±


    Pulling her over and stepping under the shade of the stall¡¯s multi-coloured umbrella, he pointed to one of the metal keychains built into a skull-and-bones pattern with heart-shaped eyes. There was still a look of mystery on her face, and it only confirmed what Kato already knew. What was left was to see how she reacted.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have it. Thanks.¡±


    After a brief moment, she brushed the confusion off easily and smiled widely at Kato. Of course. That was exactly how she would respond in this situation.


    ¡°Hey, can I have this?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Three dollars, please.¡±


    Receiving it in a small paper bag, they bid the storeowner goodbye and walked on. Knowing the situation now, if Kato¡¯s guess was correct, there was still some distance before their final destination.


    Sometimes, he wished that the two of them led more normal lives than this, but there was no point in meandering about that. Living in the present was what was important at the moment. Right as they left the stand, she began speaking.


    ¡°Hmm. You¡¯re getting better these days. Either that, or I¡¯m losing my edge.¡±


    She opened half the curtains. Kato decided it was a good time to open the other half too.


    ¡°Did you know that I was able to tell the difference?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. That¡¯s why I thought it would work.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    It was Kato¡¯s turn to muse. That means she didn¡¯t know all the details about what happened yesterday at the playground. And for it to remain so was probably a good thing.


    ¡°Were you expecting me to know that? If I did know, I wouldn¡¯t have followed through with this plan.¡±


    Uh-oh. She was already onto him. Silently, he prayed that the other complicit girl knew how to deal with it.


    ¡°Mira, I believe I know you well enough, but I¡¯m not you. I can¡¯t guess correctly about everything that goes on in your head.¡±


    Again, she smiled very widely at the somewhat troubled Kato. She was undoubtedly Mirabelle, flawlessly mimicking Bianca¡¯s outward appearance.


    ¡°Did the two of you swap everything? That¡¯s insane.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve even swapped our underwear. Do you want to confirm?¡±


    Mirabelle began unbuttoning Bianca¡¯s blouse from the top, hugging close to him so that he could, if he wanted to, see down her shirt and the bra that wrapped around the two mounds of perfection on her chest.


    ¡°How could I even confirm that? And don¡¯t show me it here, please.¡±


    ¡°So I can show it to you elsewhere?¡±


    ¡°Most definitely. But if it¡¯s actually Bia¡¯s, please give me a rain check on that one at least.¡±


    ¡°Hoho, so you¡¯re only after my undergarments. Are mine that much more special?¡±


    ¡°More like you¡¯re happily giving your consent, so why not.¡±


    He waved her point away, to which she giggled. Feeling the heat already, he felt himself being backed into a corner by Mirabelle, just like the countless times before. The only person who could and was allowed to do that to him was her.


    She untied the loose bun behind her head and let her hair flow freely. Taking spare ribbons out from her pockets, she tied her hair into her familiar pigtails once more. Running her fingers through her hair to fix the messiness that was more of Bianca¡¯s style, she quickly transformed back into her usual self.


    ¡±At what point did you realize it was me?¡±


    ¡°When you called out to me earlier. The moment I heard your voice, I already knew it was you. It took a moment for me to realize what the two of you did, but it wasn¡¯t that hard to figure out.¡±


    ¡°Really? Without even needing to see me?¡±


    ¡°Well, recognizing your voices is easier to do since it¡¯s harder for you to mimic. Plus, the two of you haven¡¯t even said anything to me after Alice and I came back, so there was no chance for you to make me doubt my memory of your voices.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see. It seems like we managed to mislead the other Elites, but you¡¯re the only one out of them who we couldn¡¯t trick.¡±


    Kato again paused for a moment there. He couldn¡¯t help but think about what was going through Bianca¡¯s mind after yesterday. He guessed that she couldn¡¯t have told Mirabelle about it, if it meant explaining further about what happened.


    ¡°But what¡¯s this about buying something for Bia? This is the first time I¡¯ve heard about this.¡±


    Talk about the devil. They were both thinking of Bianca, albeit in different contexts.


    ¡°That was just to test you. I wanted to see how you would react.¡±


    ¡°You were hiding it well, not going to lie. Since you already knew it was me, by going on the offensive asking me about something I shouldn¡¯t know about, you would see if I reacted to it correctly, and I would be caught red-handed if I didn¡¯t. So, was I caught?¡±


    ¡°Definitely. Bia didn¡¯t ask for this one earlier. It confirmed to me that you didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°But then my reaction was not that interesting, was it? That¡¯s why you quietly went along with it.¡±


    She confidently stated. In his head, he wailed. His childhood friend couldn¡¯t be this clever. He scratched his head with incredulity, but he wasn¡¯t done yet.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not just for catching you red-handed. What I really wanted to know was how you¡¯d react to the fact that I¡¯m supposed to give the keychain to Bia. And as you said, it seemed like there weren¡¯t much reaction, were there? I suppose I can actually give it to Bia then.¡±


    Her eyes narrowed, momentarily eyeing the paper bag in Kato¡¯s hand. She took a moment before answering his challenge.


    ¡°So Bia actually asked for something like this earlier?¡±


    Uh-oh. He dug himself into a hole. He really didn¡¯t want to answer this question truthfully, but if she were to ask Bianca later on, then Kato would be in a pinch if he lied here.


    ¡°I picked this one out for you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    He answered as naturally as he could, though blatantly dodging the question. No surprises here. It was all he could do without overtly telling the truth. Kato remained one step behind Mirabelle.


    ¡°Then don¡¯t give it to her. Give it to me.¡±


    Mirabelle said after another pause. This time however, her voice was a bit more tender than earlier, and somehow, he could hear that difference in it, but it didn¡¯t last long.


    ¡°I¡¯ll forget about all of this if you do. Otherwise, I¡¯ll ask Bia.¡±


    He sighed. After all, Mirabelle wanted him to pay attention to her too.


    ¡°Here ya go.¡±


    He handed it over to the perfect girl walking next to him, and she smiled delightedly. That warm smile brought peace to Kato¡¯s mind, instantly letting go of all the little frustrations she caused him mere moments ago.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    They stopped in front of an old but huge ride, a useful landmark and clearly visible from afar. Neither of them had not actually had a chance to go on it in the past, yet they already felt a curious sense of fulfilment just by coming here together.


    ¡°Shall we?¡±


    ¡°With pleasure.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t much of a line for this ride at this time since it was the middle of the afternoon. It would be close to sundown when the line got long, for it was best experienced with an orange sky. However, there was only so much Mirabelle could do to make their elopement perfect.


    ¡°Forgive me. I don¡¯t have so much power that I can get us away whenever we wanted.¡±


    ¡°You mean whenever you wanted. I didn¡¯t ask for this.¡±


    ¡°Nnnn. Are you going to really complain now?¡±


    ¡°Nah. This is your first time on a Ferris wheel?¡±


    ¡°Yes. And you too.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°I know all about you.¡±


    She gave him the vaguely content smile that sparked both Kato¡¯s imagination and frustration. The warm yet distant words struck him painfully. It felt as if she wanted to convey her emotions to him, yet it revealed nothing at all. This enigmatic dance she put on fascinated him as much as it flustered him, evoking an ever stronger desire to learn of Mirabelle¡¯s true intentions.


    He realized now that Mirabelle had much time to prepare for this encounter. Several days ago, when they sat at the top of the jungle gym, she was unprepared for that episode because her misstep with student council duties produced an unscripted scene there, so she was a bit more vulnerable. Today the gaps were thin and, Kato reluctantly admitted, the most quintessential qualities of Mirabelle were front and centre stage.


    ¡°Hey there, do you have a sec?¡±


    Mirabelle waved to one of the workers at the ride¡¯s booth, but they didn¡¯t come over to the two of them. Instead, the man just waved back, and then waved to his co-worker standing at the gates. When that co-worker caught sight of that, they both waved at Mirabelle simultaneously.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°I could make a witty retort, but there¡¯re probably more opportunities for that later.¡±


    Skipping to the front of the short line and being ushered into the passenger car by the staff, they thanked them for their help as the doors closed and they slowly drifted up and away from the platform.


    Rising above the park, they could see their beautiful city sprawling in every direction. In recent times, rapid economic development changed the landscape so much that the city was not recognizable upon first glance. A mere ten years ago, there would have been less than half of the skyscrapers they could see today. Older buildings were demolished for newer and better ones, and newly paved roads spread into the hillsides like veins.


    Even in the face of progress, the character of the city remained the same. The city was still a cosmopolitan composition of many ethnicities, speaking the same Yue vernacular. Despite its existence as an exclave far away from the Yue homeland, it remained the centre of Yue culture and exported more of it than its homeland did.


    The two of them sat across from each other in the spacious gondola, looking out the windows that, for safety reasons, only opened wide enough to poke your face out. It was enough to feel both the warm breeze and the faint white noise from below that flowed through their lift. Contrasting the modern skeletal-metallic interior were the velvet seats, comfortable for the young and the old.


    ¡°So, how do you think of Alice?¡±


    Mirabelle started with an interrogation; one that he couldn¡¯t even physically escape from. Genius.


    ¡°She¡¯s a bit awkward as a person, but she¡¯s got a good head on her shoulders, surprisingly enough. She has her own share of troubles to deal with.¡±


    Kato answered her honestly. At times like these, he should let her do as she wanted because they had a limited amount of time here. It was best to let Mirabelle take the lead and have her say what she wanted to say, so there was enough time for him to do so too.


    ¡°I think so too. I was surprised when I learned of her marriage to Gilbert and she was so adverse to it. I felt so upset and frustrated at myself for being so powerless to affect her fate. But you¡¯ve helped her a lot in the past week. You and the Elites. So I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.¡±


    She bowed gracefully, and he could only scratch his head in slight embarrassment. Undoubtedly, Alice was an important friend to Mirabelle.


    ¡°No need. In the words of the grandmaster, it¡¯s just another day at work.¡±


    ¡°Unlike with Yui, the grandmaster did nothing this time around. It was all you.¡±


    ¡°The grandmaster Eon is disappointed. He wants some of the credit too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll credit him should he deserve it.¡±


    One of Eon¡¯s monikers was the ¡®grandmaster¡¯, knighted so for coming up with wacky yet brilliant ideas. Together with Kato¡¯s maverick streak, they were a dangerous force of nature at the playground.


    Then he found something strange. Mirabelle was away from school for the entirety of the week, yet she was sincerely expressing her gratitude as if she was with them the whole time. She must have heard of everything from Alice earlier today.


    ¡°Also, Alice has been talking about you non-stop since I¡¯ve returned. I wonder why that is?¡±


    She made a veiled accusation against him. At least it confirmed his conjecture.


    ¡°You can keep wondering. I don¡¯t control that girl¡¯s mouth.¡±


    He gave her a non-response on reflex. Sometimes, it was unavoidable.


    ¡°Heh.¡±


    She chuckled softly, but made no further comment. They were still rising, perhaps past halfway to the peak, but once they were some distance above the ground, there were no glaring differences to take notice of. They remain suspended in the air, over their hometown below; the place where they grew up together.


    ¡°How was your morning with Bia?¡±


    ¡°Not bad. We hung out as usual, just like any other day to be honest. We were more surprised at your non-intervention.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Well, there was good reason for that. And I¡¯ve done you a favour. Evie wasn¡¯t all over you today.¡±


    She mused for a short moment, but got right back on track.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Evie hasn¡¯t been all over me today. Thank you very much.¡±


    Perching her elbow on the open window and supporting her head with her hand under her chin, Mirabelle felt the light breeze on her face as her hair fluttered around her. Kato couldn¡¯t help but watch her, unable to take his eyes away from her form.


    ¡°Something happened between you and Bia recently, right?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°When we were prepping for the swap, Bia avoided talking about you fairly awkwardly. Is there a reason for that?¡±


    He metaphorically perked up from his seat, sweat rolling down his back that had nothing to do with the warm weather.


    ¡°There was nothing much, really. If there were, we wouldn¡¯t have had a good time together today.¡±


    Kato didn¡¯t stutter with his reply. It was true. Even though they shared a kiss, nothing in their circumstance had changed.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t have to have been something bad. It could just be something out of the ordinary.¡±


    Like a markswoman, her aim was true. He breathed in deeply at her insistence.


    ¡°Just ask her about it? She¡¯s the one getting the jitters, not me. It might just be something small or stupid.¡±


    ¡°Haha. You¡¯re right. I¡¯m just a little worried. You¡¯re usually the cause of the problem.¡±


    ¡°Is that how you see me? I¡¯m shocked. Eon is much more of a troublemaker than me.¡±


    ¡°Nope. This time, there was good reason to believe the culprit was you. But if you insist it wasn¡¯t, then I have no choice but to believe your words.¡±


    Mirabelle yielded while continuing watching the skies, not facing him. She smiled earnestly as her eyes formed half-moons, seemingly still very content.


    ¡°I¡¯m hurt. Friends are supposed to trust in each other unconditionally, not after exhausting all other choices.¡±


    Hand on his heart, Kato shook his head in disbelief. He knew that she was playing with him, so he went along with the melodramatic style. She laughed at his pretension, the cheerful sound echoing musically off the metal cabin.


    ¡°Hehe. Reversing the roles, Bia would have done the same, wouldn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Nah, she would believe me one hundred per cent.¡±


    ¡°As her sister, I highly doubt it.¡±


    She took her arm back into the passenger car, still smiling, but now at Kato directly. Sitting upright, she knit her hands together in front of her elegantly, as expected of a girl of her noble pedigree.


    ¡°If you were in fact having a good time, then I apologize for taking you away from her.¡±


    ¡°No need. It¡¯s part of my job description. To be at your beck and call.¡±


    ¡°Am I truly your employer? Sometimes I question that.¡±


    ¡°Have I ever failed your expectations?¡±


    Kato sat back lazily, continuing the steady back and forth between the two of them. On the other hand, Mirabelle twiddled her fingers lightly, betraying her faint discontent at his response.


    ¡°Then if you had the choice to bring Bia instead of me onto this Ferris wheel, would you do it?¡±


    And just as quickly, he sat back up.


    ¡°Hmm. Difficult to say. Is it even possible for me and Bia to avoid the rest of the crew in the first place?¡±


    Asking a meaningless question, he used this added extra time to collect his thoughts. He realized that there was no good way to avoid her challenge.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that hard. We just needn¡¯t have swapped places, right?¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re right. But only because you¡¯re with us this time, it¡¯s easier for Bia or her impostor to escape in broad daylight.¡±


    Mirabelle inched farther out from her seat ever so slightly, indiscernible from Kato¡¯s perspective, as she pressed him for an answer.


    ¡°Exactly. I¡¯ll help you two out with that. So, would you do it?¡±


    Again, he leaned back into his seat and rested his hands behind his head. A thought reoccurred to him within those moments of respite, just in time.


    ¡°Of course not. It was you who wanted to come on the Ferris wheel in the first place, not Bia.¡±


    ¡°Not Bia?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who was obsessed with that one EC song, right? Happy Ferris Wheel? You used to rave about it all the time as a kid, and that¡¯s why you always wanted to go on one.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that.¡±


    ¡°What? Am I the only one who remembered?¡±


    ¡°No. I was just surprised, in a few ways.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°First is that you would answer in such a cowardly fashion. What a disappointment.¡±


    She sighed, seemingly exasperated, to which Kato turned wide-eyed and bemused. He thought he was relatively safe with that answer, so he was confused at her dissatisfaction with him.


    ¡°Then did you want me to say ¡®yes¡¯ instead? Or would you have preferred the clich¨¦ ¡®both of you¡¯?¡±


    ¡°If you said ¡®both of us¡¯, I would throw you out this window if I could. But if you said ¡®yes¡¯, it would depend on your reason.¡±


    Mirabelle said soberly. She remained stiffly in place, letting the wind comb through her black hair.


    ¡°If it was another uninteresting reason like the one you used just now, I would be just as disappointed. But if you were honest in choosing her, then I wouldn¡¯t have to refute your will.¡±


    ¡°But if I did choose Bia honestly, then you would be¡ª¡±


    ¡°Perhaps. It¡¯s a possibility. Either way, I¡¯d rather be sad than not have an answer at all.¡±


    ¡°Mira¡­¡±


    Kato pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. He really didn¡¯t have any idea what went on in her head.


    ¡°But even though I¡¯m disappointed, I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m entirely unhappy. It¡¯s true that I always wanted to come on this Ferris wheel with someone special to me because of that song.¡±


    Now that she was finished berating him, her goodwill returned. In contrast with her accusations moments ago, it was a sincere smile that told him that she really meant what she said.


    ¡°Ugh. Then what was all that about?¡±


    ¡°I just felt like you were insulting me because you made it sound so reluctant, as if there was no better choice than me, so I got upset and threw a tantrum. You¡¯re just asking for an earful from me.¡±


    ¡°I was going for the sentimental value. Y¡¯know, memories of the good old times. And good old albums.¡±


    ¡°I know. I prefer chastising you with the other interpretation, though.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just messing with me now, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Mirabelle stuck out her tongue and giggled. Unbelievable.


    ¡°But really, is it just that song the reason why you wouldn¡¯t bring Bia?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. Like I said, you¡¯re the idiot who plays it nonstop on continuous repeat until the tape dies.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Suddenly, the cheerfulness on her face receded once again. She closed her eyes and gave it some serious thought for a short while. When she reopened them, she spoke softly yet seriously.


    ¡°If ever, that Bia asks you a question similar to mine, please tell her that you¡¯d choose her. She¡¯ll take you around in circles like I did. She¡¯ll ask you why you didn¡¯t pick me. Though she might not show it, she¡¯ll be very happy deep down inside.¡±


    Kato held his breath, shocked.


    ¡°What are you trying to say?¡±


    She tightened her hold onto her own hands, mirroring the constricting feeling in her chest. She looked down at her hands, her voice dimming to little more than a mumble.


    ¡°I want you to face Bia with your heart, and come to a conclusion on what was started two years ago. And if you choose to make Bia happy, then I¡¯d be happy too.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t unfathomable that Mirabelle knew of that. In fact, it was probably very likely that she did, so he was unsurprised at her openly pointing it out. Instead, his face was distorted with sadness and grief, because he could not believe what she was suggesting in spite of that.


    ¡°Mira, that¡¯s not right. Why are you saying this?¡±


    ¡°Bia only has the next eleven months left with you in her world. If you answer her, she won¡¯t be forever holding onto her lingering feelings for you and she can move forward.¡±


    ¡°But what about you? What will happen to you? You¡¯re not going to escape from the mind wipe either!¡±


    ¡°Nothing will happen to me. I¡¯ll continue as I am, and if all goes as planned, when the time comes, you¡¯ll be removed from my memories too. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you¡¯re not like Bia, that you won¡¯t have anything lingering and be able to move on?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not like Bia.¡±


    ¡°Liar. I know you too well. You run away from yourself in the most important moments, afraid of what will come to pass.¡±


    Kato had a frustrated, even murderous look on his face. This was not the Mirabelle he wanted to see, but he knew this part of her existed. Bianca wasn¡¯t her twin sister just for show. In fact, this part of her was infuriatingly worse than Bianca¡¯s melancholia.


    ¡°Afraid?¡±


    She froze at his accusation. She looked up to see the upset Kato now kneeling in front of her.


    ¡°Mira, no one ever truly means that if they shed tears as they say it.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡­¡±


    Like he said, tears trailed down her beautiful face from her reddened eyes.


    ¡°What compelled you to say that I¡¯d belong with Bia? That¡¯s something for me to decide, not you.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Mirabelle was silent and forlorn. Kato reached forward to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes, and though she jumped slightly at his initial touch, she remained stiff and unmoving throughout. He then clasped his hands around hers, and they stayed that way for a short while.


    ¡°And about that, from two years ago. That¡¯s something for me to think about as well. It wasn¡¯t as simple as I wished it was. I can¡¯t just close the case on it in one go and have everyone forget about it.¡±


    Mirabelle¡¯s eyes widened, but she did not ask further. She was disheartened by the non-response, as it was obviously something she was quite troubled over. Her silence continued as she internalized her thoughts and his words.


    ¡°It was your fault, after all. If you haven¡¯t disappeared for so long, we wouldn¡¯t be where we are now.¡±


    Paradoxically, she slowly lit up at those words. It was half-true, in a way that Kato wouldn¡¯t know about, she thought. As if she was proud of being the cause of the problem, her voice regained its strength.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Then let¡¯s leave it at that, for now.¡±


    She revealed a bittersweet smile, turning her delicate hands over and holding onto his. He breathed out, glad that she recovered her composure, but was also disappointed.


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to explain yourself, not just leave it.¡±


    ¡°Hehe. But then you¡¯ll know too much.¡±


    ¡°Know too much? More like know barely anything.¡±


    Giggling, she dispelled the aura of sadness around her. Now that she was back to normal, he was not getting anything else out of her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this with Bia. It seems like I got too carried away. I want to enjoy the time we have left here on this Ferris wheel.¡±


    She said to him with conviction, her usual self returning in full. Kato could only nod, and withdrew to his seat quietly. The gondolas on the Ferris wheel continued to travel across the sky, and perhaps like the lyrics in that song she loved so much, happiness turned with it timelessly.


    <hr>


    ¡°I really liked it. It¡¯s very peaceful and a nice change of pace.¡±


    She sighed as she closed her eyes against the breeze that picked up slightly. As she alluded, the fatigued surfaced on her expression and she let her shoulders droop, loosening the tension in her body.


    ¡°Were you really busy?¡±


    ¡°Of sorts. There¡¯s still a lot of work to be done.¡±


    Their time on the Ferris wheel had ended smoothly. Walking side by side, they took their time making their way to the front gates of the park. This was Mirabelle¡¯s contingency for returning to their group, and all they needed to do now was to wait for Bianca to bring the group to meet them again.


    ¡°How come you didn¡¯t come back on Tuesday? What happened?¡±


    After a short silence, it was Kato¡¯s turn to try to obtain answers. It wasn¡¯t uncommon for Mirabelle to suddenly disappear, but it still peeved him nonetheless.


    ¡°Remember how I said that this was for my future? An opportunity came up and I had to take it. I¡¯m actually still in the middle of it, but hopefully things will turn out well.¡±


    ¡°Still in the middle of it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Half of today is an intermission, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Half of today?¡±


    ¡°I have to make my leave now and return to it. I¡¯m sorry I won¡¯t be joining everyone else for dinner.¡±


    He shrugged. Though he didn¡¯t like it, he had put up with this for a long time now, so there were no qualms about it happening one more time.


    ¡°Can you explain in any detail about what you¡¯re doing?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. I¡¯ll be able to tell you in time, but for now, it is top secret.¡±


    She put a finger to her lips, looking just every bit as alluring in Bianca¡¯s outfit. It was perennially breathtaking.


    It wasn¡¯t actually too far away from the front gates, so they made it there fairly quickly. Beyond the gates on the main street was a limousine that belonged to the Jupiter family. A rare sight, the Jupiter sisters often roamed the city with the Elites by their own means. The appearance of that limousine usually meant unconditional farewell between the two parties, so there weren¡¯t many fond memories of this vehicle. And it seemed like it would remain so today.


    They passed the gates and walked toward the limousine, parked snugly next to the curb with its passenger door already open. Closing in on it, Kato confirmed it to be the same old mule from when they were children, and chuckled at the old heap on wheels.


    ¡°Thank you for everything, Kato. I had fun today.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡±


    Standing at the curb, they stared into each other¡¯s eyes in a trance, both motionless, waiting for the other to say something. Though Kato normally enjoyed these staring contests, it was too emotionally raw for him after what had transpired, so after burning the image of the pensive Mirabelle in his mind, he was the first to turn around.


    ¡°Maybe someday, you¡¯ll tell me what¡¯s going on with you. I can¡¯t wait forever, you know.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, wait forever?¡±


    He looked back over his shoulder, and he made a heartfelt smile.


    ¡°I mean what I said.¡±


    Mirabelle giggled delightedly. The juxtaposition of his hardened expression and his words was comical.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be back next week, but I¡¯ll try my best to not make you wait forever. After all, I don¡¯t want to wait either.¡±


    He nodded as his heartstrings were pulled at once more, but nothing else followed as the door closed on the car, leaving him in frustration again. In his head, he replayed endlessly the last few minutes of their encounter, wondering if he should have said more to her before she disappeared once more.

 2.10 A Family Matter

    ¡°I wonder how Teto is doing. What¡¯s she going to eat?¡±


    ¡°Stop. Leave her to your sisters. Sisi already called Karl to come back to the house for the night.¡±


    Sisi and Kato were inside a safe house, in one of the gentrified areas of the city. The group left the Bozz without much trouble, leaving the two behind to catch a cab. The rest of them had jumped on the buses toward their homes. As night approached, so did Sisi¡¯s mission and Kato was there to shadow her job.


    The safe house was just another small flat in the area, but of course it was emptied of most furniture. Surrounded by plain wooden flooring and painted white walls, there were a few chairs and a wooden table with some basic stationery and sheets of blank paper on it. At least toiletries were maintained by the Eternian agents who used this safe house.


    In Sisi¡¯s hand was something like a blocky mobile phone, but it had more than just cellular capabilities. It had the functionalities that would merit it being called a handheld command-and-control relay post.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t just for bookkeeping your missions. It¡¯s for making sure you have the resources to complete the mission.¡±


    On the floor were a few cardboard boxes, presumably prepared by said Eternian agents who were at Sisi¡¯s beck and call.


    ¡°Like how?¡±


    ¡°Sisi shall contact the right agents, or they shall come to Sisi in one way or another. With time, you shall learn who to contact and who shall contact you.¡±


    She opened one of the cardboard boxes to reveal a mound of clothes wrapped in clear plastic, a couple of sets each for Sisi and Kato.


    ¡°Quick, let us change into these clothes and get started. Sisi is going to need some help with it.¡±


    She pulled an extravagant white one-piece dress out of the box, semi-surprised at both the preparation involved and the details of the mission.


    ¡°Now, help Sisi.¡±


    Without hesitation, she stripped off her clothes to reveal a small and flimsy frame that didn¡¯t ascribe to her real status as a super-soldier. A scar ran down the middle of her chest, splitting the lanes of her taxiway in two, and superimposed on her centre was Eternia¡¯s emblem, a simple unicursal hexagram. Sighing at the old lady who was not only his guardian but also his superior, he grabbed a part of the dress from the back and tied up the knots.


    ¡°Do you strip for just any guy?¡±


    ¡°Of course, not. Who do you think Sisi is?¡±


    ¡°So I guess that means that I¡¯m just your slave.¡±


    ¡°Bingo. You are also your sisters¡¯ slave too, are you not? This is not a new experience for you.¡±


    ¡°Not false. But I liked the version of you on the first day of class. You were cuter and more honest.¡±


    ¡°You are fifty years too late to hit on Sisi. If you were mine equal, then Sisi would definitely be head over heels over your flattery. No wonder all the other girls flock around you.¡±


    After clipping on the accessories to her dress, he kneeled down to help her with the tiny heels, as if he was the prince putting on the glass slipper for the princess.


    ¡°Thanks for your appraisal, but what can I say, I¡¯m too good at this. And you¡¯re too good at this too. When you were a kid, were you as awkward as you were when we first met?¡±


    ¡°A lot more so. Mostly because all mine contemporaries were mine equals. Sisi is a lot calmer to those above and below her.¡±


    Kato retreated from her as he finished and Sisi was happy with the new dress. Without wasting time, she put back her usual Oriental pin in her hair, and tore open the next box to find an assorted array of combat equipment, enough to outfit a commando in full gear. Needless to say, she could only carry a few of those items.


    Similarly, Kato stripped his casual clothes off for the plain-looking vest and dress pants that were underneath her dress. If his grandma was going to change her clothes out here, he had no problems doing it too.


    ¡°Sisi, how did you get that scar?¡±


    ¡°Oh, mine scar? Just real bad luck.¡±


    Kato gave her a bemused look, to which she shrugged as she put a revolver into a built-in holster beneath the fluff of her dress at the hip. He guessed that he would find out when she was prepared to tell him.


    ¡°Then what about your tiny body? Is it supposed to be combat worthy? Though Evie too looks like she¡¯s not, it¡¯s because she¡¯s a partial designer child.¡±


    ¡°Sisi is the same as Evie. Sisi is a partial designer child too.¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought Evie was the only one.¡±


    ¡°Nah, but Sisi¡¯s transformation was a prototype and was only considered a partial success. Sisi¡¯s specs are well within deity levels, but there were a few strange side effects. Sisi has her height stunted, but also gained great longevity. If the natural laws of this world allow it, Sisi can live on forever.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re expected to live for a hundred and fifty years?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    He whistled as he slotted a small knife into its holster under his dress shoes. Tied around his heel was a pouch for a few miniature pen-shaped smoke grenades.


    True designer children were modified at or before conception, but Sisi and Evie had their bodies alchemically modified after they were born, so at best they were only partial designer children.


    ¡°Then how come Evie didn¡¯t stop growing after grade school?¡±


    ¡°Obviously the technology used was more advanced, though Sisi¡¯s mod worked out well enough. Evie¡¯s mod was a lot more ambitious, and as a result she is perfect in every regard, whether it is appearance or combat strength.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s perfect. But that power came at a great cost.¡±


    ¡°Umu. Sisi has heard as well. At most, she shall live for twenty-five more years. Without a doubt, Sisi shall outlive her.¡±


    Opening the firing chamber of a pistol he picked up from the box, he checked for gunk and dirt to clean out.


    ¡°She used to have black hair, back when we first met her in the orphanage. She was also an ugly duckling too, but she turned out to be the most popular and envied in our class. Is that a result of the modding?¡±


    ¡°Her body, yes, her hourglass figure was partly the result of the transformation, but her face is all-natural.¡±


    Kato whistled again. Sisi was already finished with changing into her new clothes and pocketing her equipment, and was now at the washroom mirror putting on makeup.


    ¡°What about you, Sisi? How come you¡¯ve got chosen to do the transformation?¡±


    There was a short break before she answered.


    ¡°It is a long story. The short answer is that Sisi made an emotional choice that a typical twelve-year-old like mine past self would choose.¡±


    ¡°An emotional choice?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Think of what you were doing and the kind of choices you were making when you were finishing grade school.¡±


    Sisi reappeared from the washroom, her appearance now fitting of a typical aristocrat or bourgeois. Facing her was Kato in his new sleeveless blazer over a long-sleeved white dress shirt, taking on the role of her butler on this mission. She gave him a once-over, making sure everything looked spick-and-span on Kato.


    ¡°Looking good, Kato. Your training has served you well.¡±


    She gave him an earpiece, which he took and put into his ear. The microphone was on the wire, clipped to his lapels, while the rest of the wire went into his shirt and into an inner pocket that held the miniature radio that served as their walkie-talkie. Similarly, Sisi had already set it up on her person. The technology was definitely way more advanced than the ones that the children used last week in their operation against Class E.


    ¡°A bit too good for someone from the slums, Sisi thinks. Normally, Sisi would imagine you did not get any chance to wear anything this formal at all.¡±


    ¡°And normally, you¡¯d be right. But fortunately, I¡¯m not originally from the slums.¡±


    After staring intently at Kato, she grabbed a small squeeze bottle of hair gel from the desk, dumped some on her hands, tippy-toed up behind him and combed through his hair vigorously.


    ¡°Yes, Sisi knows too. As a result, the rest of the Hearts are wary of you and Teto¡¯s allegiance.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you¡¯re here, right?¡±


    She shrugged. Finished with his hair, which was now thoroughly gelled back, she pocketed the bottle in Kato¡¯s vest pocket and went into the mini-kitchen to wash her hands of the sticky fluid.


    ¡°Non, whether the other Hearts are going to listen to Sisi is another story. Or Lady Eterna, for that matter. When Sisi said y¡¯all shall be evaluated by Sisi, y¡¯all really are being evaluated for only Sisi.¡±


    ¡°Is that how it works? Sounds like you¡¯re doing something for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Hah. It may be meaningless technically speaking, but you are not out there to make the world do everything in the right way. As you see more of the real world, you shall learn what to do and not to do to achieve what you want.¡±


    ¡°And you took this job being our grandmother, because there¡¯s something you want to do?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    Walking to the door, she opened it and strutted out the flat, her steps bouncing cheerily like a leprechaun¡¯s. Kato followed her out the door, ready for tonight¡¯s mission. The same cab was downstairs, as the driver had given over the keys to Sisi beforehand, waiting to take them to their next destination.


    ¡°Are you gonna tell me what it is?¡±


    Sisi grinned, as if she was the twelve-year-old that her outward appearance was. She held out her hand to him, to which he knew to extend his elbow for her to grab onto.


    ¡°Nope. Sisi shall tell you when it is time to.¡±


    <hr>


    The Westgrove residence was not too far away from the Eternian safe house, it turned out. Though it was imperative that operating procedures were kept as inconspicuous as possible, there had to be a compromise with operational effectiveness. In less than fifteen minutes, they arrived at the front of the gates to a large mansion on the edge of the urbanized city, some ways up the hills that ring the valley floor.


    It was already close to seven, the time that the initial reception would officially close and have the banquet started. For the upper class, it was more common to show up way earlier to the party so that they could mingle and find out what was new and trending in the elite circles. It was important to be a social person so that one could keep oneself on top of things to survive under shifting power balances and whatnot.


    Alice, unfortunately, was not interested in any of this, and so they were only barely getting to the party on time. They waited in their small car on the long, circling driveway as they watched the Westgrove family march out of their house, surrounded by caretakers and bodyguards. There were several black sedans in front of the two Eternians, parked and ready to take their passengers.


    Alice, whom Kato saw not even an hour ago, was transformed completely from the trendy gal look to one fitting of an aristocrat. Like the little girl in a white dress next to him in the driver¡¯s seat, Alice too wore a dress just as refined and fluffy, pale in colour and cut short above her knees. Her shoulders and back were bare, and she had white gloves and a purse. Not exactly a wedding theme, but it did give off that feel.


    One of the men in the party, seemingly the big boss of the family, broke from the group alone and walked over to their car¡¯s driver window. Sisi rolled down the glass at the push of a button, so that the handsome man with plenty of facial hair was in clear view of the persons inside the car. His blond hair, in the same shade as Alice¡¯s, was short enough already but was gelled back anyways.


    ¡°Good evening, Number Two. Thank you for coming along for today. I trust that you have all the things you need by now?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Albert. We are as ready as we shall ever be. A Heart¡¯s pride is in our mission.¡±


    Sisi used an interesting set of honorifics in her words. Unlike her speech patterns with the children, she put even more distance in it by using the first person plural to refer to herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that¡¯s the case. Who¡¯s the gentleman next to you?¡±


    ¡°The future Number Seven. He is a good kid. The Elders have high hopes for him.¡±


    Though Kato¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, in his mind he was incredulous at how he was assigned a Number by Sisi on her own. No doubt this was the first time he was hearing this.


    ¡°It puts me at ease knowing that there will be two Hearts at the venue. Once again, you have my thanks, Number Two, and may you have an outstanding career, future Number Seven.¡±


    Sisi nodded as Albert bowed and left for the car in front of their own. Hearing the engines rev before them, it suddenly reminded Kato of the degree of seclusion that was typical of the outskirts of the city. This everyday sound he could hear on his street was loud, but it was extra loud and eerie here on the edge of Tseungkwano town.


    He remembered how Alice told him of the emptiness she felt living in a place like this, and without a doubt, he could feel the inkling of loneliness already. If he were to live long-term like this, he would probably go insane himself, so he felt both admirable and unfortunate that Alice had to put up with it. Starting the engine too, Sisi and Kato followed behind the Westgrove family as they moved out of their villa for the Lafayette household.


    ¡°I¡¯m the future Number Seven?¡±


    ¡°Ya. A Hearts candidate. Excited?¡±


    ¡°Not particularly. It¡¯s the same to me.¡±


    The trip was not far at all, even shorter than the ride to the Westgrove residence. They passed through hillside roads and subtropical forest to the next villa, giving Kato a nice view of the clustered city below him. It was like hiking to the Chang temple near their home, idly admiring the scenery behind him from time to time. Throughout the ten or so years making that hike countless times, he didn¡¯t really notice as the city slowly changed below him. Kato, on some level, took it for granted that the city below was his home. Now, on his first mission as a Hearts candidate, a job he was raised for, he realized that Livia was not as eternal as he thought it was. Each time he looked on, he could feel the tears well up in his eyes, knowing that he would soon leave behind this place for good.


    Driving into the wide taxiway of yet another giant residence, significantly larger than the Westgroves¡¯, they saw that the home was very lively. Various peoples of different backgrounds in fancy and formal attire were mingling at every open expanse on this property. Complete with wine glasses, cigars, monocles and women, the party was indeed something straight out of a movie.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    And so, grandmother and grandson walked together along the steps to the entrance of the manor, some distance away from the Westgrove party in front of them, which was already immediately flanked by several SPs. It was as if the Eternian squad was an afterthought, but it was probably better off if the Eternians weren¡¯t so conspicuous about who their clients were.


    The atmosphere was quite laid back, with people slowly moving between the house and the yards. Here, comfort was king. The party passed through the reception at the front lobby fairly quickly, as the receptionist only needed to nod at Albert at the helm. Many others came up to Albert of their own volition to greet and shake hands with the blond man, clearly showing that he was one of the great influencers in this gathering.


    ¡°Kato, do you feel anything out of the ordinary?¡±


    ¡°Nope. No alchemical anomalies yet either.¡±


    Normally, Sisi¡¯s outward appearance would have stuck out like a sore thumb, but then again, there were children of the upper classes here as well. More importantly, both of them were suppressing their presences among the crowd, making them less recognizable in people¡¯s peripherals. No doubt, if there were any would-be assassins present, they would be doing the same thing.


    ¡°Remember to read the air within your natural flow. That way, the enemy is less likely to detect that you¡¯re on the lookout for them.¡±


    It was a basic scientific principle where the observer affected the observed because there was information flow from one space to another. It was especially true for users of alchemy, which was all about reading mana flow in the natural environment and manipulating this energy. It was intricately tied to the existence of life, specifically souls. Living beings themselves were the interfaces through which they could interact with the flow of mana around them.


    Arm in arm, they too let themselves past the front lobby and into the main hall. The ceiling was high and the walls built and decorated with a very baroque and church-like feel. Normally, this kind of architecture was traditional to the aristocracy of Candor and Auxiria, but it was popular and classy enough to be copied by the bourgeoisie. There were long tables covered in plates of various cuisines from across the country, meats and vegetables alike. Servers waited at the ends of the tables, servicing their patrons with the food and wine. If only Evie were here, Kato thought.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    As they were masking their presences, they drifted through the crowd unhindered while picking up on tidbits of conversation. There were plenty of people around, having conversations that Kato thought were bizarre due to the overly patrician speech and otherworldly discussion topics.


    It was not quite the same as Sisi¡¯s speech patterns; it was more of a modern set of honorifics with a different set of vocabulary from the lower classes, and entirely in New Yue. As for their contents, it was certainly different in worldview, coming from people who lived a life of luxury. Although Kato had some reservations about their warped perception of the situation on the ground for the lower classes, he also noticed the thriftiness and the drive to succeed in their voices. It was obvious that they didn¡¯t take their fortunes for granted. They were the bourgeoisie for a reason.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a bit of the veal there.¡±


    Suddenly, the little kid in Sisi resurfaced as she pulled him along to one of those tables, eyes sparkling at the abundance of meats.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You are too uptight, Kato. It is a mission, but we are only here as backup, so we need to stay as inconspicuous as possible. This means blending in with the crowd. Suppressing our presences only go so far.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re famous, aren¡¯t you? Wouldn¡¯t blending in make you stand out even more?¡±


    ¡°Actually, only a few recognizes Sisi as a Heart. Sisi is more known as a nomenklatura.¡±


    ¡°So the Hearts aren¡¯t actually famous.¡±


    ¡°They are only famous titles. Those titles do not have a face, and they never had. You saw how Albert addressed us.¡±


    Mirroring Sisi, Kato too took a plate from one of the self-serve tables. Hearing Sisi¡¯s indifferent tone on the matter, he felt he could loosen up his form that he didn¡¯t realize was rigid as stone. Sisi was right; he was a bit too nervous about his first day on the job.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Because that is how the position is. Across history, the feats of the Hearts are always tied to their titles. Due to the nature of the job, the persons behind them may change in an instant.¡±


    ¡°But that Albert guy knows you, right? At least you are famous.¡±


    ¡°Sisi is an exception. She has been around for how many years? But even then, not many people know who Sisi is. Probably, only Albert here knows who Sisi is.¡±


    ¡°Not any of the Lafayettes?¡±


    ¡°Maybe some of the older Lafayettes, not sure actually. But today there is only one here.¡±


    ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t this their home?¡±


    ¡°Hah. If you think a family would only have one residence, then you have got another one coming. In fact, they have a few in this city, and this one is used exclusively by Gilbert.¡±


    Scanning his vision towards the end of the long and expansive hall, not quite yet but just about comparable with the atrium at Korolev Senior, he spotted the tall Gilbert in his usual appearance. His wavy hair that almost reached his shoulders was no different from when he was in school, and his attire was modest yet tidy like his school uniform. It was probably his uncommon height that made him stand out despite the lacklustre outfit.


    Unsurprisingly, Stephen stood next to his boss, but his transformation was much starker versus his school appearance. The normally straggly look was replaced with a sleeker and cleaner makeover, in both his attire and his demeanour. In short, he did not disgrace his status.


    ¡°Look, the two families are coming together now.¡±


    The Westgrove party, with Albert and Alice at the helm, greeted the Lafayette side at the slightly elevated platform that they were standing on, surrounded by other family members and their various clients, though Gilbert was the only one from the Lafayette family. It said a lot about the position of the Lafayettes in this kind of a situation.


    Suddenly, the ringing of sleigh bells sounded throughout the premises. As if responding to a secret code, the guests dropped their idle conversations and began to gather at the end of the main hall, where the two host families were. The shuffling of people was smooth and civilized, with everyone preserving their dignified grace in their steps.


    Watching the platform at the hall¡¯s end, Kato could see that their clients lowered themselves back onto the marble flooring, leaving Albert, Alice and Gilbert left on the mini-stage. The crowd of people, not dense at all as they wouldn¡¯t bring any kind of discomfort to themselves, looked on expectantly.


    ¡°Good evening, all.¡±


    Surprisingly, it was Albert who was first to speak. Somehow, Kato realized correctly that this whole socialite gathering was his idea, and not Gilbert¡¯s. There was a wireless microphone in Albert¡¯s hand, his voice alchemically projected to the audience without any speakers.


    ¡°Thank you for coming out tonight. As some of you may have known, there has been almost a year of discussion on the direction and projections on the future of Westgrove Logistics, and that our current major initiative is to closely integrate with an ally in our industry, the Lafayette Group.


    ¡°Fortunately, our main competencies lie in different sectors of the defence industry, so instead of direct competition, there are plenty of economic benefits from an alliance between the two companies. From the efforts by both sides over the last year, we are happy to conclude that a continued alliance will bring countless opportunities for years to come.


    A big applause from the audience followed. Kato lowered his head to Sisi¡¯s ear to ask her, and remained half-crouched for her to answer.


    ¡°Is that a real reason?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The Lafayette Group is known mainly for its research and design in small-arms, and also acts as an independent manufacturer and supplier. Westgrove Logistics, as in its name, is mainly a supply chain business who is contracted with lots of different manufacturers to be their distributors. As such, they also have a professional private army to safeguard their supply chains from supplier to end-user. On top of that, they also have a design and manufacturing wing for auxiliary equipment like body armour or electronics.¡±


    ¡°Wait, is that private army us?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no. They have their own numbers too, but Eternia is deeply involved in it.¡±


    Slightly more enlightened about the situation, Kato turned his head back towards the front of the stage as Albert continued.


    ¡°To cement this alliance, we¡¯re happy to announce that the date of the marriage between Gilbert and Alice has been determined. This day next year, we will come here once again to celebrate our newlyweds¡¯ important moment. Thank you for everyone¡¯s support.¡±


    He began to clap as the two high-schoolers behind him stepped up next to him, who were waving to the crowd arm-in-arm, bearing smiles that did not reveal any inkling of dissent. Applause from the people followed Albert¡¯s, seemingly in agreement with his announcement.


    ¡°Although Gilbert¡¯s father is busy handling affairs in our neighbouring city of Lien at the moment, he has also given them his blessing very early on. With this, we wish their union will bring prosperity to both the Westgrove and Lafayette families.¡±


    Without a moment to spare, the gigantic doors at the other end of the great hall opened with a literal bang. Both Sisi and Kato, trained repeatedly to recognize it, immediately knew it was a blank shot from a gun. Someone was trigger-happy.


    Storming through the doors were perhaps a dozen men in dull black suits, not unlike the other men at this banquet, but also wore bowler hats and sunglasses, and carried various firearms. One even carried a brown-and-grey automatic weapon with a drum-shaped magazine.


    At the vanguard was an older blond man who was not too different from Albert, parting the crowd in half as he approached the three on the platform belligerently. The people around them seemed mildly spooked at the surprise raid, some even dodging out of the room or finding shelter behind the tables, but none of the goons trained their weapons on any of the crowd. While they were held onto, ready to be used, they all clutched onto their weapons on their chests, as if they were performing military drill. More likely though, the onlookers were accustomed to the appearance of gangsters with firearms.


    Hand on hip, the middle-aged blond man stopped along with his crew in front of the mini-stage. He too was dressed in a black suit in the style of his companions, but the only one with a cigar in his mouth. Like a true mafia boss, one of his minions held up a glass ashtray for him to use.


    ¡°Congratulations, Albert; and to Alice and Gilbert as well.¡±


    He started with Albert¡¯s name, making it abundantly clear that he knew it was Albert who wanted to throw this party.


    ¡°Uncle Justin. Welcome, and thanks. There is no time like the present, am I right? A wedding is definitely something to celebrate without reservations.¡±


    ¡°Certainly. It¡¯s my niece¡¯s wedding, after all.¡±


    ¡°So, what¡¯s with your peashooter squad here? This should be a peaceful gathering, no?¡±


    The sharing of pleasantries ended quickly enough. Justin waved to his men, who put their weapons at ease. Guns were hanging off their persons by the straps, pointing down at the floor and their hands were off the triggers.


    ¡°Not when I¡¯m here. Unfortunately, danger follows me wherever I go, ain¡¯t it a bitch.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fair. But did you have to come into the hall like that? Other guests are here today as well.¡±


    ¡°Well, it isn¡¯t the same if I don¡¯t arrive in my usual style, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°No, you really don¡¯t have to.¡±


    Albert folded his fingers together as his cool expression remained unchanged. Justin, on the other hand, shook his head in disapproval. His men remaining at ease, he stepped onto the platform they were on, and extended his hand to Gilbert.


    ¡°Gilbert. I will most likely say it again later on, but my niece will be in your care. I expect you to treat her well, and respect the names that both of you hold.¡±


    ¡°You have my word, Mr Justin Westgrove.¡±


    Gilbert took his hand firmly. Short and to the point, they separated as quickly as their words have been. Justin turned to Alice, who stepped forward on her own to greet him.


    ¡°Alice. I will probably say it again soon enough, but congratulations. I wish you nothing but the best.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Uncle Justin.¡±


    Patting her head fondly, they exchanged pleasant smiles as family should. They too shook hands before they separated as well. The uncle lowered himself back down on the floor, walking among his men without looking back.


    ¡°Uncle Justin. Is that all you¡¯re here for? I have a hard time believing that.¡±


    As Albert made that remark, more guys with guns appeared through the different doors along this hall, also carrying similar firearms to the gang that Justin brought with him. The only difference was that the newly joined gangsters had blue ties instead of the black ones on Justin¡¯s party.


    Boasting maybe double the number of gangsters, they wormed themselves around the tables and surrounded Justin and his minions. By this time, the rest of the crowd was hiding behind whatever furniture they could find. They gave the two belligerent groups a wide berth, but somehow still thought that a real battle was unlikely to ensue.


    Strangely, both sides kept their weapons at ease. They held their firearms in their hands, but not yet pointing it towards each other. It was more like a standoff in the literal sense of the word.


    Standing in the midst of the men was Justin, who was the only one on the floor unarmed. He didn¡¯t bother to turn around to address Albert¡¯s inquiry.


    ¡°I take it that you still want to cause trouble then, Albert? Or is this just grandstanding?¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s more of the latter than the former. But if you truly aren¡¯t here to cause trouble, then we can solve this in a more civilized manner, can¡¯t we?¡±


    Albert smiled lightly. He gestured to his men, and a couple of his retinue jogged to the other end of the hall. The clicks and clacks of their boots sounded on the hard marble floor, which was followed by the creaking of the great doors at the hall¡¯s end. The door was already half-open, but the two gangsters opened and held it wide.


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll be taking my leave.¡±


    Striding at the vanguard once again, Justin led his troops across the hall as Albert¡¯s men in blue ties escorted them along. The clanks of their boots and weapons were loud to the rest of the motionless hall. In no time, they were out the doors that they busted through just mere minutes prior.


    ¡°Please, enjoy yourselves.¡±


    Albert addressed everyone once the troublesome uncle left the room. The entire scene was so surreal that the remaining crowd didn¡¯t really react, only a buzz of murmurs among themselves. The hall quietly returned to their regularly scheduled programming, as if the interruption had never happened.


    The three of them also lowered themselves from the mini-stage and made their ways to one of the food tables, and they were immediately surrounded by a crowd of their peers, eager to ask them questions. At the very least, none of them showed that they were startled by Justin¡¯s grandiose appearance. In fact, their cool attitude suggested that they expected it in the first place.


    As for Sisi and Kato, they stood their ground the whole time from the behind the crowds, food in hand and their backs against the sparkling, gemstone-studded walls.


    ¡°That was really weird.¡±


    ¡°You are telling Sisi. She is also confused, but no matter. There was no real danger to our VIPs.¡±


    Sisi was referring to the lack of killing intent in the air during that confrontation. Though the display of weaponry was impressive, neither he nor Sisi detected any killing intent from Justin or Albert. With that in mind, perhaps it could be seen as a well-prepared charade, but that would only be half correct. It only meant that they weren¡¯t prepared to end each other just yet.


    Emotions and alchemy were closely related, since emotions were expressions of the will of the soul in the real world. Sentient beings constantly interact with the surrounding mana flow through their emotional states, and also subconsciously read from the mana flow, albeit at a very primitive level for normal people. This subconscious interaction was the cause of various psychological phenomena, ranging from momentary premonitions like d¨¦j¨¤ vu to more advanced techniques like extrasensory perception, but most commonly, this was the main source of a person¡¯s intuition.


    Through training on this interaction, one could mask their presence like Sisi and Kato had been. They minimized their ¡°thumbprints¡± on the mana flow around them, so that those nearby could not pick up these traces and recognize them in their peripherals.


    On the other hand, harbouring killing intent easily disrupted the surrounding flow of mana, just like how throwing a large rock in a pond would cause great splashing and strong ripples. As such, an assassin would need to learn to control this intent until the last second, lest they alert their prey. For normal human beings, they did not have this kind of control. It was a skill that took years of training, and it would most likely not be perfect, so if there were any real intent to shoot up the place, it would have been clear as day to the two Eternians.


    ¡°What was the point of all that?¡±


    ¡°It was a standoff in a family feud, what can you expect? An odd standoff, but still one.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then what exactly is the point of this marriage?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a temporary truce between Albert and Justin. Did you know; Alice has the controlling stake in their company?¡±


    The atmosphere around them steadily returned to how it was before Justin¡¯s appearance, filled with chatter and glitter. The two of them stopped by a table with rows and rows of fruits from different places, and began picking out pieces of the rare and foreign fruits that didn¡¯t grow in Livia¡¯s vicinity.


    ¡°Alice inherited that stake, at thirty-four percent, from her father who passed away some years ago. Because Alice was and still is a minor, she did not actually have the control that that stake would normally grant, and the ownership stake is frozen instead. It is a law to protect minors from being targeted. Though we are people who live on the edge of the law, as you should know, it is a law adapted from the aristocracy, so it is respected by us and the bourgeoisie.


    ¡°The remaining ownership of Westgrove Logistics was split between Albert and Justin and their allies, each side controlling thirty-three percent each. The battle lines were drawn a long time ago. While Alice¡¯s stake was considered uncounted, the situation was as if the two men owned the company half-half.


    ¡°But once Alice comes of age, if she decides to side with somebody, the other would lose. Or, if Alice is willing to join in the feud, then at thirty-four percent ownership she would always have the controlling stake, assuming that Albert and Justin would always vote against each other.¡±


    ¡°Now, where does the marriage part come in?¡±


    Sisi poured herself a glass of mango and watermelon juice, a strange but sweet combination of fruit juices. As for Kato, he just went for the strawberry milkshake from the DIY machine.


    ¡°Let Sisi explain first. After Alice¡¯s father passed away, the conflict between Albert and Justin only got worse, and in the past few years, they were in such opposition that the company grounded to a halt. Think of a parliament that is in deadlock, unable to pass laws. In such a case, there are some reserve powers to break the deadlock, such as calling for a snap election, but in family-owned businesses like these, a deadlock could continue indefinitely, until they burn themselves to ashes.¡±


    ¡°But this is only until Alice comes of age, right? Then she will have the legal decision-making power in the company, and possibly break the stalemate.¡±


    ¡°Right. The first problem is that she does not have the will to join the feud herself. That should be obvious enough. If she merely does nothing when she comes of age, then the feud continues unabated, and may even bring harm to Alice herself, who would now be a target for either faction to ¡®win¡¯ over, using whatever means they decide to use.


    ¡°The second problem is the uncertainty of their company¡¯s future tied to Alice¡¯s marriage. Her future spouse would co-own Westgrove Logistics with Alice¡¯s stake, which is what Albert and Justin are more afraid of. Therefore, they decided that Gilbert was amenable to both parties, and convinced Alice to marry into the Lafayette family for that sake.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that kind of dangerous? To give the largest stake of the company to someone outside the family?¡±


    ¡°I do not believe they are worried about this type of paternal way of thinking too much. They secured this marriage for their own benefits. Think of it from their point of view. Their number one priority should be, by the time she comes of age, have convinced Alice to join their side by any means necessary, including force.


    ¡°But Alice is not exactly alone in this feud. Apparently, she has made it abundantly clear to everyone involved that she has no interest in running the business, to ward off any overt foul play against her by either side. In addition, word on the street is that when she is married, she shall divest to each side one percent of her ownership so that she no longer has the controlling stake. Both Albert and Justin shall face each other at thirty-four percent, leaving Alice in peace.¡±


    ¡°I see. Altogether with the law, she was able to stay away from the feud.¡±


    ¡°As much as it was possible. Of course, both sides approached her countless times to curry favour from her. It was only natural. But without a strong support base, as Alice was too young to be involved in the business, the moment she turns eighteen, it is fair game and she shall not last long.¡±


    ¡°Ah, now I see the predicament. That law, while meaning to protect, also backfires. If her stake in the business is frozen, then without a previously established faction supporting her within the company, it¡¯s hard for her to start building her clout inside the company, since her decision-making rights were frozen by the law.¡±


    ¡°That is right. She is a lady, so she was not tied to the company¡¯s business very much to start with, and as a result, her father did not leave much behind for her within the company. In fact, she was not supposed to receive any ownership stakes at all. At the time, her father had decided to split the company¡¯s ownership in exactly half, between Albert, Justin, and their respective allies. It was through Albert¡¯s scheming that he convinced their father to give everything to Alice instead.¡±


    Casually throwing away some tissues, Sisi picked up a glass of wine from one of the roaming servers. On the other hand, Kato took another plate from the table and gathered more fruits instead.


    ¡°And Albert did that because, assuming he¡¯s after the control of the company, he thought Alice would be easier to convince than the opposition.¡±


    ¡°Correct. And by doing the legwork to get Alice her stakes, he expected Alice to be more willing to bend to his will.¡±


    ¡°And is she?¡±


    ¡°No, by the looks of things. Maybe there are some details that are missing, but the most damning thing to not suggest otherwise is that she called for this marriage. In a sense, it was her choice to marry.¡±


    Kato choked on the fruit he was chewing on. Sisi sighed, slapping him on the back with a bit of force and he quickly recovered. His mouth gaped as he asked in disbelief.


    ¡°It was her choice?¡±


    ¡°It was really the only choice she had. She is a smarter girl than anyone would think. If she does not marry somebody who is friendly to both sides, she shall be caught in the crossfire once she comes of age.¡±


    ¡°And the two guys just agreed to it? I can¡¯t imagine the two of them being on board immediately.¡±


    ¡°You can see that Justin is not so careful in hiding his dissatisfaction. Meanwhile, Albert seems to be content with this, probably because he agreed with the choice of Gilbert in the first place.¡±


    ¡°It was Albert¡¯s suggestion? And Alice agreed to it?¡±


    ¡°Non. Let Sisi try again. Alice decided that she shall marry somebody on the day she turns eighteen, and she suggested that Gilbert was a suitable spouse. Perhaps because Gilbert is friendly with Albert, he agreed with her suggestion and recommended them to marry.¡±


    ¡°So in actuality, Alice is siding with Albert, isn¡¯t she? Or at least, Albert sees that their marriage brings him benefits and maybe control of her shares.¡±


    Sisi tinged the glass in her hands with her nails, shaking her head.


    ¡°They are friendly, but they are not friends. Compared to Justin, Albert is the one more friendly with Gilbert. But this is as far as Sisi knows. Any further is speculation on the relationship between the four of them. On the surface at least, they all seem to agree on this marriage, even if Justin agrees begrudgingly.


    ¡°Even if, in the short term, neither Albert nor Justin gets closer to the ownership stakes they sought from Alice, the alliance with the Lafayette Group is no laughing matter. Most likely, they see it as an opportunity to expand their influence while the internal feud at home remains in a stalemate. Neither of them is losing with this marriage.¡±


    Kato gave himself a moment to digest the information. It was eye-opening as much as it was mouth-opening, to say the least.


    ¡°Gilbert, while he was still a minor, acted through his mother, by the way. He has been involved in his family business for a few years now, but since he came of age this year, he was given a big percentage of ownership of his family business. That is why now; their marriage is set in stone.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a year older than us? I didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°He was held back for a year at some point due to extreme tardiness, supposedly. Sisi looked into the school records.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. That reminds me. How did you learn of all of this, Sisi?¡±


    ¡°Sisi asked Alice on it.¡±


    Kato sighed deeply. He didn¡¯t expect that.


    Suddenly, they both turned in the direction of Alice at the same time, both sensing movement in that direction. Seeing her bow to her peers around her and leaving for the main doors, the two of them began following her as well.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s our mission again? Alice, right? Not Albert or anybody else.¡±


    ¡°Correct. But on the other hand, Sisi is more intrigued about the situation outside.¡±


    ¡°Outside?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to sense it while we are concealing ourselves, but the number of people on this compound hasn¡¯t gone down.¡±


    Kato nodded. Naturally, being able to read mana flow at Sisi¡¯s level meant that it was easy for her to detect the presence of normal people around her. Sparing a last glance at Albert and Gilbert, he and Sisi followed Alice on the path that those goons took a bit earlier out of the great hall and into the front lobby.


    Now that the party was well under way, the lobby had much less people than when they first entered. As he neared the front doors of the residence, he too felt the same presence that Sisi told him moments ago. Peeking out from behind the giant set of doors, it confirmed what he could already sense. Parked on the side of the thin road were many luxury cars, but there were four that were obviously occupied. There was little doubt that that was Justin¡¯s group.


    ¡°I think they¡¯re just sitting in their cars. Are they waiting for something to happen?¡±


    Whatever sunlight that was left was disappearing quickly, signalling the arrival of evening. The surrounding bushes took on a shadowy character as it blended with the darkening sky.


    ¡°Seems like we must keep them under surveillance, at least until their intentions are confirmed. Ah, what a bother. Kato, please follow Alice. Sisi shall stay here.¡±


    He was surprised. Kato didn¡¯t have a problem with separating from Sisi; it was just that Sisi seemed to have faith in his abilities. He was strangely buoyed by the thought, and had her let go of his arm. She tapped the tiny machine in her ear.


    ¡°Remember, Sisi is always here if you need her.¡±


    Kato nodded. He turned in the direction of the wide stairs that led to the upper balcony, his eyes following Alice¡¯s soft footsteps above them.


    ¡°Got it.¡±

 2.11 Kindred Spirits

    ¡°I will send somebody over later on to pick you up. Go have a rest.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Albert.¡±


    Stepping over a guest barrier and into one of the many corridors on the second floor, Alice arrived in front of a room near the end of the hallway. Opening the door with its key in hand, she entered a modest bedroom with a simple bed and office desk. The top of the desk was tidy, the wardrobe was closed snugly and the sheets were made neatly. The cushioned office chair seemed to offer fluff and comfort of the highest level, while an impressive radio set was stacked on the desk. The room was dimly lit, but as she walked further into the room and past the tiny washroom to the side, the ceiling lights lit up brightly, automatically sensing her presence.


    Alice threw herself face-down on the bed, fatigued from treating guests alongside her family. Plus, she came off of a whole day outside with her friends, so both her mind and body were tired and in need of rest. She turned over on her bed so she faced the ceiling, collecting her thoughts on what had happened today.


    While she was grateful of Kato¡¯s presence when she was compelled to join Gilbert on his surprise visit, the more thought she gave it, the more she was inclined to know about what happened between Kato and Mirabelle. After their disappearance and Kato¡¯s return, the rest of the Elites weren¡¯t as surprised of the situation as she was, which left her even more curious as it seemed related to the Elites on some level. It was on her mind the whole time she was downstairs, and she had been waiting for this moment.


    She leapt back onto her feet, crossed the room and poked her head out of the door. Surveying the corridor, carpeted and lavishly decorated, it was quiet and dim as it was away from the main lobby and great hall. Feeling a little nervous, she called out softly.


    ¡°Kato?¡±


    Seconds passed, but nothing followed.


    ¡°Kato? Kato. Katoooooo~¡±


    Calling out his name many times, panic crept into her expression as the clock on her desktop kept ticking. She gently closed the door behind her and leaned her back against it, her face slowly flushing red with embarrassment.


    Hopefully, no one heard that¡­


    Because she definitely looked like a weirdo. But it was very strange. From what Albert described, Sisi¡¯s partner should definitely be Kato, and as her bodyguard, he should be nearby, at least within earshot.


    Unless, she thought, that they weren¡¯t supposed to interact with their clients, i.e. herself, which made it even more embarrassing if Kato was indeed within earshot. She could hear the stifled giggling from an imaginary Kato hiding in the shadows of the corridor, which infuriated her as much as it was embarrassing.


    ¡°Alice?¡±


    Then, a voice and a knock on the door dispelled all the worries in her imagination. She turned around quickly to open the door to a handsome-looking Kato with a bemused look on his face. Her smile was as wide as it could be, relieved that he was indeed here with her, to which Kato was even more confused by.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that creepy grin? You okay?¡±


    ¡°One hundred percent okay. Come in here already, Kato. You can sit in that chair.¡±


    As she sat down on the edge of her bed, inexplicably, the smile on her face refused to disappear, which continued to shine down on Kato¡¯s somewhat exasperated expression. He began asking questions almost right away.


    ¡°How did you know that I was your bodyguard?¡±


    ¡°I took a guess, from what Albert told me earlier. I didn¡¯t actually know for sure it was you.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Not a bad guess.¡±


    He spun himself around and leaned back on the chair before he continued.


    ¡°I heard about your situation from Sisi, by the way. I¡¯m sorry to hear it, and second-hand from Sisi as well. So it¡¯s true that you chose to marry Gilbert?¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes widened, but she was not surprised. She guessed as much, if Kato was Sisi¡¯s sidekick. Her smile slowly disappeared as she began to explain.


    ¡°So I take it that you¡¯ve already been told of my place in my family¡¯s company. Yes, I chose to marry Gilbert. As incompatible as we are as people, he¡¯s also the most trustworthy of the bunch.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t just give up all of your ownership stakes to your brother and uncle, and recuse yourself from your family business entirely?¡±


    ¡°Even if I did, there wouldn¡¯t be any freedom for me to choose who I marry anyway. A marriage with the Westgrove name is always a piece of the political game. So I¡¯d rather choose my partner while I still can.¡±


    ¡°I mean, breaking off relations with your family completely. If you wanted neither of those things, then why not just renounce your claims and family name? Their business will carry on without you.¡±


    ¡°Hah, I¡¯ve considered that many times, but I guess it¡¯s up to your values. I¡¯m grateful for the few things I have because of my family, but I have just as many complaints. For example, if I were to ask you, what¡¯s in it for you to become one of Eternia¡¯s greatest servants, what would you say?¡±


    ¡°Servant?¡±


    ¡°Your future as a Heart. I take it that you¡¯re not in it for the ideological reasons. You¡¯re a realist at heart, pardon the pun.¡±


    He was surprised. Alice really gave lots of thought to everything. She would never let a single bolt stay loose.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t heed the chivalrous duty of noblesse oblige. It¡¯s all meaningless to me. If I could, I would walk out in an instant.¡±


    ¡°Then why can¡¯t you walk out?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I feel indebted. My life was made possible because of Eternia¡¯s patronage, so I guess I¡¯m trying to repay them in my own way, as long as I¡¯m able to protect those who are dear to me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot simpler than that. We¡¯re just unwilling to part ways with whatever made us who we are today. Because whatever it was, it became an important part of us, so it¡¯s natural for it to be difficult to say goodbye to.¡±


    Kato stopped. She was right. The idea of owing responsibility to what they were born into came up earlier in the day with Gilbert as well, but neither he nor Kato explained why exactly they felt that responsibility. Here, Alice summarized all their feelings in one short breath.


    ¡°And until that day when you can¡¯t tolerate it any longer, in the meantime you have to continue living through it, so why not use what you can to make it better for yourself, right?¡±


    He smiled brightly at Alice¡¯s words, and in response she straightened up at the sudden change on Kato¡¯s face. He learned something new today, thanks to this girl from a completely different world.


    ¡°And if indeed you need to run away from it someday, you¡¯ll be carrying the same baggage anyway, so you better look for a good timing for that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ll carry the Westgrove name no matter what I do, and with it the gangs and mafiamen that would be after me for it.¡±


    ¡°And similarly for me, Eternia would follow me for the rest of my life, no matter what I do.¡±


    They both nodded soberly, staring at each other, understanding each other¡¯s inextricably difficult situations. Then, suddenly, they broke into laughter as the atmosphere became comically too heavy for them to stay serious.


    ¡°What the hell, aren¡¯t we supposed to not get along? When did we start agreeing on things?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what kindred spirits are.¡±


    Removing her heels easily, she pulled her feet up on her bed, laughing at the insurmountable barriers around their lives. Musing endlessly about it wouldn¡¯t help. At the moment, the best she could do was to look past it and enjoy the here and now.


    ¡°Is this supposed to be your room?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s my room for whenever I needed to stay over here in this house. How does it feel being inside a girl¡¯s room?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking to somebody who lived and still lives with girls their whole life, and recently only increased in number.¡±


    ¡°But surely it feels different from family.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯ve been normalized to a great extent, probably.¡±


    Kato, ever restless, fiddled with the stationery on her desk idly. Somehow, the unfazed young man pulled in Alice even more; the desire to ask Kato questions about him grew ever stronger. She took a deep breath and hesitated for only a moment.


    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s between you and Mira?¡±


    ¡°Between me and Mira? What do you mean?¡±


    Hugging her legs close, she let herself fall onto one side, curled in a ball, allowing her curly hair flow around in front of her.


    ¡°Like, after the two of you ran away and then came back to us, literally no one else seemed to mind or ask questions about it. Well, they did, but it was way too soft, and the response to going on the Ferris wheel together was just as soft. So there must be something between the two of you that the Elites already know about and wouldn¡¯t need to ask, right? I¡¯m the only one left out here.¡±


    ¡°Hahahahahaha. Very perceptive, I see.¡±


    ¡°Perceptive or not, spill the damn beans already.¡±


    ¡°Mira haven¡¯t told you anything? Though I wouldn¡¯t expect her to.¡±


    ¡°It seems like both of us know that part of her quite well.¡±


    Kato continued to fidget with the things on the desk. For a spare room that she only used on occasion, it was well-kept and tidy, with no traces of dust or misplaced items.


    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s better for you to know now than surprise yourself later. ¡®Coz it¡¯s not just about me, but the Elites too. We¡¯re a very old group of children, minus Franco, who grew up together.¡±


    ¡°That cheap shot at Franco. I feel bad for him.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Franco¡¯s proven himself to be a great friend. But the rest of us are childhood friends in the most literal sense of the phrase. I think it¡¯s fair to say that we became inseparable over the years, including the Jupiter sisters.¡±


    ¡°But what about your training as a Heart? Surely that took a lot of time away.¡±


    ¡°It did. For the longest time, we only went to school for two out of the six days, and it was only in the morning, but apparently it was enough to bond over. Conveniently, we would always have Sunday to play with each other.¡±


    ¡°So things just worked out, even though your job actively worked against you all.¡±


    ¡°Well, Evie and I were, and still are, the ¡®cool¡¯ kids of our class by a long, long shot, so there¡¯s that social aspect which helped us stay relevant in school. Kids will be kids.¡±


    Alice giggled at his characterization of himself.


    ¡°I¡¯d bet all your teachers were on edge every time the two of you appeared in class.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯d be right. At best, we were troublemakers. As time went on, we went to school more often, so that helped too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the original genesis of the Elites. Now, where does Mira come in?¡±


    ¡°Hah. I¡¯m probably not qualified to explain her part for her, but I¡¯ll try. From what I can remember, it was Mira who brought the two groups together. It helped that we played in the same old playground, and they were just as eccentric as we were, so we bonded real fast.


    ¡°Mira, she started getting serious tutoring in, like, grade three or four? She was at school and at the playground steadily less and less often, sometimes absent for months on end, but she would always come back to us in the end. By this point in time, Eon and Bia were leading the charges across the playground.¡±


    ¡°Bia? Bianca?¡±


    She was reminded of a name that slipped from her mind, and many metaphorical dots connected in her brain. With her imagination in overdrive again, she imagined that, likely, Mirabelle wasn¡¯t the only main character in this situation, which inexplicably worried her.


    ¡°She¡¯s like you in many ways. She was cool and aloof, but once she got used to the infighting it became second nature to her.¡±


    ¡°Heh, infighting. Is this the disrespect I hear?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen Bia in action before; her speech is as crude as a guy¡¯s. And yours is up there as well, sister. Don¡¯t be so disrespectful to the disrespecting.¡±


    Alice smirked, for once proud of the poisonous tongue she had.


    ¡°Anyway, all that continued until we hit senior high, and she slowly came back to us. Though she still disappears from time to time, like right now, she¡¯s more or less back in full attendance.¡±


    ¡°The history lesson is nice and all, but what¡¯s actually between the two of you? Please answer the question.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I thought I could bamboozle you with my longwinded misdirection. I guess not.¡±


    They snickered at each other as Kato said in a pretentious voice, a bit of his natural grandstanding shining through. He crossed his arms as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, turned his back to the desk, and faced straight in Alice¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Well, Mira¡¯s rather attached to me ever since we were kids. Overly attached, I should say. I don¡¯t think there was a time where that wasn¡¯t the case. We¡¯re super close, despite all the missing time between the two of us. Eh, how can I explain it? Like I said before, we¡¯re true childhood friends, and we have all the baggage that comes with being that, so that¡¯s why, I guess, we didn¡¯t have such a heated reaction as yours.¡±


    ¡°What kind of baggage? I never had any childhood friends of your magnitude. Explain it like I¡¯m five.¡±


    ¡°Heh. It¡¯s the kind where we know each other so well that we know exactly which topics to not bring up. You know how it¡¯s conventional wisdom to never talk about politics with your family, unless you¡¯re prepared to permanently part ways with them? It¡¯s sorta like that.¡±


    Alice narrowed her eyes at the vague answer he gave, but realized that Kato was right to explain the origins of the Elites; the expression on his face was one of fatigue, and she could see an inkling of why it was the case. Nevertheless, this was the best time to weasel out information from him, while he was separated from his friends and family, so she pressed on.


    ¡°So something big happened in the past related to this, and it seemed to have involved most everyone, that we¡¯re all fine with sweeping it under the rug, right?¡±


    Kato arched his eyebrow.


    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re pretty sharp.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that hard. You don¡¯t know what really hurts until you run into it, right?¡±


    ¡°Fair.¡±


    Silence drifted between them, and Alice watched him on quietly for a while as he spaced out, eyes unfocused. She sighed. There was not going to be an explanation about that from him willingly, so she left it at that. She sat upright on the bed again and clasped her hands together in front of her, thinking carefully of her next move.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make it real clear. Mira¡¯s side, it can be left to her to answer, but you, do you like Mira?¡±


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    Slowly, Kato smiled widely in response. He put his elbow on the desk, and rested his chin on his knuckles, supporting his tilted head, staring back into Alice¡¯s unyielding blue eyes.


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    His expression was one of amusement, halfway between joking and serious. It was obvious that he was enjoying the moment, but it nevertheless held some importance to him.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s obvious that you like her. To what extent, I can¡¯t be sure, but it¡¯s obvious that you see her as way more than just a close friend, and for a long time.¡±


    Alice said bluntly without holding back anything. Her face was serene, neither jesting nor perturbed: just proclaiming a statement matter-of-factly. Part of it was she wanted to see a more earnest reaction from Kato without distracting his thoughts with her emotions.


    ¡°Ahahaha, does it look like that? It¡¯s true that she¡¯s more than just a childhood friend to me.¡±


    For some reason, Alice felt a sinking feeling in her chest as he admitted just a little bit of it in front of her. Though she steeled herself for any answer, it was still rocking nonetheless. But as a person who constantly dealt with her emotions, she quickly internalized that moment and moved on from it without missing a step.


    ¡°But still, why are the two of you not together after all this time? If you¡¯re willing to run away from us and go off on your own, going on a Ferris wheel of all things, from an outsider¡¯s point of view, I don¡¯t see why it wouldn¡¯t be the case.¡±


    ¡°What, are you jealous that I would take Mira away from you?¡±


    ¡°Idiot. Your situation looks suspect regardless of who was looking on from outside.¡±


    Kato¡¯s smile unwavering, she felt her face suddenly heat up. There were mixed feelings in there, consisting of some bits of pride, jealously and disappointment. And when a bit of arrogance crept into his eyes, Alice knew that her uneasiness was written all over her face.


    ¡°Your promise from earlier today is still in effect. No shenanigans allowed.¡±


    ¡°Aw, I was hoping it you¡¯d forget about it.¡±


    ¡°How can I forget about¡ª?¡±


    She stopped herself before she said out loud what she was thinking, and was surprised at it herself; the ability to stop herself, that is. In a rush that seemed remarkably natural, she cleared her throat to cover up her stumbling and continue.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t share it with me, that¡¯s fine. That¡¯s just what your relationship seems like from an observer¡¯s standpoint.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re probably not wrong. Hell, I¡¯m used to it by now, getting glares from guys around me all the time. Evie is also another one that they¡¯re all jealous for.¡±


    She let out a long sigh. As expected from a master of deflection.


    ¡°I can see why; and why you¡¯ve become so numb towards both Evie and her crowds.¡±


    Kato stood up from the chair and leaned against the edge of the desk, just a slight bit restless. Alice watched curiously, as he took a moment before he began again.


    ¡°I guess there¡¯s no single answer to that question, only scattered parts that don¡¯t even make up the whole answer. One part of it, I answered a bit earlier. Another part of it is related to our upbringing as Hearts.¡±


    She was pleasantly surprised that Kato went back on topic, but then she narrowed her eyes, a little apprehensive at what the reason was if it pertained to the organization. It reminded her that despite all the human-ness of his gang, they were an exceptional existence to not only Eternia, but likely this world too.


    ¡°Because we¡¯re brought up as future Hearts, there¡¯s a need to remove evidence of our pasts so that we¡¯ll be reliable assets to the organization. Our identities will be hard to trace not only for enemies, but allies alike. And one of the things done for that purpose is alchemically erasing the memories from the people of Livia.¡±


    Alice¡¯s face turned sour, confused and upset by this revelation.


    ¡°What? Erasing memories from people? How?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure, but our guardian Karl, I¡¯ve mentioned him before I think, he¡¯s involved with that job right now, and that¡¯s why he¡¯s not home anymore.¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s going around the city, looking for people with memories of the three of you, and erasing them? Is that even something that can actually happen? Not just literally but logistically?¡±


    ¡°It must be. Sisi is a living example of that.¡±


    Alice slackened her arms and head as her fatigue suddenly returned to her. Downcast, she had a thousand-yard stare aimed at nowhere on the floor in particular. Though she could already guess the answer, she asked anyway, seriously hoping it wasn¡¯t the case.


    ¡°Then will the Elites, the Jupiter sisters, all our classmates, will they be subject to the mind wipe? Will I have my memories erased too?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    She closed her eyes, taking a moment to process the affirmation from Kato. A sense of hopelessness crept into her mind, now knowing that Kato and Evie would be erased from her memories. Would their friendship be meaningless, if she would forget about their existence?


    ¡°The deadline is shortly after the end of this school year. That¡¯s when the people closest to us will be subject to the mind wipe. Once that¡¯s done, we¡¯ll be ready to serve Eternia as the leading Hearts candidates.¡±


    Alice remained silent and forlorn, as if mourning for a loss that had not even happened yet. Kato tapped at her foot lightly with his foot, trying to elicit some kind of response from her, to which she slowly raised her head to make eye contact. There, she saw a sheepish grin that epitomized his powerlessness and acceptance of the situation, which only now she truly understood the shackles that he and Evie had to live with, just as she had been under the chains of her own circumstance.


    Seeing her evidently distraught, he closed the little distance between them to pat her on the head silently, as he did many times for his sisters. She didn¡¯t say anything, only lowering her line of sight once more, staring down imaginary holes into the ground. Grasping at straws, she had it in her to ask one more time.


    ¡°Who won¡¯t get mind wiped? Certainly, there¡¯ll be at least a few outliers. Sisi must be one.¡±


    ¡°I suspect some of the nomenklatura and above wouldn¡¯t need to be wiped. It¡¯s useful for them to know, after all. I don¡¯t know the status on Karl, but hopefully his memories don¡¯t need to get erased.¡±


    An idea sprouted from the depths of her mind at the mention of the nomenklatura. Alice looked up at him once more, this time with an obvious sense of desperation.


    ¡°So if I become a nomenklatura, there¡¯s a good chance that I¡¯ll be spared from the mind wipe?¡±


    Kato removed his hand from the top of her head, just a little confused at her far-fetched idea.


    ¡°A good chance, yes. Why? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to join Eternia just because of this? And aiming straight for the high place of a nomenklatura too.¡±


    ¡°I can make my way in there. From my position, it¡¯s possible for me to make it in there. It¡¯ll take a lot of effort, but it¡¯s definitely doable.¡±


    ¡°Whatever ideas you¡¯re having right now, I suggest you leave it alone. Joining the nomenklatura is not a joke. It¡¯s not worth it.¡±


    Alice jumped up from her bed, standing tall and looking straight at him with indignation.


    ¡°It¡¯s not you who determines if it¡¯ll be worth it for me. Evie is my foremost consideration in this decision.¡±


    Kato was taken aback as she snapped at him, though not so much for the rudeness than the words she used. He said something similar to what Alice said, just earlier on the Ferris wheel to Mirabelle. He smiled lightly at that thought and leaned back on the edge of the desk once more, casting his eyes away from the fiery girl in front of him and nodded.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s your choice.¡±


    Now her turn to be surprised, Alice still was unfamiliar with Kato being agreeable and her cheeks tickled pink. What she said was a lie. He was the reason why, not Evie. But just as quickly, she calmed down as her thoughts returned to his original point.


    ¡°Then is this why? Do the rest of them know about this? Did you tell them?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s certainly a part of why things are the way they are. And yes, they do know about it. I myself have learned it not too long ago, and I told them about it very soon after that.¡±


    ¡°Is this the big thing that happened?¡±


    ¡°It was a significant part of it, I¡¯d say.¡±


    Alice stared on at his non-response, but dropped it quickly. There were other things of concern to her that she still wanted answered, and she asked hesitantly.


    ¡°If, hypothetically, Mira was somehow able to keep her memories, what would you do?¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t change what I¡¯m doing right now. There are other things between us and the others that need to be sorted out.¡±


    Kato said, rather bluntly and seemingly preoccupied with something. Somehow, Alice felt lighter at the sound of this apparently intractable issue that he saw between himself and Mirabelle. While on that train of thought, the next question was out of her mouth before she knew it.


    ¡°Then, would you be happy if I managed to keep my memories of you?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    He said offhandedly, still very clearly absentminded, which turned his affirmative answer into an equivocal one to Alice. Strangely, she couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed, to which she was concerned about once she was self-aware of it. As he was still staring off into space, she found herself wanting him to look her way. In which manner, she wasn¡¯t so sure.


    Abruptly, the door behind them was blasted wide open. There was no noise, however, from the slam of the door into the wall beside it, and instead white sparks flew out from the points of contact, obvious that they were the residue of an act of alchemy.


    Standing at the doorway was a young woman, clad in a black full-body jumpsuit. On her head was a large piece of headgear with a tinted visor, obscuring her eyes and most of her face from view, presumably to prevent the person from being identified. She held no visible weapons, but wore a pair of tactical gloves that were sparsely metal-studded on the back of the hand. Her long black hair was tied back in a large bun, not unlike the way Bianca made hers.


    ¡°Hey¡ª¡±


    However, Kato apparently already anticipated the intruder¡¯s appearance, and the moment that the door flew open, he pushed Alice out of the way and onto the bed, which was at least somewhat out of the view range of the mini-corridor between the door and the open space of the bedroom. He walked up to the intruder, standing only a few arm¡¯s length away in a battle-ready stance, feet shoulder-width apart and balancing his centre of gravity.


    ¡°Hand over the girl. She won¡¯t get hurt, and she will be returned here within the hour. Surrender.¡±


    A robotic voice in Old Yue came from the girl¡¯s mouth, alchemically scrambled from the white adhesive bandage that was pasted on her neck. She was clearly not allowing her identity to be recognized; not that Kato would be able to recognize her anyway. At least the words themselves could be somewhat trusted. The aura around the intruder and her killing intent was not one that suggested she was after Alice¡¯s life, but it was definitely strong enough that she was serious about her intentions.


    ¡°No can do. Those conditions are against my orders. If you want her, come at me.¡±


    If her goal was merely to subdue him and retrieve Alice, which seemed to be the case from the low intensity of her killing intent, then he would also return the favour. From his apprenticeship at the Chang temple, he was taught that the act of killing was a last resort, a line that can only be crossed once one accepted the consequences of it.


    The intruder quickly closed the short distance between herself and Kato with a light step, and threw a lightning-fast jab at the centre of his torso with the left arm. The speed in which it was executed surprised Kato, but he was no slouch either. He took a big step backward on his right foot to tilt his body out of the effective range of the short-reaching jab, and then used that momentum to spring back on that foot to lunge forward with his left elbow.


    Unlike Kato who utilized the mobility of his limbs, the intruder raised her right arm to block the elbow strike with the back of her hand, a technique that matched direct force with direct force, which would not be recommended unless she was armoured with her metal-studded gloves and had foreknowledge of the physical strength of her opponent. With Kato¡¯s counter-strike checked, she knocked Kato¡¯s stopped limb upwards with her left arm that was just pulled back from the missed jab. With his left arm knocked up, it exposed his lower torso to attack and she attempted to follow up with an upward elbow strike with her now-freed right arm.


    In the split second his left arm was knocked upwards, Kato realized he was too greedy with his counter-strike and was likely to take the coming blow. As he steeled himself to take it, he forced himself to take a step backward with his left to soften the blow, even if it meant destabilizing his centre of gravity.


    He took a blunt strike to his left ribcage, with its full force softened as expected from his forced step backwards. He immediately felt the pain and momentary flinching that came with that force, disabling his movements for a split second. Without hesitating, the intruder followed up with a step forward of her left foot to pivot on it and performed a hook with the left arm. Executing on the basics of basics, her hips and body followed the natural flow of the hook, turning significantly in the clockwise direction to put her entire body¡¯s power into the strike.


    Fortunately, he blocked the hook with his right arm just in time, but it sacrificed much of his balance and the force of that strike almost sent him off of his feet. He dug in his heels hard, preventing a fall that would have meant the end of any control for him in this fight. However, by standing his ground it opened up another window of opportunity for the intruder to launch another jab with the right hand, this time aimed for the base of the neck and if it connected, it would result in a serious loss of balance and flinching from which he would not recover from.


    Of course, Kato didn¡¯t bank on fighting empty-handed. From his left arm being knocked up to the transition between the blocked hook and the upcoming jab, he was able to unsheathe the hidden knife in his sleeve, slip it into his hand in a reverse grip, and bring it up to block her jab with the edge of the blade. The metal on metal clanging seemingly stupefied the intruder for a short moment, allowing Kato to take another step backwards to recover his usual centre of gravity.


    Realizing that his posture had recovered and equipped with a short-ranged weapon, she tried to step up her attacks in order to prevent her opponent from using it offensively. With both fighters on equal footing again, they exchanged many more blows as the intruder advanced into the room while Kato continued to dodge by moving backwards.


    In seconds, they covered the distance from the mini-corridor to the edge of the office desk. Once Kato reached the desk, he instantly leapt behind the office chair and pushed it into his adversary. While she was momentarily distracted, he reached down into his leather pants, grabbing an extendable rod from underneath it with his right hand, and then throwing away the knife under the table with his left.


    From the exchanges just prior, he realized that the intruder wore chainmail underneath the jumpsuit, at least on her arms, which made the attacks of edged lightweight weapons meaningless. As the knife had already served its purpose, it called for an immediate change of tactics.


    With extended reach, instead of going for swift and dominating control as was usual with hand to hand combat, he could play the longer game both in distance and time. He saw the chair being thrown back into his direction on its wheels, to which he slammed the chair to the side and into the edge of the bed with his fully extended baton, while the whole time watching on the intruder beyond the chair advancing quickly toward him.


    The moment she came within range, he lashed out several quick swipes in succession, all aiming for the head and neck. The intruder parried every one of those attacks with her arms, but more importantly she was stopped in her tracks, as Kato did not need to step backwards any further.


    With the swipes being parried, Kato lowered his posture and made a thrust towards the neck, expecting another parry from a fighter who always stood her ground. But like Kato, as the fight evolved she changed tactics too, and elected to dodge the upwards attack by taking a step back and ducking. At the same time, she clasped the extending rod with both hands, completely restricting the weapon¡¯s axes of freedom, and even wrestling for control of it from Kato.


    However, Kato was already prepared for this eventuality and she took his bait. In the moment she tried to yank the baton from his grasp, he let it pull him forward, still grabbing the rod along its length as if he was holding onto a rope in a tug of war. It brought them back into melee range, but Kato had the slight initiative this time around as the baited yank caused her to lose balance, which required a split second to recover before she was able to form a solid defence.


    In that moment of unbalance, he closed the distance quickly and following through with the momentum that his intruder contributed to, he smashed onto the visor and the face using his forehead. It was a no-brainer that he was aiming his headbutt for the nose, an easy target, and crushing it at full force.


    Flinching, she staggered a step backwards as the visor crumbled under the impact to reveal an abundance of bandages wrapped over her eyes, forehead and cheeks. The debris scattered around her, with some bits of it stuck to the point of impact on Kato¡¯s forehead.


    She was clearly a student of an empty-handed school of martial arts, and one that did not use eyesight, for that matter. It meant that she depended solely on hearing and the sixth sense to seek out enemies and movements. He doubted that she was blind. Rather, eyesight most likely interfered with her techniques¡¯ focus on sound and the mana flow around her.


    Now with the nose dripping blood, it soaked into those bandages and gave it a bright red hue. Kato was not going to leave it at that. He weaved in his next attack through a knee kick at the stomach, which connected and sent the adversary tumbling backwards several feet towards the doorway, letting loose of the rod that Kato regained control of, while his opponent was knocked out of her effective ranges.


    However, the intruder was just as tenacious as he was, and was no doubt a highly trained physically superior fighter like him. Unfazed by the bludgeoned nose and the knee, she dug in, willed herself to resist the effects of her injuries and recovered her posture in seconds.


    Kato did not make any follow-up strikes in her recovery window, and instead immediately backed off and reached for the inside of his shirt for his handgun. Because he was ambidextrous, it didn¡¯t matter which hand he held his weapons, and it just so happened that his extendable baton was in his right and the handgun with a silencer in his left. Now that there was some distance in between them, it was possible to use the pistol at its effective range.


    The opponent, of course, anticipated his possession of ranged weapons from the start and purposely maintained melee range the entire time. But with them standing at least eight feet apart, he had the upper hand with range. Knowing that, she froze in position as she watched, from her sixth sense, Kato¡¯s loaded gun aimed at her head. Her senses were sharp, especially in this adrenaline-charged fight, and though her intuition told her that the end was near, whose victory was not yet decided.


    And it was for good reason, as Kato too remained in position, unwilling to continue the melee. He was at a disadvantage at that range. However, he refrained from firing immediately as he suspected, correctly, that those metal-studded gloves could easily deflect a bullet from a pistol. And from the strength and finesse of her movements, being able to keep up with and even surpass Kato, she could definitely do that, and was definitely a challenger if not already a deity.


    Seconds ticked by as the stare-off continued, though with one side having no naked eye to stare from. There was actually another, more pressing reason for both sides to take a pause, as both the intruder and Kato sensed her presence reaching them imminently, and that reason finally appeared behind the intruder at the doorway.


    ¡°Freeze!¡±


    The intruder, failing to subdue Kato before her time ran out, could only accept the stalemate in her fight against Kato and surrender once reinforcements came. She quietly tore off her gloves and raised her hands high in the air, signalling her acquiescence to Sisi¡¯s demand. She turned around to address the tiny girl who held a long, embroidered lance in her hands, which emanated quite an evil aura from its body.


    ¡°Number Two. I didn¡¯t expect her guard would be you and this gentleman here. Mr Albert must be a well-connected man.¡±


    Sisi squinted at the opponent, who was still splattered with blood on her face and bandages. Sisi¡¯s expression was devoid of emotions, unperturbed by the situation and the intruder¡¯s nonchalant attitude.


    ¡°Sorry, but this is mine mission. Miklos shall see that it gets done. You, on the other hand, have not had the best of fortunes, Miklos can see. It was not just this battle you have lost in.¡±


    Elizabeth Miklos Romana was Sisi¡¯s true name. It seemed like she used her middle name to refer to herself among her peers in the underground.


    ¡°That is indeed unfortunate, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°And you shall suffer a failure here. Don¡¯t take this too personally.¡±


    ¡°How could I? At this point, I can only accept what had happened.¡±


    She shrugged, and the adversarial aura around her disappeared as she dropped her gloves to the floor. Sisi lowered her weapon as well, sensing the change. The robotic voice still sounded strange to the ears, especially when it tried to convey some emotion.


    ¡°Sisi, do you know this person?¡±


    Kato asked his mentor warily, his gun still trained on the intruder.


    ¡°Yes. And stow away your weapons. It is over.¡±


    He did not move at all, his eyes remained hostile towards the young woman, evidently still distrusting her intentions. Seeing that he was not yet ready to let go of the fight, Sisi sighed and began with a question for the girl, hoping that Kato¡¯s hotheadedness wouldn¡¯t blow over.


    ¡°What are you after?¡±


    ¡°I need to take Alice away for a short period of time. Then, we intend to let her go.¡±


    The intruder stated her aims once again. Alice, who had been unceremoniously thrown onto the bed and remained there until now, stood up from it and called out to the intruder.


    ¡°Hey, miss, are you under orders from Uncle Justin?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Alice¡¯s bodyguards were taken aback, wide-eyed. Alice replied immediately to the girl.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll come with you. But my friends will come with me, is that fine?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see a problem with that.¡±


    The girl affirmed Alice¡¯s intentions. Kato was unrepentant.


    ¡°Alice! Are you absolutely sure?¡±


    ¡°Definitely. Uncle Justin told me earlier he would see me again. I just didn¡¯t know it would be in this manner.¡±


    Alice waved a small piece of paper for the crowd to see, presumably slipped to her when Justin approached the stage earlier in the night. It was a plan already put in place from the other side.


    Kato looked to Sisi, who eventually nodded at Alice¡¯s decision.


    ¡°We are bodyguards. We do not dictate our client¡¯s demands, only adapt to them.¡±


    Reluctantly, he lowered his gun and put it away. Kato knew already from the mana flow around him that his opponent would not fight, especially now that Alice was basically acquiescing to her original objective. The excessive overflow of killing intent from both fighters disappeared as quickly as it appeared. He nodded in the end, as there was no other choice but to follow through with it.

 2.12 This Day Next Year

    The four of them, led by the bandaged fighter in the jumpsuit, arrived at the edge of the trail in front of the main yard, where the sedans that Sisi and Kato had previously spotted were. Though they were in view of the front doors of the mansion, their little huddle was too far away for somebody at the door to make out anything in this dimly lit parking area of the trail.


    ¡°Alice.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Justin.¡±


    The middle-aged man with a wide smile and his second cigar in his mouth stepped out of one of the cars to greet his beloved niece. He walked up to her to give her a big hug, which Alice returned with a smile on her face as well. They seemed to get along well, his demeanour a complete opposite from what he showed earlier in the great hall. His bodyguards, including the young lady in the bandages, gathered themselves around their boss, facing the two Eternians behind Alice.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry we had to subject you to this, but we didn¡¯t know what to expect. Seeing everyone in one piece is reassuring for sure.¡±


    ¡°No worries, Uncle. I expected nothing less. So, what did you need me for? It must be something big.¡±


    Her uncle spoke in Old Yue, in contrast to Alice¡¯s insistence on speaking New Yue.


    ¡°Do you like your current school right now? Having fun?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course I do. What about it?¡±


    Justin scratched his head, almost apologetically. He took a deep breath before continuing.


    ¡°Hm. The thing is, we¡¯re transferring you out of your current school to Regia Miriam. We¡¯ll get it done by next week, and you¡¯ll be moving in with me.¡±


    Jaws dropped on the other side. Regia Miriam All-Girls Academy was a private school on the other side of the city in Tuenmun district. Even out here in Tseungkwano town, it was still far enough away to justify moving out.


    ¡°Why? Why am I being transferred?¡±


    ¡°Uh, hmm. I take it that you¡¯re against being transferred?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course! There¡¯s no reason for me to be transferred out of Korolev.¡±


    ¡°So you like it there in Korolev? That¡¯s good to hear. I was very worried that your depression would come back, but it seems like it¡¯s gotten a lot better for you.¡±


    ¡°Uncle! Enough of that! That was from when I was younger.¡±


    Her voice suddenly rose by an octave, embarrassed by the bit of her unspeakable past being revealed in front of Kato, who had a grin slowly spreading across his face.


    ¡°But anyway, this is kinda hard then. If you like it there a lot, I¡¯ll feel bad having to move you out of it, knowing it¡¯s you.¡±


    He scratched his head again, showing a sheepish expression to the three guests. Behind him, another person got out of the car and into the dim spotlight that they stood under. With one surprise after another, the newly arrived girl wore a haughty and arrogant expression, as if she was in charge of the situation here. From Justin¡¯s expression, she might be.


    ¡°Alice, I¡¯d suggest you give it up. Class A has no use for a traitor. If you accept the transfer, it would be better for all parties involved.¡±


    The piercing voice belonged to the small girl with a short auburn bob cut, a Class A faction leader, and chairwoman of the Activity Council, Mona Mackenzie.


    On the other side, Alice and Kato both gasped at the appearance of a contemporary from school. She wore a suit like the rest of Justin¡¯s goons, except for the shades with a pink frame. Alice was perhaps just a bit less surprised than Kato since everyone in Class A was a part of the one percent. As Mona was someone who she did not have good relations with at all, she could only assume nothing good was going to happen.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to ask you! Why is Kato clutching his stomach and has a bruise on his forehead? By the looks of things though, our bellhop got the worse end of it, eh?¡±


    Laughing out loud without care, it was clear Mona was enjoying herself at the others¡¯ expense. No one said a thing as she doubled over at her own hilarity. Slowly, a snarl began to take form on Kato¡¯s face.


    ¡°And to think, this is going to be our new generation of Hearts! How farcical is this!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk, midget. Do you want to clutch your stomach too?¡±


    She was not perturbed by Kato. In fact, she laughed even harder at his provocation.


    ¡°Hah! I¡¯ll let you know what situation you¡¯re in, Kato. If you dare touch me, it¡¯ll be the end of you.¡±


    ¡°Hold on, Mona¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not about you.¡±


    The bandaged girl stepped forward into Mona¡¯s line of sight, which Mona anticipated and waved her away with her hand. She then waved to the goon behind her, who then motioned to the driver of the car behind them to lower the glass of one of the windows.


    ¡°Ms Romana. I presume you don¡¯t want any more blood to be spilt around here, eh? I implore you to put a leash on your mutt before we kill ourselves over nothing.¡±


    Under the poor lighting, it was hard to discern with the naked eye who she revealed behind the tinted window. But Sisi didn¡¯t need the naked eye to sense the passenger who was intentionally exuding his aura into the atmosphere around him, and she recognized who this aura belonged to. Next to her, Kato could also sense that this halo belonged to one of a deity. On the other hand, the bandaged girl seemed surprised at the appearance of the mystery deity, to which the man curtly answered her bewilderment.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind me.¡±


    Just as swift as the reveal, the windows rolled up, obscuring the man once more. Finally, Sisi shook her head reluctantly, and though Kato was forced to hold his weapons at ease, the grimace remained. Seeing Alice¡¯s two guards accept the situation, Mona¡¯s grin spread even wider. Witnessing Kato¡¯s plight, it especially delighted her since he was an opponent in the Class Wars.


    ¡°Kato, you haven¡¯t changed very much from the looks of things, and if only you knew how ridiculous this situation is, you would blow up right away.¡±


    ¡°Ho. So the girl who came into Class F and moved up and out together with Gilbert is this kind of a bitch. I¡¯m pleasantly surprised at the impunity with which you have with your words. Class F taught you well, didn¡¯t we? Not that we¡¯d want to take any credit for it.¡±


    The smirk disappeared quickly and her face hardened, the arrogant joviality drained from her face. Normally, she would snap back at his words, but she needed to get business moving along before anybody from the inside of the mansion got wind of this strange assembly of important people.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll learn about it soon enough, so let¡¯s drop it here until then.¡±


    Mona addressed Alice immediately after.


    ¡°Right now, I need you to agree to transfer to Regia Miriam. You don¡¯t have a choice, actually, since your guardians are Justin and Albert, and either of them can give consent on your behalf. But of course, we want to let you know of our decision, and what you think of it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here? There¡¯s no way I¡¯m transferring away. Not on your orders, anyway. Why are you even here in the first place?¡±


    ¡°Does it matter if I¡¯m here? Your beloved Uncle here will pick you up anyway.¡±


    ¡°Then why is this happening? What¡¯s the reason for transferring me to Regia Miriam?¡±


    ¡°The very first thing I said. To not be a hindrance to Class A.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me? I don¡¯t have a place in your Class Wars in the first place. How does that justify removing me from school completely?¡±


    ¡°Not when you¡¯re colluding with an enemy class. Normally, treason like this would warrant banishment to the unprivileged classes, but seeing as you¡¯re Gilbert¡¯s fianc¨¦e, we¡¯d prefer to have you transferred out instead of suffering from the humiliation of demotion.¡±


    The unprivileged classes were the classes below Class F, with no representation in the Assembly or the Council of Six, the judicial commission of the student government system. Though they were the least prestigious of the classes as they sheltered the lowest scoring students, Korolev Senior was still an elite school. A placement in an unprivileged class was not the end of the world, but it was certainly a blemish on one¡¯s trajectory up the social ladder after they graduate. Since class placement in Korolev Senior was more or less a meritocracy, it really did lend credence to your abilities and social worth, which naturally led to Alice¡¯s confusion.


    ¡°How would you remove me from Class A? That¡¯s not something for you to decide. It¡¯s a position that you earn.¡±


    ¡°But we have the Class Wars, Alice. A peace treaty is all that¡¯s needed to cast undesirables out into the wilderness.¡±


    That was a very dangerous proclamation, and Kato¡¯s distorted frown was all that needed to be said of this abuse of the Class War system. He didn¡¯t hesitate to interrupt.


    ¡°Then why would you support the Ewiger Landfriede? You can¡¯t do that with eternal peace.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only one method, young man. I¡¯m not the AC¡¯s chairwoman for nothing.¡±


    She shrugged at Kato as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, yet the power she wielded inside Korolev Senior was terrifyingly great. Alice took the conversation back from Kato.


    ¡°Frankly, at this point, I¡¯m not surprised that you would have this kind of power. Your ambitions in the Class Wars aside, the question still remains, why are you the one forcing me to transfer to Regia Miriam? You don¡¯t have power over my attendance. How did you get Uncle Justin to do this?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Strangely, Mona fell silent for quite a long while, as everyone waited in anticipation for an answer from her. Justin, who Alice expected an answer from also, didn¡¯t speak up at all, preferring to let Mona make the explanations. Mona refocused herself in due time, sensing that the crowd around her was expectant.


    ¡°It¡¯s a request from Gilbert.¡±


    The two opposing Eternian guards looked at each other in disbelief, wide-eyed at the sudden turn of events. Alice took an involuntary step backward at the mention of his name. That he was the one who would want her to leave their school was unthinkable on every level. Time around her seemed to slow to a crawl. She could not believe it.


    ¡°How? Why?¡±


    Mona was unrepentant. Actually, she was quite upset and visibly impatient with Alice¡¯s response. In every other moment, she would have had the civility to keep her mouth shut, but Gilbert wasn¡¯t by Alice¡¯s side for once, so she didn¡¯t hold back.


    ¡°Do you know how much Gil suffers when you make selfish decisions without him in mind at all? He just takes your bullshit for the past two years as if it was nothing, and now, when he makes a selfish request of his own, you¡¯re still a self-centred bitch who doesn¡¯t give a fuck about the person who supported you all this time.¡±


    Pointing her index finger squarely at Alice and lashing out in Old Yue, the choice of words were, to say the least, not pretty and it stunned the surrounding group.


    ¡°You¡¯ve taken his kindness for granted, and now you feel shocked, even betrayed, that he would do such a thing, right? He was the one who brought you here to Livia, to Korolev Senior, and rightfully, he should have the privilege to take you out of it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what kind of past you have or what hardship you¡¯re going through. This isn¡¯t a place for your childish desires. If you wish to be freed from your status and your household, then just fucking leave. Gil doesn¡¯t deserve to have a woman who doesn¡¯t even respect him, much less love him.¡±


    As Mona continued to unload, Alice¡¯s face distorted with grief and frustration. Without a shadow of a doubt, Mona¡¯s accusations were as accurate as much as it stung. She could feel that Mona wanted to say this to her for a long time, but it probably was Gilbert who prevented Mona from raging.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you too, now that I¡¯ve already said this out loud. I personally want to force you out of Korolev Senior too, not only because your treatment of Gil is shit, but it¡¯ll be better for Gil to stay away from a bitch like you. Now that he¡¯s agreed to do it, I¡¯ll gladly pull out the pitchforks to do the dirty work.¡±


    Alice, sufficiently terrified, looked over to her uncle next to the firestorm. Justin shook his head, signifying that he expected this kind of outburst and accepted the accusations Mona made. It took a moment for Alice to realize she couldn¡¯t blame her uncle, as he watched over her childhood in place of her late father and so he knew what kind of a person she was.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this enough for Alice? She knows her faults all too well. Please, give her some time to think it over.¡±


    ¡°Mr Justin, I know she¡¯s your niece, but there needs to be a line to appeasing her whims. I, of my own authority, will draw that line, and Gil has accepted this.¡±


    Mona did not even peel her glare off from Alice to address the boss next to her as if she was the real boss, which in this case she really was. Justin was well-connected with the Mackenzie family, who were real estate tycoons in this city, and served as Justin¡¯s faithful allies in his business dealings. On a personal level, Justin and Mona were related through Justin¡¯s daughter, Alice¡¯s cousin, who was married to Mona¡¯s dear elder brother. Since Mona was Gilbert¡¯s die-hard prot¨¦g¨¦ outside of school, Gilbert was therefore an acceptable partner for Alice from Justin¡¯s perspective.


    Alice closed her eyes from the madness and covered her mouth with her hand, which trembled as it gripped her cheekbones tightly. Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground, crouching and downcast with tears in her eyes, sobbing quietly.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered the question. You¡¯ve been dancing around the problem the whole time. The Class Wars aren¡¯t the real reasons why Alice is being forced to transfer. If the move is truly Gilbert¡¯s idea, then explain, what is his motivation for imposing his will on Alice?¡±


    Kato asked warily, stepping forward to Alice¡¯s side. But he had a hunch on the true answer, no matter what kind of drivel Mona would reply with. After all, he was there to not only witness but incite Gilbert¡¯s silent indignation only earlier today.


    ¡°He deemed it necessary to remove her from Korolev in order to safeguard his interests in Korolev, at home and in higher society.¡±


    ¡°And most importantly, his own ego?¡±


    Mona¡¯s eyes twitched at the slight that was thrown. From this small gesture and the bitterness exuding from her aura, it didn¡¯t seem like she wanted to give any ground. Even though he declared his intent so clearly, she still gave vague answers, which meant it was likely a reason not meant for Alice¡¯s ears.


    ¡°It¡¯s not even his ego; like I said, it¡¯s merely the respect that he deserves as her partner.¡±


    ¡°So, let¡¯s say that her insolence has finally crossed this imaginary red line. Not that I don¡¯t understand, she is a selfish person. Are we all not? Then, something must have happened, the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. Do you have any idea what that might be?¡±


    Mona bit her lips, not knowing how to answer, or perhaps not knowing how she should answer.


    ¡°No idea. How about you ask Alice? She¡¯s the source of Gil¡¯s troubles, I can assure you.¡±


    Kato nodded, somewhat exaggeratedly. He looked down at the crouching blonde girl next to her and smiled. Alice looked up in response and she turned somewhat bemused at his lightened mood.


    ¡°Right. Then, I¡¯ve determined that, without good reason, there¡¯s no need for Alice to transfer out. I¡¯m glad we¡¯ve solved this issue.¡±


    ¡°You fuck! What gave you any say in this? Why do you keep on fucking causing trouble?¡±


    ¡°So in the end, I¡¯m the troublemaker. I get it.¡±


    After blowing her top again, her face turned livid at the now-gung-ho attitude on Kato¡¯s face. But even so, she didn¡¯t let much slip through her mouth, as expected of a person of her calibre. Kato would have to take a gamble in his accusation, though it wouldn¡¯t have really mattered what the outcome was, since he now made the decision to play it through to the end.


    ¡°The real story here is: Gilbert¡¯s determined that I¡¯m a bad influence on Alice, so he¡¯s taking a roundabout way to get her transferred out of my reaches. A fair attempt, not gonna lie, but if you¡¯re gonna do that, how about you try and get rid of me instead of punishing Alice?¡±


    ¡°Nice to see that you¡¯re still the diva you always were. You think the world really does revolve around you, do you? Either way, this is not a place for you to make decisions anyway. All of this is really to just let Alice know of the decision, and see what opinions she has on it, nothing more.¡±


    Contorted with frustration, Mona¡¯s face was as unsightly as it could get. She glossed over his theorycrafting completely and instead just tossed the insults back in his direction. It was neither a confirmation nor a denial of his hypothesis.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll do everything in our power to resist your efforts to transfer her out of our school. It¡¯ll only happen over my dead body.¡±


    Alice stood back up, scared at the severity of his proclamation. He turned to her once again, giving her a grin to reassure her of his confidence in himself to follow through with it. It was no different than making a promise to her. It was just done in a roundabout sort of way. She felt a curious warmth settle within her chest, and it cured her of the gloom that had washed over her, reminding herself once more of the things she sought for.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Mona. I¡¯m not going to transfer out of Korolev Senior. Please let Gil know about it.¡±


    Mona¡¯s glare trained on Alice again, evidently furious at Alice¡¯s determination. Her hands curled into tiny fists, straining to contain her anger. Her voice was quite steady for the amount of outrage that was written all over her face.


    ¡°You do realize that your legal guardians have the right to remove you from the institution on their own.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but there are ways to change that.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°By taking control of my own finances. If I do, then I¡¯ll be considered as an independent by the school and my wishes will be first in the order of precedence. Both you and Gil are independents, as far as I know, right?¡±


    The crowd on the other side stiffened. Mona was especially tense, as she was the first to realize what Alice becoming financially independent meant. Cautiously, as Mona knew it would affect every single person around her, she asked to confirm.


    ¡°What do you mean, taking control of your finances?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll assume normal control of my shares in Westgrove Logistics, removing myself from the protection of the minors¡¯ law. It can happen as soon as I visit the local office tomorrow morning, and with Sisi here, can also get my status in Korolev changed just as quick.¡±


    ¡°Alice¡­¡±


    As Mona had expected, Justin was the most concerned and first to react. His expression was a mixture of surprise and disappointment.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Uncle. If I¡¯m pushed, I don¡¯t have a choice but to react. The reason I agreed to marry is to not take charge of this ownership stake, but now I have to do it.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then what if we don¡¯t push you on this transfer?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too late now. There¡¯s no more reason for me to not do it at this point.¡±


    ¡°So will you call off our marriage?¡±


    Everyone froze in place at the voice of a person who wasn¡¯t present in the group. Turning around, they saw two familiar men side by side, one a tall blond in the same shade as Alice¡¯s and Justin¡¯s, the other just as tall with wavy black hair. The speaker, in his usual monotone voice, was of course no other than Gilbert.


    Though Alice didn¡¯t flinch at the surprise this time, she was still clearly emotionally wrecked from earlier. The appearance of Gilbert wasn¡¯t totally impossible, but what was actually surprising was Albert¡¯s attendance, as Gilbert must have directed Mona and Justin on this because Albert would be against transferring out of Korolev.


    ¡°It depends on your attitude. I know my uncle and Albert just wants a piece of my shares, and in fact, I¡¯ll still let them have it; for the right price, of course.¡±


    Though not completely loosening the tension in their bodies, the two blonds did substantially relax their expressions upon hearing Alice¡¯s assurance. Even if Alice didn¡¯t want to have any part in the operation of the company, she was still way more than qualified to do it, and therefore knew how to handle operations properly. She motioned to one of Justin¡¯s bodyguards to hand over a notebook and a pen, and quickly scribbled a note to give to Justin.


    ¡°It¡¯s not exactly a promissory note, but it¡¯ll put in writing that the contract we had, is now amended.¡±


    Justin took the note, and found a small surprise on it.


    ¡°You¡¯re giving each of us ten percent instead of the original one percent?¡±


    ¡°The extra nine percent is not without a price. Do you agree with the terms?¡±


    Just as quickly as his niece did, he took out a pen to sign the note. He held it out to Albert, who stepped forward and took it from him cautiously. Slowly, Albert read the note, and he too was surprised.


    ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t have a problem with this either. If I¡¯m to take this at face value, then from here on out, this is an issue for you children to settle, right?¡±


    Albert too whipped out a pen to sign the note, and pocketed them both in his breastpocket.


    ¡°Yes, exactly. If I¡¯m responsible for myself now, then that¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen.¡±


    ¡°What are her terms?¡±


    Mona asked the two adults in the conversation, to which, surprisingly, Gilbert answered instead.


    ¡°Once she assumes normal control of her assets, Alice will transfer twenty percent to these two gentlemen here, ten each. In return, she wishes to have her marriage not be a matter of the Westgrove family.¡±


    ¡°And one more clause. Albert and Uncle Justin will be my references for my admission to the nomenklatura.¡±


    Kato was mildly surprised, but he didn¡¯t express it out loud. She really took what they discussed in her room to heart, and it was touching to see a friend value their friendship.


    ¡°Gilbert. If this is what Alice wants, then you¡¯ll have to settle the rest of it yourself. I¡¯ve already given my opinion on the matter to you just moments before, so you should understand my position on this issue.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I understand. I will, of course, take responsibility for my actions.¡±


    Albert nodded solemnly to the rest of the group and excused himself from the discussion. Somewhat like Gilbert, his face was sombre and hard to read, and he alone departed quietly for the well-lit mansion.


    Turning to Gilbert, Alice was neither angry nor unhappy as she was just minutes ago. Instead, she mirrored the seriousness that was so quintessential of Gilbert, showing to him that she had made up her mind.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you would take such drastic measures, though perhaps I was too conceited to not expect that.¡±


    ¡°No, Gil. You just didn¡¯t understand what kind of a person I am. Or maybe you did, but your own principles blindsided you at almost every turn because I¡¯m so contrary to those principles.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I won¡¯t say I¡¯m sorry, because this is my ego speaking.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also the same. I didn¡¯t know your ego would push you this far. There¡¯re so many things that we¡¯ll never be on the same page for.¡±


    The conversation that unfolded was unusually amicable, but the atmosphere was still evidently tense, as the two were obviously still dancing around the main issue.


    ¡°Gil! Are you going to just accept this? Giving up on everything you did?¡±


    ¡°The agreement was ultimately based on Alice¡¯s consent, after all.¡±


    Unwilling to wait, Mona snapped at her ally impatiently, making her way up to Gilbert to glare upwards vehemently at his pensive reaction. Unfortunately, nothing in his words or tone did anything to assuage her concerns.


    Legally, the original agreement surrounding her marriage was based on Albert¡¯s consent, as it was delegated through him because Alice was a minor. Of course, deliberating as a family, both Albert and Justin would have considerable influence on which suitors were appropriate.


    Normally, the young man and woman involved in an arranged marriage wouldn¡¯t already own considerable assets of their own. Because they didn¡¯t, it would make their marriages truly arranged, as their parents could dictate their fates by virtue of feudal law.


    However, Alice¡¯s situation was different. If she took control of her ownership stake, she would no longer be considered a minor under Auxirian feudal law. She would no longer be protected as a minor, but then it meant that only her consent was necessary for her marriage. Up until this moment, although Albert technically held the power to consent for her, because she could always claim the status of an adult by assuming control of her ownership at any time, Alice was given the discretion to choose her partner, albeit within her family¡¯s limitations.


    Alice, by writing those pseudo-promissory notes to Albert and Justin, rewrote their original agreement, which was becoming a non-actor in the family business once she was married to Gilbert. Instead of that, the new agreement was to have herself become the sole consenter to her own marriage. By corollary, because her marriage was stripped of its political use, it meant her ownership stakes could no longer be inherited by her descendants. In other words, her shares essentially became lifetime leases, and if she were to give it up or pass away, it would be returned to the larger family instead of going to her children.


    In addition, by giving Albert and Justin each ten percent, her ownership would be reduced to only fourteen percent. With both Albert and Justin controlling more than twice that, it was a number very unlikely to become a controlling stake ever again, and definitely no longer enough to exercise much control over the broad business at the board of directors. Thus, not only were these terms way more favourable to Albert and Justin than previously, but it also didn¡¯t require the involvement of an outside family, albeit a closely-related one.


    ¡°So, Alice. What¡¯s the final verdict?¡±


    The main issue was finally raised, which was what Alice wanted to make of their original agreement. She sighed, but looked at him bravely in the eye, somebody who was not quite a friend but certainly not just an acquaintance. In her signature awkward fashion, one filled with pure selfishness and wishful innocence that came from a deep-seated desire for something real, she gave him her response.


    ¡°I want to indefinitely postpone our marriage. This day next year, will not be our wedding. Under these new circumstances, I think there¡¯s a lot of conversation that needs to be had first before deciding on something.¡±


    For the first time for many of the onlookers, Gilbert was visibly troubled. He closed his eyes and put his hand to his mouth, seemingly at a loss for words. Slowly, amidst the silence that hung over them, he started again.


    ¡°And I have no say in this?¡±


    ¡°No. This is a selfish decision I made, based on my circumstances.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to get transferred out; enough that you would throw away everything you¡¯ve worked hard on to avoid being a part of the bourgeoisie.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you want. I just want you to know that, for me, I don¡¯t want to call off our engagement. Just so you know.¡±


    Alice nodded quietly, but didn¡¯t respond at the sombre Gilbert with a slight sense of desperation in his voice, struggling to accept the turn of events.


    ¡°Then what are you going to do about this? We¡¯ve just announced it to everyone today, and now you¡¯re calling it off.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll leave it as is for now. Closer to the date, we¡¯ll announce something to that effect, depending on the situation.¡±


    ¡°Why not do it sooner? If I¡¯m to guess, an indefinite postponement means giving up on the engagement, no?¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes widened at Gilbert¡¯s blunt and ruthless presumption of her intentions. She swallowed hard, steeling herself. He wasn¡¯t wrong, but she originally didn¡¯t want to hurt him so much by saying those words herself.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but it¡¯ll be hard for the public to accept now, no? It¡¯s better to give it some time to digest before announcing it.¡±


    ¡°Then, again, my feelings are not of any value? Am I not allowed to be selfish? If you want to make it clear that you don¡¯t want to marry me, then say it out loud here. I have no need to hang on to something for the next several months, just to let it go anyway.¡±


    She bit her lips, feeling a pressure from Gilbert that she had never felt from him before. Maybe she did take it for granted that Gilbert would never do such a thing, but it was presumptuous of her at best. With how much Gilbert pandered to her wishes, he must have expected something in return, and this was the last straw for him. Interestingly, this was probably the only time that Gilbert was frank with his thoughts in front of Alice. What an ironic time for Alice to finally see this happen.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re free to be as selfish as I am. I can¡¯t tell you not to be if I¡¯m doing the same. If that¡¯s the case, then yes, I don¡¯t want to marry you.¡±


    But then, why did you want me to transfer to Regia Miriam in the first place? If you haven¡¯t done that, then all this would have never happened.


    Alice wanted to ask him that, but she was hesitant, unsure if she wanted to push him on it. Without asking, she could already guess at why he would do it, according to Kato¡¯s testimony earlier in the day, but she wasn¡¯t sure of it. What exactly did Kato say to Gilbert?


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, then. I have no more purpose to remain here, and neither do you. From here on out, you¡¯ll be another Westgrove, and not my fianc¨¦e.¡±


    Both people had very hard expressions on their faces. Gilbert¡¯s was of the unyielding stubbornness type, whereas Alice¡¯s was one of incredulity and frustration. One speaking on his emotions and ego, the other unable to rebuke the accusations because they were more than warranted. And in true Gilbert style, he turned around right after his curt reply, no fuss no buts.


    ¡°Gil!¡±


    Alice called out to him, but couldn¡¯t find any words. What could she do? She was essentially breaking up with him, but she didn¡¯t think he would be just as brutally quick and honest with it, that even if there wasn¡¯t any romance between the two of them, they were still close.


    Maybe it was because that he didn¡¯t view her as somebody close. Or he did, and it was his way of coping with the separation. This was the kind of hesitation that plagued her relationship with Gilbert, and it continued to this very last moment. They remained people who didn¡¯t understand each other, and neither took the initiative to reach out and come to an understanding.


    ¡°It seems that all was in vain, so I don¡¯t have a choice but to move on. It¡¯s about time for me to be selfish.¡±


    He didn¡¯t turn around and left behind these words for Alice, who couldn¡¯t help but tear up again as she watched his silhouette disappear back into the confines of his grand villa. She didn¡¯t know it pained her so much to let go of Gilbert.


    ¡°Good riddance. Gilbert can have a peace of mind again.¡±


    Mona, who was awfully quiet at the end there, whined annoyingly one last time in Alice¡¯s direction, who was only met with a cold stare from Kato. She made her way back inside one of the black sedans, and the bandage-face challenger dutifully followed her, showing that Kato¡¯s opponent was indeed under Mona¡¯s orders rather than Justin¡¯s.


    ¡°Alice, sweetie? I know Uncle isn¡¯t and shouldn¡¯t be the one to pick you up and bring you home right now, given that Mona¡¯s still with me. I know Albert¡¯s taking good care of you, and it seems like your bodyguards are from your school too, so I¡¯ll have to leave them to you. Get home and rest up. You¡¯re a big girl now, and Uncle knows that too, hmm?¡±


    After having a short conversation with Sisi on the side, Justin came back to Alice and reassured her much like a parent. He embraced her and kissed her on the forehead before he had to eventually let go and retreat to his own vehicle. The SPs surrounding them, whose background presence in the confrontation felt a bit awkward to Kato, joined their bosses in their sedans and started up the engines. One by one, they left the villa quietly, leaving the three of them on the side of the street.


    ¡°Just wait here for a moment. Sisi shall bring the car.¡±


    Once they were left alone, Alice turned around and thrown herself onto Kato, hugging him tightly and perching her head on his shoulder. They were suspended in time like that for only a short while before Alice spoke. Although her voice didn¡¯t sound like she was shaken at all, prideful even here, at the very least she didn¡¯t want Kato to see any more of her pitifully distraught face.


    ¡°Did I make the right choice?¡±


    She spoke in Old Yue, together with her awkward accent. Kato returned her embrace good-naturedly, placing his hand over her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you. Make it so that your choice was right, and we¡¯re gonna be right here with ya.¡±


    ¡°Then are you gonna take responsibility for me?¡±


    ¡°I already told you that the nomenklatura is not a recommended career. Besides, I thought you said you¡¯re doing this because of Evie.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m doing this because of you.¡±


    She let go of him as another sedan rolled up to the side of the curb from behind her, its front lights shining brightly in Kato¡¯s direction as it obscured Alice¡¯s form with a blinding backlighting. Even then, he could make out the warm smile that she now wore, beautiful together with her curly blonde hair flowing over her bare shoulders and her white dress. This expression was really what a bride-to-be should have on her face, and this was the first time tonight he had seen such a thing from her. Slowly, he crossed his arms and gave a single, lengthy nod before smirking as usual.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought you said. Now, tell me what you really think.¡±


    ¡°Hehe. You got me there. I¡¯m doing this for myself, of course, never for a self-involved asshole like you.¡±


    Alice¡¯s face lit up, perhaps brighter than even the headlights from the car that the two Eternians borrowed from their bosses. The arrogant and confrontational Alice that Kato saw every day at school resurfaced, and somehow, that made him felt lighter and more hopeful that things would turn out just fine.

 2.13 Flames of Resistance

    It was very early in the morning, but a good number of the Elites and Ariel were already inside the school library, which occupied a large expanse in the middle of the school on the third and fourth floors. This was also the location of the Records Office and all of its bookkeeping assets, both public and classified records. The Records Office, as the main function of the Department of the Administration, maintained these assets over the many years of this school¡¯s existence. Some of the records were even given to them by the faculty, allowing the student government access to information on students and student organizations that would not be available in the public domain. In a sense, the Records Office was more of an intelligence agency than a public service.


    Public records like the minutes of each convention of the Assembly, attendance sheets, historical records of the Class Wars, among many other records, were out in the open in the library for anybody to inspect. Classified records like personal information on students or intelligence on student clubs or organizations were sealed away in a huge, windowless storage room in the library on the fourth floor, and this was where the children were.


    After Kato and Sisi returned Alice to her residence, she didn¡¯t mope over what had transpired in that final hour. Instead, she was already looking ahead to what needed to happen to make her wishes come true. She called a few of her retainers out to their front yard to instruct them to pack as much of her belongings as possible and prepare sufficient funds for her use in the immediate future. As a stakeholder in a huge company, she would never really run out of funds in the long term, but hard cash was always nice and liquid to make things happen at a moment¡¯s notice. Alice then had Kato and Sisi bring her alone to a hotel near a local government office that was conveniently in the general vicinity of Korolev Senior, so that on this morning, she could assume full ownership of her shares without delay and make it to school by herself.


    ¡°Kato, I¡¯m sorry I got you involved in this mess.¡±


    ¡°No, it was my decision to break off the engagement. It isn¡¯t your fault.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. It¡¯s not just about me. It¡¯s about them and their group of people. Now that I¡¯m no longer their ally, they will naturally see me as an enemy, and you¡¯ll definitely be in their sights because you stand on my side.¡±


    ¡°What exactly did you say to Gil this morning? He¡¯s never been so angry before.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really happy that you¡¯d say that for me, and I can see why he responded like that. We¡¯re all selfish, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here, almost like I¡¯m running away from home. And it¡¯s not just me who¡¯s in danger. I have no doubt he¡¯ll attack you from his position as marshal or 3-A¡¯s class representative.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be surprised if something happens by tomorrow morning. It¡¯s fair game the moment I finish with the paperwork, after all.¡±


    Once Kato and Sisi got home, he phoned his classmates to prepare and gather the next morning, taking Bianca and Ariel¡¯s advice to do research on their adversaries. Sitting here together with his buddies in the Record Office¡¯s storage room, they continued to read through all the documents on the students of Class A, anything to try and gain an advantage over a class that was bound to defeat their pitiful classmates.


    ¡°This is the last of the docs on Class A. Let me know if you need anything else.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Ariel.¡±


    Really, only Kato, Eon and Caius had the wits to use this information in a concrete plan. Though Evie, Franco and Yui were also reading through these docs, they couldn¡¯t really contribute much on the strategic front. It had already been more than two hours since the room was first occupied, planning out an imminent confrontation that was supposedly disadvantaged toward Class F.


    They were gathered around a tiny desk clustered with coffee mugs that was definitely not meant for six people to sit around, and in time Kato left his comrades inside and was already standing up and pacing back and forth on the ceramic floor among the shelves of books just outside the storage room. Most of the plan was already set in place, and he let the rest of them wrap up the final details as he caught a short break out in the open library.


    As the person who was the most knowledgeable of the situation, the responsibility for this conflict ultimately rested on him, and from this burden he felt a great pressure to secure success in his and Alice¡¯s favour. The Class War strategy itself aside, he was also very wary of what Alice¡¯s status would be, now that Alice had cut her ties with Gilbert. News of them breaking off would not be kept secret to the rest of Class A. It was impossible not to be the case with Alice¡¯s newfound course. Not only that, Alice had cut her ties for key members of Class F, a conflict of interest that would definitely not fall on deaf ears among Class A¡¯s leadership.


    The lack of sleep also contributed to Kato¡¯s distress, as he had to come to school very early to have this storage room opened. It wasn¡¯t known if time was of the essence, so he had to treat it as if it was the case. Every class above Class E had a restoration of order casus belli against their class, and with Class A¡¯s rep now having a personal motivation to declare war, there was not a second to spare.


    To Kato, it wasn¡¯t about the Class Wars itself. It was about Gilbert¡¯s personal beef with him, but if this was going to engulf their classes in war, then so be it. He could only take the challenges as they come.


    ¡°Kato, you¡¯re committing your class to Alice?¡±


    ¡°It seems like it, isn¡¯t it? Then again, we¡¯re the only real forces within Class F, so it¡¯s not as bad.¡±


    ¡°Alice is important to you?¡±


    He paused at the question, with Ariel looking up at his face that had black rings around his eyes. On the other hand, the clear golden eyes of Ariel were as alert as they ever were, seemingly unaffected by the early bird call.


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s a friend.¡±


    She nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. Then, for some reason, she sat on the floor, chin to the knees and feet together. Kato sighed and crouched down to her, who stared back at him intently, her expression sagely calm as usual.


    ¡°Then that¡¯s settled. As for the situation at hand, there¡¯ll be more than just war, that is certain. A completely separate confrontation, outside of the Class Wars. That part is on you. But if a Class War erupts, you can count on me to help you out.¡±


    The legality of a peace treaty at the end of a Class War was essentially the same as a law passed by the Assembly, and for the making of such a peace treaty, the student council executives presided over this procedure, which was where Ariel and the Jupiter sisters could influence the terms made in the peace.


    ¡°The only path is to victory or death, eh?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a choice, do you? Neither by your own principles nor by the circumstances around the school right now.¡±


    Kato stared back into Ariel¡¯s pensive eyes soberly, expectant of a response. She was just as unperturbed.


    ¡°Remember the ridiculous restricted zone you placed on Class E around your classroom? That was effectively a restraining order placed on all forty-something students, a power usually exercised by the courts. A peace treaty is only as powerful as a law passed by the Assembly, and laws that are deemed to contradict the constitution are of no force.¡±


    ¡°So you expect that peace term to be appealed?¡±


    ¡°It conflicts with the principle of freedom of mobility. Sooner or later somebody with a brain would appeal. However, because historically a peace treaty not only legislated but also intermittently exercised the powers of the courts, any appeal would lead to a long court case. And as a student council executive, we¡¯d prefer to keep the powers of the courts within our grasp.¡±


    A mildly sinister smile appeared on her face, akin to the competitor she was against the Elites. Wasn¡¯t this against the constitution? Maybe Ariel was born to be a lawyer. She continued on.


    ¡°I assure you they will come up with more ridiculous terms than those. I will try as much as I could to prevent them from making unfair demands, but it¡¯ll be very harsh if you lose hard. For example, they could send some of you into other classes.¡±


    Kato then remembered what Mona said yesterday night. They could really do that in a peace treaty, but of course on reasonable terms. If they lost the war in a crushing defeat, then it was not hard to imagine one or two of Class F¡¯s essential human resources to be uprooted from it.


    ¡°I see. Then we¡¯ll have to make sure we don¡¯t lose everything.¡±


    ¡°Tough luck with the quality gap between the two classes. But at the end of the day, it isn¡¯t the war; it¡¯s Alice who¡¯s the key to the endgame. Depending on what¡¯s done to her, the conflict between Class A and Class F would continue beyond this coming war.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying there¡¯ll probably not be a lasting peace unless something is done about Alice.¡±


    ¡°I mean, she is the cause of the war. Eliminating this cause would naturally lead back to peace between your classes.¡±


    ¡°Well, if she decides to leave for Regia Miriam then everything¡¯ll be over, but it ain¡¯t happening.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a problem for you to figure out. Class F¡¯s problems aren¡¯t mine.¡±


    ¡°Wow. Why you gotta be like that.¡±


    ¡°Just keep that in mind. Anything less than a total victory will mean a continuing struggle, until the flames of war are extinguished.¡±


    The other children began piling out of the storage room to find Kato and Ariel sitting on the floor like grade-schoolers, which brought snickers to Eon and Caius. Kato only shrugged as he got up from the floor, and held out his hands to reach Ariel¡¯s outstretched arms to help her up.


    ¡°Thanks, Ariel. I can¡¯t believe the day where using connections to positions of power for personal gain has come so fast.¡±


    ¡°Eon, I can¡¯t tell if that¡¯s a compliment or not, but I¡¯ll take it anyway. Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Have a little faith in our plans. We aren¡¯t the Elites for nothing.¡±


    Eon and Caius both grinned, almost eager to put their plan into action. Kato was not as giddy as they were, but at the same time felt an indescribable excitement well up inside him, a kind of excitement that was in anticipation of the execution of a well-thought out plan. Regardless of the long-term worries that Ariel spelled out for him, what was in front of him was the fight at hand, and he needed to focus on this as much as he needed to find a lasting political settlement afterwards.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get started. It¡¯s almost time for class.¡±


    <hr>


    The plan for the war wasn¡¯t only on the war itself but also involved the situation around it, and thus the Eternians were camping out in one of the other physics classrooms, empty due to being period one. Kato sat atop a tall stool that he brought before the wide windows that spanned the length of the classroom, eyes peeled and watching over the front gates of Korolev Senior in the distance below him. Evie, on the other hand, just put her head down on one of the counters and was softly dozing away.


    From Alice¡¯s conjecture, it was very likely for Gilbert, or Class A for that matter, to take action on Alice and Class F as soon as possible, and Kato agreed with that assessment. Not only that at this moment in time Gilbert would be prone to making decisions on clouded judgment, there was not a moment to waste to assert Class A¡¯s supremacy on the rest of the school. Mona¡¯s faction were the warmongers, so if Gilbert¡¯s personal reason to not rush into war with Class F was gone, there was no more reason not to expect him to cave to the Mona faction¡¯s hawkish demands.


    And also from his own experiences, corroborated by the Records Office¡¯s intelligence, Gilbert and Mona were historically allies, and the initial factional separation only existed because they pursued different levers of power within the school. Then, there was a real, personal rift between the two when Alice arrived as Gilbert¡¯s fianc¨¦e, to which the two factions actually began to crystallize in real terms over the last year, up until this point. With Alice out of the picture, the two factions could work together once more, likely immediately.


    An hour elapsed, almost at the end of the first period, passing the nine o¡¯clock mark by ten, just ten more until the end of first period. The government office that Alice would visit was only a ten minute walk away from Korolev Senior. She planned to visit that office as soon as it opened at eight and then immediately get to school for class, so if all went well, she would arrive at the end of first period.


    ¡°Kato, it¡¯s almost time. We¡¯ll need to move to the alchemy room.¡±


    Evie whined from her awkward sleeping position. Kato nodded at her. One of the alchemy rooms was unoccupied for second period, so they would move there to continue watching over the front gates. The Records Office had the overall school schedule handy, and although it was technically public information and it wasn¡¯t hard to build and tabulate their own spreadsheets without the help of the Records Office, it was nice to have it readily available at a crunch time like this.


    ¡°We¡¯ll move out once the bell rings.¡±


    But not a second too soon, their target of interest arrived at the front gates of Korolev Senior in school uniform and a backpack on her, seemingly as if nothing was out of the ordinary. At Kato¡¯s wave, Evie rushed over to the window to watch with him, suddenly wide awake in comparison to her loafing around moments before.


    There was a wide expanse between the gates and the great steps to the front doors, out in the open and in broad daylight. However, this was where it happened anyway. Suddenly, four students from the Public Safety Committee appeared from below, ostensibly waiting somewhere inside or on the steps and obscured from third-floor¡¯s view by the protruding overhead roofing over those steps. They were immediately recognized by their red scarves around their left forearms with the PSC symbols sewed on them, buckled on by large paper clips to their cleanse tags, which looked like white bandages but were in fact a heavy plastic-like hybrid material that was similar to what was used to wrap electrical wires. Cleanse tags though were as thin as bandages, so the material bent easily and did not retain its shape, much like real bandages. Though they had smaller badges on their uniforms, those were more for decoration while the red scarves showed that these PSC members were on active duty.


    From their vantage point, they saw that the PSC members hurried over to Alice, who barely stepped into Korolev Senior school grounds, and stopped her there as they showed their PSC identification. Alice, seemingly composed, only shook her head disapprovingly and handed over her backpack to them. One of the PSC members then held out their hand, to which Alice took off her cleanse tag and put it into the outstretched hand.


    Their cleanse tags around their wrists were by now personalized and had their names stamped on it along with the school faculty¡¯s chop, which made their cleanse tags into official student identification, a requirement for participating in official extracurricular activities. Only after the first convention of the Assembly last Tuesday did the faculty apply this personalization to the students¡¯ cleanse tags. By tradition, the first Assembly marked the start of a new year for student life, which ceremonially affirmed all the rights and privileges of students, and therefore marking the start of operations of official extracurricular activities, like school clubs and student organizations such as the AC and PSC. Although most student organizations still operate before the first convention of the Assembly, as they would naturally be for returning students from last year taking charge for their clubs and so on, those activities would officially be considered as activities operated on the budget from the previous fiscal year.


    Most students decorated their cleanse tags with designs of their own choice, as long as it still had a white background and the names and school seal visible. Because it served as a form of student identification, especially with regards to student organizations, it was pretty much a requirement for almost everything in school. For the PSC, if they were to put somebody under arrest, they had the power to confiscate the person¡¯s student identification, which in almost all cases meant their cleanse tag.


    Evie¡¯s face turned grim, and Kato nodded in agreement. Handing over the cleanse tag around her wrist meant that the PSC aimed to put her under arrest. It was as they feared. Without even a parting wave, Evie ran out of the empty physics classroom for their homeroom. A successful plan was only as good as its flow of information. The crew back in their homeroom was waiting for Evie¡¯s return before they could take the next course of action.


    On the other hand, after the five students below him disappeared underneath the roofing over the front steps, Kato yanked the windows wide open and proceeded to jump out without a second thought. The rush of summer air, today returning to normal after the chilly variations for the past week, blew through his untucked dress shirt breezily, and he landed squarely in the fresh lawn next to the building below him. With his physically superior body, it wasn¡¯t much of a hassle to make the jump, but it was dangerous nonetheless if he wasn¡¯t careful. He made a dash for the steps, disappearing from under the sunlight and into the shadow of the steps¡¯ overhead shelter.


    Tailing the group he was following with his sixth sense, he snuck himself silently through the front doors and into the atrium, the grand open expanse that was the main hall of the building. Remaining out of sight of the PSC members surrounding Alice, they escorted her to the east end of the atrium, past the black market and into one of the hallways.


    Not taking the great spiral staircase in the centre of the atrium and instead going east could only mean one destination: the Public Safety Committee¡¯s main office on the third floor. The other, previously plausible destination was the faculty¡¯s office, which was on the second floor only a short distance away from one of the exits of the central spiral staircase. Taking great care, he ducked in and out of the various crevices, lockers and doors along the way behind them, and followed them to make sure they actually headed for where he thought they were going.


    Throughout, Alice complied with the arrest quietly and obediently, having passed by many first-year classrooms and made a left turn, and then up the staircase that was next to the gymnasium at the end of the hallway. It was nearly the end of the period, but until the bell rings to declare as such, the hallways were as empty as they should be. As Kato predicted, they exited on the third floor to bring her to the PSC main office, only a few rooms away from the stairs¡¯ exit.


    Trailing behind them, Kato watched as they ushered her into the PSC¡¯s home base, an expanse that was as spacious as a couple of classrooms and seemed nothing more than a plain white-collar office space. However, he was only able to take a glimpse of the inside before the doors closed shut on the room and all but one of the escorts broke off from the group and headed west along the hallway.


    All of Alice¡¯s escorts were from 3-A, and as students from the same year it wasn¡¯t that hard for Kato to recognize them. At least this time, somehow, he remembered the names from the notes he read this morning, but that was not important. What was important was that they were all from Gilbert¡¯s faction, which meant that it was a possibility that Mona might not be involved in this operation.


    There was only one course of action for Kato from this position, and if their projections were correct, then he hoped that his comrades made the best out of their situation. He turned back from the PSC office and into the staircase again, and then clambered himself out of the window and onto the thin ledge between the second and third floors. Standing carefully with his feet parallel to the ledge, the base of his neck barely reached the bottom of the window. Although he was gifted with physical superiority and the strength and dexterity that it came with, it was still a slow and steady shuffle along this ledge. The destination was quite straightforward: one of the windows of the PSC office. He didn¡¯t care that someone might be looking out of a window from the classrooms facing across from him from the west side.


    Reaching the first window of the PSC office, he ducked underneath it to make past it, which surprisingly strained his back as he also needed to remain balanced on the ledge. Once he made it to the second window, he took a peek inside from the edge of the window, and although looking in from outside was difficult due to the reflective nature of the outer glass, he was somewhat relieved to see that the Records Office¡¯s intelligence didn¡¯t fail him.


    There was a smaller room inside to hold detained students, complete with plain white walls, unmarked lockers and cabinets, ceramic flooring, a small desk with a lamp and a few lawn chairs. One glaring detail out of place was of course the window, but because in the building¡¯s floor plan the PSC office as a whole was supposed to support occupancy, it must abide by safety regulations, which meant that this smaller room had to have a window. Sat alone inside the tiny interrogation room was Alice, who seemed unfazed by the arbitrary arrest. In fact, both Alice and Kato expected it to happen.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    There was a thirty-minute period where the PSC needed to charge her with wrongdoing that a teacher had accepted as lawful, or else they must release her. Most likely, there was no real reason to detain her, and Gilbert was only using the PSC¡¯s powers to remove people from school before the commencement of a Class War. At the start of a Class War, only the people with their cleanse tags worn could participate in the war, so by putting key enemies under arrest, their cleanse tags would need to be removed before taken into custody and thus would be unable to participate if a war broke out. Seeing as there was nobody in the room with her, PSC member nor teacher, it was almost certain that Alice was detained for a purpose related to that. This tactic was not unknown, and in fact it was standard for all the past marshals of the PSC.


    He tapped on the window lightly, and it immediately caught Alice¡¯s attention. Kato quickly put a finger to his lips to signal to her to remain silent, as was ironically her right in this situation. She shuffled to the window to slowly and quietly slide open the window so that Kato could climb through, who landed inside softly on his feet. From his pocket, he took out a pen and a blank notepad, and passed it to Alice. Evidently, he was letting her ask the first question.


    What are you doing here?


    You know what¡¯s gonna happen. A siege into a Class War.


    But still, why here? You can just fight him, no?


    Yes, but the surrounding situation is important too.


    She arched her eyebrow, unsure of what he meant. He continued writing on the notepad.


    How many are outside there in the office?


    Two.


    Kato nodded, ripped another sheet of paper from the notepad and shoved it in Alice¡¯s hands before nodding one more time and pocketing the notepad and pen. Then he carefully opened one of the nondescript lockers to insert himself into, and slowly closed the locker door on himself as Alice watched him with mild amusement. Whatever Kato and the Elites were thinking of, they were bound to be ridiculous. She unfurled the piece of paper to see a set of instructions written in Evie¡¯s slanted and elegant handwriting, and only after reading it once, she let out a sigh as her expectations were amply met. She chuckled to herself quietly and folded it into her pocket. The Elites were an amazing bunch of people, she thought.


    She moved to the window and slowly put it back in place, leaving no evidence of his break-in. She leaned her forehead into the glass of the window, watching the courtyard below as she collected her thoughts. If Kato was doing something as absurd as barging in and climbing into a hiding spot, she could only imagine what the other Elites were doing.


    Not just that, but the whole of last week too flashed by in a blink of an eye. A week ago, it was simply another day in her preordained life as a small gear in the bourgeoisie¡¯s huge contraption, suspended in a state of perpetual emotional slow motion. Today, not only did she break free from her cage, but also found a destination for her flight. That destination, she thought wishfully, could be wherever that man in the locker would bring her to. The bell rang for the end of first period and Alice continued to look out the window at the school grounds, where students flowed in and out of doors to make it to their next period¡¯s class.


    <hr>


    A few minutes ago, Evie returned to the 3-F classroom that was nearing the end of first period. Because homeroom and their homeroom teacher were decided by their first period class, the teacher who occupied the 3-F homeroom was of course Sisi. In the first three periods, they consisted of the core courses that were requirements for the People¡¯s Diploma, alternating from day to day or week to week, depending on what the faculty decision was for the year, and there would be final examinations for each of these courses at the end of the year. After lunch, there were two longer periods for the elective advanced courses. They were run like crash courses with their final examinations happening every three months or so, two electives a semester for a total of six different electives in three semesters a year. The morning classes plus the advanced afternoon classes were both required for the Standard Diploma. There were still a few students on the People¡¯s curriculum, including the Eternian children, but most students in this day and age take as many advanced courses as possible anyway, regardless of which diploma they were ultimately eligible for.


    Today, the scene around the 3-F classroom was dire, to say the least. From inside the classroom, the doorways out into the corridor had about a foot of open, indented space before reaching the sliding door because of the thickness of the wall. In those indented spaces, both doors on both ends of the classroom were barricaded with desks and chairs, donated to 3-F¡¯s vanguard by the boys in the class.


    Peering into the 3-F classroom from outside were about a dozen PSC members, all of which were from Class 3-A, including Gilbert and his right-hand man, Stephen, who were at the doorway on the chalkboard¡¯s side. Glaring back at them from behind the barricade were Evie and Eon, both unrepentant at their handiwork.


    It was a miracle that they got a physical barricade up as soon as Evie and Kato saw the PSC jump into action against Alice. Evie ran back to their classroom to get the class to begin setting it up, and had them finish the job by the time the PSC, who were waiting for a signal from ground floor, made it to their classroom from wherever they were camping at, most likely the PSC office or 3-A¡¯s own classroom.


    ¡°I repeat: Evianna Kirin Misaya; Eon Atelier Koziko; Caius Magellan Evans; Franco Adrian Atkinson; Ms Elizabeth Miklos Romana; you are hereby defying arrest by the PSC. The charges against you are for the illegal organization and assembly of students.


    ¡°This is your final warning. If you do not comply, we will have no choice but to use force.¡±


    Stephen blared from a handheld loudspeaker, with two of his colleagues having a huge black flag raised in the air beside him as a clear signal that this was indeed the final warning. As expected, the PSC went after key members of Class 3-F at the same time that Alice showed up to school. What was unexpected was that even Sisi was named in the group of people they wanted to arrest, ostensibly to prevent Sisi from abusing the Duel mechanism of the Class Wars. There were many instances of the PSC laying charges against a teacher in Korolev Senior¡¯s history, and for the purposes of a Class War as well. But unless it was a real problem, nothing ever came of it, and if it was indeed a real problem, the rest of the faculty would take action as well.


    Students from nearby classes had gathered around here since the first period ended, albeit at a distance to observe the siege. Outside of the alchemy classrooms, use of non-pre-programmed alchemy was prohibited so many things were done using conventional methods, including how the PSC operated. Two new members arrived on site carrying a large trunk with them, and in no time the siegers unpacked its contents to distribute among its ranks. They were quickly equipped with body armour, helmets, goggles, riot shields and even a few launchers that lobbed nonlethal rounds like sandbags. The bell rang for the start of second period, but the siege was not going to be lifted.


    Inside the classroom, there was a clearing in the middle where the desks used to be, and was now occupied by a jumble of strange supplies that looked like the front to a very odd garage sale, which Class F had gathered and prepared from different places around the school throughout first period. The students wore surgical face masks over their nose and mouth, swimming goggles over their eyes, as well as yellow heavy-duty helmets over their heads. Among some of the Elites were small megaphones that alchemically projected their voices when they spoke into it. However, it was Sisi with an old-school megaphone that made a reply.


    ¡°Our response is: we will not back down, until all our demands are met.¡±


    And then, over the mound of desks and chairs, they threw eggs at the officers of the PSC standing with their transparent riot shields up, covering them with the gooey mess of egg white, yoke and shell fragments. Some landed on the ground, splashing its contents everywhere and dirtying the corridor. Among the pile of supplies were more eggs and other groceries, and runners quickly moved in and out to keep up the barrage of expired food.


    They had, of course, been having a standoff for some time. In the past week, after the introduction of the Act of Neutrality to the Assembly, there was a big reaction to the new policy from the lower classes of all years. The Elites¡¯ classmates in Class F in particular agitated heavily against the draft bill since last Tuesday, and began distributing pamphlets across the school to garner support among the students to resist the passage of this law. From the regime¡¯s perspective, this kind of student activism was deliberate action to distribute seditious material to incite a rebellion to overthrow the regime, and thus was a movement that needed to be crushed. There were already a few scuffles last week between the PSC and students from different classes on this issue.


    Despite this police action being a personal vendetta by Gilbert against Kato, it was also convenient to strike down this base of instability to Class A¡¯s hold on power. This was all done in spite of Gilbert publicly criticizing the law during the convention, but if anyone had been around long enough, it was easy to see that it was merely resistance against the Mona faction rather than the substance of the new policy. As a result, general discourse outside of Class A always treated Class A as if it was a single homogenous unit.


    In a strange set of precedent and laws from the distant past, portions of administrative authority that was supposed to be the student council¡¯s were bestowed upon the PSC and the AC instead, and in turn they were de facto responsible only to the Assembly rather than the student council. Since Class A almost always controlled a majority in the Assembly and controlled the PSC and AC by corollary, even if the directly elected student council president and therefore the student council escaped their grasp, they were still well in control of student affairs.


    Among the dissenting material from Class F was a call for a series of demands against the Assembly, and therefore the PSC and AC through association. The first was the withdrawal of the Act; the second was the retraction of the characterisation of social activism as ¡°seditious¡±, as they had been accused of by the PSC last week; the third was the exoneration of students who were charged with offences that were politically motivated; the fourth was the establishment of an independent commission to watch the PSC¡¯s use and abuse of power; and the fifth was the resignation of Gilbert de Lafayette as PSC marshal as well as the implementation of direct elections to the Assembly. Needless to say, none of these demands were friendly to the PSC.


    ¡°What the hell?¡±


    ¡°Fuck, this is disgusting.¡±


    Curses from the PSC members in gear flew across the hallway that was not only covered in bits of egg but also milk and bread to complement the messiness. Eventually, the cardboard containers were chucked outside at the PSC as well, emptying the stock of food that Class F students had taken from the school cafeteria.


    ¡°Eon, we¡¯re out of food. What¡¯s next?¡±


    From the other door¡¯s barricade was a call from a tomboyish blonde girl on the front line, Chantal Delacroix, who was one of the students with leadership roles pushing for the resistance against the proposed policy. She, Franco and several others manned the other barricade together.


    ¡°We keep going with the next thing. Caius! Yui!¡±


    Meanwhile, some of the non-combatants like Caius and Yui remained in the centre of the classroom, distributing supplies to the troops from the pile of rubbish. Together with some of their classmates, they tossed some plastic water bottles to the men of both barricades.


    The barricaders in turn also had handy stationery of their own with them, so instead of just unscrewing the cap off those half-filled water bottles, they used scissors to cut the bottle in half like a sausage, poured half its contents into the other half, and sparsely stuffed the openings with newspaper shreds to lightly plug it. Once that was done, they tossed it over the barricade like a shot put, its contents spilling out along with the shreds of newspaper.


    Although they could have been nastier, the bottles¡¯ contents were merely regular paint that they took en masse from the art classroom and filled up in empty water bottles. It could have been something as dangerous as gasoline to make petrol bombs, but they would get in deep trouble with the faculty for sure if they escalated to that level of resistance.


    ¡°Eat shit!¡±


    ¡°Fuck ya bastards!¡±


    Under the cries of the protestors, the paint splattered all over the walls, the floor and the riot shields on the other side of the barricade, with the shreds of paper contributing to the spread of the mess, obscuring the views of the PSC officers from behind the transparent riot shields. The paint and the eggs fusing together with the scrap newspapers and other foods was not only putrid and disgusting, but it also hampered their operations just as much. Hiding behind the riot shields the whole time, their persons didn¡¯t get terribly dirty, but their surroundings turned into a disaster scene left behind by a manmade hurricane without being able to do anything. The moment the barrage from Class F let up, Stephen issued an order immediately.


    ¡°Ready your arms! Sand first! Fire at will!¡±


    Not a moment too soon, to take advantage of the lapse, those with firearms aimed their weapons from behind the stained riot shields. They had a variety of ammunition in the bags tightly bound over their chests, slugs that they would load at the breech of their launchers for it to hurl inside the 3-F classroom.


    ¡°Umbrellas, men!¡±


    The barricaded Class F students also heard the command from Stephen, and they too spent no time to change tactics. Hearing Chantal¡¯s cry, those who were sitting right up at the barricade picked up the pre-prepared umbrellas on the ground next to them. Stopped with the paint-throwing, they immediately opened them up and took shelter underneath.


    One after another, the PSC officers fired slugs from their grenade launchers over both barricades and straight at the ceiling inside the classroom, where they exploded on impact and showered sand over the Class F students. The umbrellas protected them from the immediate avalanche of sand, but it nonetheless seeped through between the edges of the umbrellas and still kicked up a dusty storm underneath. The barrage of sand slugs continued relentlessly, and eventually the dust clouds reached the windows on the far side of the classroom where the rest of the non-combatants of Class F were gathered, staying away from the front line.


    ¡°Quick! Open the windows!¡±


    ¡°Ugh, I need goggles too, not just a mask.¡±


    ¡°Man, my hair is filled with sand now.¡±


    ¡°This is too much sand.¡±


    In a low ceiling setting like this, sand slugs were used first to disorient the rebels and cause maximum chaos and confusion with minimal harm. If this was the gymnasium, the atrium or the theatre, sand slugs would have to be fired ballistically and timed to explode in midair, which was less accurate than having it disperse on impact with the ceiling. Sand slugs often did not affect the core members of a protest, but it would demoralize and disperse the less committed to the cause, and the complaints from the back of the classroom were a statement of that effectiveness.


    The PSC officers took turns firing into the classroom, one stepping forward to shoot as the other retreated to reload. Another coffin-sized trunk was shipped to the site of the siege from the PSC¡¯s office, and those holding onto the riot control firearms resupplied themselves with more ammunition from the new trunk.


    ¡°There are no rioters, only tyranny of the Assembly!¡±


    ¡°Glory to Korolev, revolution of our times!¡±


    From under the umbrellas, the Class F students repeatedly chanted slogans in their continuing resistance, including Caius on his megaphone aimed out of the window, virtually broadcasting to their sector of the school. The sand slugs, as expected, did not confuse or deter most of Class F. The sand slugs were most effective in dispersing ragtag bands of poorly organized unrest, and Class F was clearly too organized to expect that to work. Instead, it was only a formality to escalate the use of force.


    ¡°Cease immediately! Those are political slogans! You do not have a permit to publicly promote it at this time and place!¡±


    ¡°Shut the fuck up, or else you¡¯ll be getting more than just sand!¡±


    Similarly, the PSC shouted out warnings over Class F¡¯s voices with their own megaphones, and of course immediately after raising another black flag, the officers began a second barrage of fire, this time launching real smoke grenades into the classroom. Instantly, visibility inside the classroom was reduced to less than an arm¡¯s length in the front, causing some panic and confusion among the besieged. However, they remained fairly disciplined and expected the smoke grenades, so they and a few of the sitters in the middle of the classroom took action. Pedestal fans powered by alchemical engines (or colloquially, magic batteries) that were placed throughout the classroom were turned on and dialled to the maximum in order to circulate wind currents that would eventually carry the opaque smoke out the open windows.


    ¡°There is no sedition, only police brutality!¡±


    ¡°Withdraw the bill! End the Assembly¡¯s dictatorship!¡±


    ¡°Bring the Public Safety Crooks to justice!¡±


    The effect was immediate, and although visibility was still very much reduced it was no longer much of an impediment to their operations, including the chanting of slogans. The PSC continued to unleash smoke rounds into the classroom, but after a while it was obvious that the volume was not enough as they turned on even more fans, stolen from many, many classrooms across the school.


    On the other hand, the wind kicked up a sandstorm that prompted the students to readjust their goggles and face masks, and those who still had not worn them must do so now. With an acceptable level of visibility, a few students with gas masks stolen from the chemistry classroom instead of the regular surgical face masks went ahead and picked up the smoke rounds with plastic gloves, also stolen from the chemistry classroom, and hurled the smoking chunk of metal and plastic back over the barricade, smoking up the hallways as well.


    With the barricaded students distracted, some of the PSC officers tried to approach the barricade to dismantle it by hand, but they were still met with metre sticks poking out from the gaps between the stacked desks and chairs, some of which at its ends were duct-taped with sharp metal barbs, possibly stolen from the rooftop, making the PSC retreat back behind their riot shields.


    ¡°Use tear gas!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t hard for Stephen to see the adaptation in strategy inside the 3-F classroom, and he responded in earnest. The formations that the PSC took were very tight so the subsiding smoke rounds had not much effect on them, though it was harder to see where the top of the barricade was. Quickly, they changed out the ammunition in their launchers to tear gas canisters, and without delay they slung them over the barricade, its chemical contents diffusing into the air inside the classroom.


    ¡°Turn them off! Turn ¡®em all off!¡±


    ¡°I know, I know! I¡¯m on it!¡±


    The fans made the situation worse. The low-concentrate chemical particles that continuously sprayed out from the new rounds permeated the classroom in no time, and it didn¡¯t take long for it to lock Class F down in fits of coughing and sneezing, the irritant agents working its magic on the nose and lungs despite the masks. Exposed skin also took a painful toll with the chemicals, and a couple of students who didn¡¯t have the greatest respiratory health began convulsing, so a few comrades had to take them to the open window to get a bit of fresh air. Others who saw the tear gas immediately mashed the off buttons on the fans in an attempt to minimize the gaseous spread, but otherwise the united front was momentarily paralyzed with most everyone¡¯s bodies involuntarily reacting to the tear gas. After all, most of their equipment was makeshift at best, and this was only against a very weak variant of tear gas manufactured for true non-lethal crowd control.


    ¡°Tighten up everything! Don¡¯t expose your eyes and nose!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got this! Let¡¯s go! Make way for me!¡±


    Kirill was one of the runners fully covered up who had been throwing back the smoke grenades with his head and face completely hidden behind scarves, goggles and a gas mask. Along with the other runners they already wore a long-sleeved sweater and boots to cover up all exposed skin, expecting the confrontation to escalate from the very start. Although less equipped, the students not so handicapped by the tear gas also helped Kirill and his little squad with countering the tear gas, either by attempting to throw the canisters back over the barricade, or temporarily stunting its spread by using pots appropriated from the home economics classroom to clamp on top of the canisters, and then dragged it along the floor toward the window so they could quickly pluck it out from underneath and toss it out into the courtyard below.


    By this time the PSC was in full gear and like the smoke grenades, the returning tear gas did not obstruct their activities too much, if at all. A couple of them needed to cover up some more and rest up from the initial respiratory reactions, but they were more or less still in control. However, the spread of the tear gas scared off a bunch of the bystanders, except of course students from the newspaper club who were also in their own versions of full gear. Interestingly, although they were colloquially called the newspaper club, they were in fact not a school club by the student government¡¯s definition since they were not funded by the student government. Instead, they were an entity known as a non-partisan union, which was basically something like a school club that was registered through the faculty instead of the student government, and its budget was determined through the faculty by decree. Some called these organizations as puppets of the faculty members who wanted to meddle in student affairs, but mostly they were merely clubs that were marginalized due to their public opposition to the student government, including the former newspaper club.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there! Keep firing!¡±


    Stephen, now sufficiently covered up, spoke into the microphone in his face mask to his troops. The PSC continued firing tear gas into the classroom, sustaining the panic and chaos within it.


    Not all of Class F was as hardcore as those who stood right at the barricade chanting and throwing trash at the PSC members, who were really just students from another class. Although pretty much the entirety of the class were indeed radicals who aligned with the Elites quite well, there were still some who were far away enough from the Elites¡¯ orbit that they took on different roles in the struggle. They didn¡¯t oppose the radicals, but they sure didn¡¯t support them to the point of eating tear gas with them, and to that end they took on the responsibility of evacuating those who had bad reactions to the tear gas.


    A retractable stepladder was extended out of the window to reach the grass below, and together with their backpacks and belongings the neutral party of Class F slowly evacuated from their chaotic homeroom to ground level in orderly fashion, leaving their radical classmates behind. Some students from other classes were already down below, originally watching in curiosity of the smoking classroom and the political messages being broadcasted, but now ready to lend a hand to the escapees as they descended from the smoking window.


    A few PSC members were also waiting below, and clearly they were sceptical of the intentions of the Class F students crawling out, even in the presence of a teacher who was also down there.


    ¡°What do you want? We¡¯re being forced away by the tear gas, exactly as you¡¯ve got us to.¡±


    ¡°In all fairness, we still need to make sure you¡¯re not contributing to the rebellion in Class F. We¡¯ll need to check you before letting you go.¡±


    ¡°Fuck off! You guys have already got away with enough abuses of power!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Your warrant this time is only against the Elites, and for obvious reasons. We¡¯re not dumb, retards.¡±


    ¡°Hey! This is a zone of operation! We have every right to stop any student in the vicinity for cooperation or arrest.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re not helping you nor preventing you from charging into our classroom.¡±


    ¡°Now let¡¯s calm down, everyone. Nothing is allowed to happen here except for the safe evacuation of these students. I do not want to see any measure made by the PSC here related to the political nature of this siege, and that is final. Do you hear me?¡±


    ¡°¡­understood, Mr Khosa.¡±


    At the stern request of Class 3-E¡¯s homeroom teacher, the PSC members backed off from the group of Class F students and bystanders from other classes, but the atmosphere remained tense between the PSC and the others. They were fortunate that Mr Khosa was around to put a brake on the PSC. The grouping was actually somewhat far from the base of the stepladder as the tear gas canisters that were thrown out of the classroom window were still discharging its noxious gases on the open school grounds.


    Then, two students with face masks on suddenly appeared from around the corner and made a desperate dash for the stepladder. With the boy carrying the girl on his back, somehow they were able to approach the base of the ladder without being noticed, disappearing into the clouds of smoke and tear gas that continued to billow out from the canisters scattered on the ground around them. They hopped on the ladder in a brisk and before the PSC members could reach out to restrain them, they were already well off the ground.


    ¡°Wait! Stop this instant!¡±


    The boy and girl ignored the cry from the PSC member, instead quickly scaling the ladder so that they were enough rungs up by the time the PSC members recovered from their surprise to take any further action than a verbal command. The Class F students looked on silently without comment, as if this was nothing out of the ordinary, or worse, as if they anticipated this to happen.


    ¡°Suck my dick!¡±


    Following behind the girl, the boy taunted the PSC members below him. It provoked their anger, but Mr Khosa prevented them from approaching the ladder, giving the two the chance to climb to the third floor for the 3-F classroom. The two scaling the ladder could hear their former enemy class¡¯ teacher holding the PSC back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about touching the ladder, now that they¡¯ve already climbed on. If you do so, it¡¯ll be a very serious offence to the school.¡±


    The girl ahead of the boy looked back with a long shadow of disgust on her face. Half of it was from the obnoxious jeer, and the other half was from the boy ogling at what was beneath her skirt. However, her character was not close to innocent enough to care about it, as long as she was confident she could clap back at him in return.


    ¡°Kato, that wasn¡¯t necessary, was it?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t, but something just compelled me to do it, Alice.¡±


    ¡°Remind me to pinch you later.¡±


    ¡°Why in the world would I ever remind you to do that?¡±


    Sneering at each other, the two misfits were as sharp as ever. Alice never thought that things would blow up into these proportions, but it did, and secretly she welcomed it warmly. It was infinitely more fun than her own mundane, previous life as a powerless member of the Westgrove family, and somehow she felt this was still too surreal despite the very real change in her life¡¯s and her heart¡¯s path. And this euphoric sensation, the anticipation of finally finding something to be real, gave her the motivation to climb straight into the midst of this battle, and true to her style, in full force and without hesitation.

 2.14 Clashing Ideals

    Even though somebody might be detained for up to thirty minutes, they were not allowed to be treated unfairly while arrested, so it wasn¡¯t long before somebody opened up the interrogation room¡¯s door to check up on the detainee. Usually when the PSC intended to hold someone for the full thirty minutes, they would visit at the fifteen-minute mark and then finally the thirty-minute mark.


    One of the PSC members eventually did so, peeking cautiously into the interrogation room from behind the door. Obviously, due to the political nature of her arrest, the PSC didn¡¯t need to conduct any prosecutorial work, nor did they want to divulge that intent to the public, so they tried not to interact with their political prisoners as much as possible. Glancing over, he gasped, seeing that Alice was doubled over with her head lying on the tabletop and seemingly short on breath.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    The PSC member, who wasn¡¯t from third year or from Class A, rushed over to Alice¡¯s side, a bit flustered about what he should do. After all, to the PSC grunts Alice was once or was still their top boss¡¯s bride. Either way, it was a difficult situation to assess.


    ¡°Allergy. My puffer¡¯s in my bag.¡±


    Alice turned her face, evidently twisted in pain, in the boy¡¯s direction. He involuntarily took a step back, spooked by the apparent severity of the situation, but then he immediately regained his senses and ran back to the door.


    ¡°Anthony, bring her bag! Looks like it¡¯s an asthma attack! Find her puffer!¡±


    He rushed back and crouched down to her level to observe her state and brush her back lightly to comfort her. Most of the PSC knew the basics of emergency first aid and at least could help before a teacher arrived.


    ¡°Where else does it hurt? In the chest? Nod if yes.¡±


    Alice nodded slowly, preoccupied by the distress caused by the difficulty in breathing and the chest pain. Through the door came the other PSC member with Alice¡¯s backpack, placing it on the table and frantically rummaging it for the puffer. Seeing his colleague arrive, the first PSC member left Alice¡¯s side to open the locker to the side.


    ¡°Find it and give it to her. I¡¯ll bring out a mat for her to lie on¡ª¡±


    The PSC member opened the locker to find the spooky existence known as Kato aiming a kick at his groin, which connected by the shin before the dude realized what happened. By the next second he was already writhing on the floor in pain, and fortunately no real damage was done because he had his cleanse tag on.


    ¡°Hah!¡±


    Kato emerged from the metal container, jumping over the struggling PSC member and landing firmly on the ground next to the other frightened PSC member, petrified by the abrupt change in events. He was merely searching Alice¡¯s backpack during a medical emergency, and suddenly his comrade was temporarily incapacitated by a freak that had been hiding in the locker, so it was not unjustified that little Anthony felt at a loss at how to respond in the moment. Though they had prior training, they were neither battle-hardened nor physically superior, so it couldn¡¯t be helped.


    Unfortunately, the pause basically sealed his fate, because Kato was not going to wait for him to ready his posture. Using the same tactic, Kato¡¯s knee was thrust into the PSC grunt¡¯s groin, sending him writhing on the ground like his companion.


    From the moment the first groin was struck by Kato, Alice had already given up on the act and bolted for the open door, past Kato and the two PSC members who were now on the ground. Of course, Alice was never afflicted with asthma and there certainly was no puffer in her bag, the entire charade a brainchild of Evie¡¯s imagination.


    ¡°Kato, take care of them!¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    Kato nailed the two officers hard, as all they were able to do was grunt in pain for a good eight seconds before they were able to recover enough to reassess their surroundings. Within that time frame, Kato had already nicked Alice¡¯s bag from the desk, slung it over his shoulders, and closed the door on the interrogation room. The room was locked from the outside, as it should be so that it could actually lock in prisoners. He fumbled with both the doorknob¡¯s old-school key lock and the sliding metal bolt lock and sealed the interrogation room shut.


    He didn¡¯t expect the doorknob to hold up as they would probably have the keys, but the metal bolt would definitely be a problem without tearing down the door. For good measure he took a chair from nearby, angled it against the door and pushed the backrest underneath the doorknob, making it even harder for the two inside from opening the door. And just in time, he heard muffled voices and banging and shaking on the door from inside the interrogation room as he began to move away. Mission accomplished.


    ¡°I found it! We¡¯re done here! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Alice waved her left arm at Kato, who saw her cleanse tag once more strapped around her wrist and gave her an approving nod. It seemed like it wasn¡¯t too hard to find where they stored the confiscated cleanse tags.


    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Just like that, the two fled the PSC office for the staircase they came up through, flying down the steps to the ground floor. Instead of heading back into the hallway towards the atrium, they took the opposite direction and went straight out the doors facing the inner courtyard, ending up on its grass with both of them panting from the sudden physical exercise and exasperated at how Evie¡¯s plan went.


    ¡°Your physical¡¯s not bad, eh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not just a music student; I do everything in the performing arts. Of course my physical fitness is good.¡±


    ¡°Haha. That makes sense.¡±


    Letting out a chuckle that didn¡¯t seem like he was convinced, Alice stuck out her tongue in protest.


    ¡°I was also the best player on the volleyball team when I was in middle school. Get the fuck outta here.¡±


    She replied in Old Yue instead of New Yue, which was very much sanitized compared to the very explicit vulgarities that were available in Old Yue, its complexities so deep that Alice was only really able to grasp the ones on the surface. Despite her retort, Kato¡¯s arrogance remained.


    ¡°Look at you, the extracurriculars student. Then let¡¯s bring some of that energy back. We¡¯re headed for the other side of the cafeteria, for the Class F windows.¡±


    ¡°The windows?¡±


    Kato began running again, west and around the protrusion of the cafeteria as Alice kept pace closely behind him. He tossed her bag back to her as they moved along and she caught it smoothly.


    ¡°We¡¯re climbing up a ladder. How else are we gonna get in? The front doors are under siege right now.¡±


    ¡°Ladder? What ladder?¡±


    ¡°Some of my classmates are gonna evacuate the classroom from a stepladder. We¡¯re gonna go back up it.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. We¡¯re locking ourselves into the siege? How does that help?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a symbolic thing, right? Both to him and everyone else.¡±


    ¡°I guess it is¡­¡±


    They stopped before the corner that turned into the open yard below the 3-F classroom, both peeking from behind it to observe the situation. They saw, in horror, the clouds of smoke continuously escaping from the windows as if the classroom was on fire. Of course, they understood that it was mostly harmless smoke and tear gas and not actually a real fire emergency, but the scene was not immediately indicative of that understanding.


    ¡°Alice. I think you know what my class is fighting for, right? Ever since the Act of Neutrality was tabled, people were on edge. We even managed to pull people from across classes together, not least because of the different views on the situation in Lien.¡±


    ¡°Mm. I understand.¡±


    ¡°But at the same time, however that turns out, our first priority is to solve your problem first, so we¡¯re gonna do just that.¡±


    ¡°Wait a sec, what do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna use my class as a sacrifice to bring you to Gilbert.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°That way, you can confront him in a situation he can¡¯t just hand-wave away, so you can say everything straight to his face without the rest of the family watching from behind you, and have him give you a real response for once.¡±


    Alice made a difficult face, halfway between apologetic and sombre. That was a part of the note she received from Evie, and the reason why Kato was sent to the PSC office to break her out of prison.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do this, y¡¯know. You could have settled the political fight with a full-blown Class War. Will your classmates forgive you if that kind of struggle was used for my own personal reasons?¡±


    She pointed to the raging smoke in the distance, not to mention the shouts and noise from the 3-F classroom on the third floor.


    ¡°Of course not, but that¡¯s my burden to shoulder. I will manage it somehow.¡±


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t! All of you didn¡¯t have to make this all so complicated! And it¡¯s still my fault if your class loses in this battle, no matter how you look at it. I can¡¯t take that responsibility! No, that¡¯s not it. They don¡¯t need to take responsibility for my own problems. Those are mine to start with!¡±


    ¡°Those problems aren¡¯t only yours anymore, Alice. That¡¯s what friends are for, aren¡¯t they? Friends who would stand beside you through thick and thin.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ this is still too big! You¡¯ve turned this into something like an international incident, Kato!¡±


    ¡°If it isn¡¯t this big, we¡¯ll never find an endgame, Alice. Not just for you, but for the anti-neutrality protests as well.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Alice stopped. She knew what he meant, understanding the political turmoil that had been brewing ever since last Tuesday. The Elites themselves didn¡¯t contribute much to the resistance effort, where most of the work had been done by their classmates and students from many other classes, but as the de facto leaders of Class F, they were invariably pushed to the forefront of the resistance. She sighed helplessly as Kato reassured her.


    ¡°Class F is only the first of many classes to challenge the establishment. The trigger would have been pulled sooner or later. Then the only road forward is to win, and I want to carry you with us over that finish line.¡±


    Kato patted her on the shoulders as she nodded slowly, finally accepting reality as it is. The worry in her expression faded and was replaced by her usual determination, to which Kato grinned. It was time to get down to business.


    ¡°Here, wear this.¡±


    Seeing the dense smoke they were going to enter into, Kato gave her a face mask for her to wear and he too also wore one as well. From the window, the stepladder that Kato mentioned earlier was indeed extended out to the ground below with a cluster of students already grouped a short distance from its base. Mr Khosa was among the students, seemingly mediating some kind of dispute between the two camps of Class F and PSC members.


    ¡°Alice, climb on top of me.¡±


    ¡°W-what?¡±


    She flustered at the non sequitur command, but he didn¡¯t let her have a chance to stumble over herself and her ever-inventive imagination. He moved quickly to put himself underneath her and pick her up on a piggyback, and as she realized what he was going to do, she quickly returned to normal and braced herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna rush there, and you¡¯ll jump off and run up the ladder. I¡¯ll be right behind you. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Mm!¡±


    Kato sprinted toward the ladder and covered the distance with only one breath. The speed and force he put into the dash was almost superhuman, undoubtedly wilting the grass underneath his feet. He dug in and braked to a halt just after the ladder to jettison Alice back onto the ground, and both of them jumped for the rungs while bathed in a skin-burning veil of smoke and tear gas.


    It was in part due to the confrontation between the PSC and the recently disembarked Class F party that the lightning-fast Kato moving in went unnoticed until it was too late. The PSC only noticed something wrong as Alice jumped up the first few rungs.


    ¡°Wait! Stop this instant!¡±


    One of the PSC members shouted out, but of course to no avail. The two were already a few steps up and off the ground. Scanning the crowd behind him as he climbed up, Kato spotted the person he was looking for. He grinned and nodded quickly at Yui, who was among the Class F evacuees. She returned with a warm smile and waved elegantly to him, giving him a burst of confidence that manifested in an odd way.


    ¡°Suck my dick!¡±


    He snapped back at the two PSC officers below him, to which they got agitated at, but they were immediately shut down by Mr Khosa. Yui giggled at the farce, and continued waving at her extraordinary classmate-now-also-stepbrother like the affectionate elder stepsister she became. Her minor role in the plan was now over.


    ¡°Kato, was that necessary?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t, but something just compelled me to do it, Alice.¡±


    ¡°Remind me to pinch you later.¡±


    ¡°Why in the world would I ever remind you to do that?¡±


    They clambered into the classroom one after another, entering a shifting fog of white. Kato turned around to retrieve the stepladder, which was a special one that was retractable from the top rather than the bottom, apparently designed for evacuations from high places. For whatever reason, the school custodians had this kind of equipment, ostensibly for work on the school¡¯s rooftop that was readily accessible to the general public.


    ¡°You almost got them to chase after us, if it wasn¡¯t for Mr Khosa.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯re lucky he¡¯s there, but I would have overpowered them anyways.¡±


    ¡°You never learn, do you?¡±


    Alice sighed, giving up on Kato¡¯s stubbornness. She turned to meet with a 3-F classroom in chaos, filled with smoke and sand that obscured vision and attacked exposed skin. It only took a few moments for Sisi to run up to the two new arrivals and handed them helmets and goggles for them to wear as she had a worried yet stern look, not unlike the face of a parent taking care of her children.


    ¡°Suit up, both of you! Kato! Take this already and put it on! We can¡¯t have you coughing up a storm and incapacitating yourself.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Ms Romana.¡±


    ¡°Got it, Sisi.¡±


    His guardian and homeroom teacher gave him a double thumbs-up in approval, and strangely, only at this juncture did Kato finally feel a sense of no turning back. Maybe he was foolish to expect the Elites to live out their time here in Korolev Senior peacefully when they were quite literally the model troublemakers of their class, perhaps of their year. He took in a breath of the tear gas, taking the inflammation that it came with and feeling ready to join his comrades in their struggle.


    Then his concentration was shattered by an agonizing pinch on his arm, flinching at the surprise pain inflicted by the person he rescued.


    ¡°Actually, though, what was that for?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think you can get away with peeking at my underwear.¡±


    ¡°That was an unfortunate part of the operation! Besides, there¡¯s nothing worthy there anyway.¡±


    ¡°What was unfortunate? And nothing worthy?¡±


    A figurative vein popped, perhaps actually visible at her temples. Alice¡¯s cold, bloodless face was reminiscent of Evie¡¯s, and worse yet she twisted at Kato¡¯s belly¡¯s side without letting go, prompting Kato to jump away in a panic when he realized that was the case.


    ¡°Okay, okay! I was just joking! Please don¡¯t do that again!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna hold you to it.¡±


    She let him off coolly, dusting off her palms like a job well done, but Kato was already on to the next set of business to settle. The clouds of smoke and tear gas were a constant reminder of that, for one.


    ¡°Kato!¡±


    ¡°Eon! What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    Actually, the visibility was low enough that he treaded forward with caution. Just as Kato reached where Eon and Evie were, the mound of desks shook violently, but luckily there was no breach yet.


    ¡°One, two, three!¡±


    They could hear the drilling on the other side, and saw that the PSC officers used their grime-covered riot shields to ram into the barricade in an effort to break through. The students who were manning the barricade still managed to hold it in place, but the charges from the PSC weren¡¯t going to stop any time soon.


    ¡°Let me do this!¡±


    Evie ran to the front to help with her superhuman strength, just in time as the third charge came. Along with their classmates, they dug in their heels and put their backs and shoulders against the desks, holding it in place as the riot shields collided with the barricade.


    ¡°One, two, three!¡±


    The desks shook for the fourth time, but with just Evie it held together. Her classmates too continued to hold up umbrellas to shield from the tear gas rounds flying through the air, and to pick them up to throw it back over or throw it out the window.


    ¡°One, two, three!¡±


    At the other door, somehow Chantal and Franco held out against the first collision with their barricade, mostly due to Franco¡¯s great strength. From Kato¡¯s vantage point, he could barely make out their silhouettes due to the abundance of the irritant gases in the atmosphere despite the number of canisters being chucked out. Many more still remained as it was a dangerous job and the runners needed to constantly rest and recover before looking for the next gas canister.


    ¡°Kato! I¡¯m here!¡±


    Coughing under her face mask at the invasive tear gas, Alice made her way to the front where the Elites were. Eon and Caius both stopped running around to throw away the canisters and formed up around Kato as well.


    ¡°We could continue to hold out like this for a while, but the battle fatigue caused by the tear gas will wear us down soon. At some point, Evie will have to charge out into the police and break up their formations before they break up ours.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they have any more tricks left. It¡¯s been tear gas for a while and now it¡¯s down to the charge. This should be the time.¡±


    Kato¡¯s two most faithful servants reported to him immediately.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s just about time. Good work, everyone. Your efforts are not in vain. Caius, he¡¯s behind this barricade?¡±


    ¡°He was, but not sure where he is now. Shouldn¡¯t matter if you show up anyway. They haven¡¯t moved back to their base to get more supplies, so this is probably it.¡±


    Kato nodded curtly and motioned to the girl standing beside him, shoulder to shoulder.


    ¡°Alice, climb on top of me again.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª¡±


    Without sparing even a moment, he crouched down again to carry Alice on his back in the same manner he did only minutes ago. The barricade shook one more time, but that would be the last time the PSC would get a charge off of it.


    ¡°Hold onto me tight! I¡¯m gonna let go of my hands! Here we go!¡±


    ¡°Wahhh!¡±


    Kato said over his shoulder at the same time he lunged forward towards the barricade along with his passenger, prompting Alice to squeal for just a moment as she realized to tightly bind her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso before she slipped off of him. He mentally braced himself. Though the barricade was only a bit taller than him, it was still too dangerous to vault over.


    He jumped off the ground and used Evie¡¯s shoulder as a stepping-stone to launch himself onto the top of the barricade, his arms and feet finding their grip on the jumbled mess of desk legs and surfaces. He didn¡¯t fear the barricade from collapsing as Evie was holding everything together, but it was still a dangerous move nonetheless.


    The sudden appearance of a head poking out from above the barricade momentarily surprised the PSC officers. The ones still holding onto their firearms lowered them as they were generally not allowed to aim it at people, leaving them at a loss as to what they should do. The only time they were allowed to do so was if they equipped it with beanbag rounds, and they were still fully unloading tear gas canisters at the moment.


    Kato quickly took apart the top of the barricade, throwing the offending desk behind him for Eon and Caius to catch. He jumped off the barricade and over the riot shields, Alice and all in tow, further surprising the PSC officers below him. He didn¡¯t choose a clear space to land, rather, his kneecaps collided with the helmet of one of the PSC grunts as he descended, pummelling the unfortunate victim into the ground with him.


    ¡°Oi!¡± ¡°You fuck!¡±


    ¡°Hold up!¡±


    The officers around them immediately cursed at the new arrivals, but once they saw the blonde hair and pink headband of the passenger, Stephen stopped them from closing their distance on them and instead they all hastily backed off. Now firmly on the ground, Alice dismounted from her express train as she checked her surroundings.


    The hallway was still a mess of gases, food, paint and scrap paper. Surrounded on both sides were cautious PSC members, unsure of what to do. They were all Alice¡¯s classmates, and even in the short time that she was in their class, she was able to recognize most if not all of them even through the full gear hiding their body and faces.


    Kato picked up the confused PSC officer below him by the lapels and with his superior strength, tossed the boy into his comrades, who caught him neatly in their clutches. The two delinquents stood tall together among the sea of police in riot gear, unwavering and determined.


    ¡°Alice. Kato.¡±


    From between the ranks of the police line far down the hall, next to Franco and Chantal¡¯s barricade, emerged a familiar tall black-haired man, unarmed but nevertheless possessed a commanding presence. Maintaining quite a distance, Gilbert unmasked himself to declare that he meant no physical harm to them as a PSC officer, to which the two of them relaxed a bit and followed his lead. Their helmets, goggles and face masks came off though they hadn¡¯t worn them for very long yet.


    Gilbert signalled his men with a wave, and to that everyone except Stephen backed off and proceeded to cordon off the hallway on both ends, isolating the group of four in the middle. The attempts to breach the barricade at the other door ceased as well. The PSC members and the Class F students watched the standoff from afar and from behind the barricades in a strange, eerie silence.


    ¡°Do you have business with me?¡±


    ¡°I have some for you.¡±


    Although Gilbert initially addressed Kato, it was Alice who spoke up in response.


    ¡°I thought we¡¯ve already closed the case on what was between us.¡±


    He denied her assertion immediately.


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, then why would you need to have the PSC arrest me?¡±


    She shot back just as fast, and to that he gave it a moment¡¯s thought before he nodded and seemingly conceded.


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    Alice took a deep breath, and called out to Gilbert across the hallway.


    ¡°Can you call off the siege?¡±


    ¡°No, I cannot.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re enforcing the laws of this land. That¡¯s more than enough reason.¡±


    Alice then took several strides forward until she was right in front of Gilbert, stopping only when she was mere inches from his face. Both Stephen and Kato started moving in response, but again they stopped at Gilbert¡¯s hand signal. Stephen snarled and retreated all the way back into the police line that was set up next to the barricade at the other door. Kato too followed suit, retreating to the police line behind him next to Evie¡¯s barricade, leaving Alice and Gilbert with a thirty feet radius of open space between them and the police lines; the 3-F classroom was around sixty feet in length.


    She looked back into the calm, emotionless black eyes of her former fianc¨¦, and saw what she always saw there. A closed book of a foreign language that Alice could not open nor read, but this was what she was here for. To open this book, at least once.


    She threw her arms around Gilbert to embrace him, cheeks touching so that they were right at each other¡¯s ears. Alice needed to tiptoe to reach it, but it wasn¡¯t straining or uncomfortable as she put her weight onto his body. He didn¡¯t return the embrace, or even move an inch for that matter.


    ¡°I have to do this, before you leave me behind for good. Or the other way around for you, I suppose.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t say anything more last night because the families were there, but I want to make clear to you my thoughts about what was between us that I couldn¡¯t say at the time, and then I hope you can answer one question of mine. Is that all right?¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    Gilbert took his helmet off of his head and threw it onto the ground. She could sense the frustration in the toss and harsh landing, but he didn¡¯t reject her. The residual hissing of smoke and tear gas continued from the canisters that were thrown back outside into the hallway, covering up their figures as well as their whispers. What seemed like a long pause was only a mere few seconds as he finally nodded. Alice closed her eyes and slowly began.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°I¡¯m thankful for you. Truly. Out of all the suitors I have had the misfortune of meeting, you¡¯re the only one who wanted to marry the person and not the family. I know you love me. Without you saying those words, that was obvious to me from the start.


    ¡°But why did it have to turn out the way it did? You probably know subconsciously, but haven¡¯t realized it consciously yet. It isn¡¯t because of Kato, as much as it is easy to blame him. Think about our relationship for the past two years. At what point were we more than just distant friends? Coworkers? Why is it that we can¡¯t be more than that?


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m in the right. It took me a while to figure out what I want or expect out of a relationship. And one thing I realized that I can¡¯t negotiate with is that my significant other would not just understand my pains and miseries, but stand together with me in it. Is that not what a marriage is for? In other words, my feelings are more important than my family.


    ¡°But you have a different set of values. It¡¯s the opposite, in fact. Most everyone in our social world shares your sentiments and not mine. The world isn¡¯t perfect, so all I can do is reach out and meet you somewhere in the middle. That¡¯s my expectation. That¡¯s why at home I act the good girl, and at school I¡¯m the bad girl. I hoped that you would come to understand both parts of me, one that has to bear the responsibilities of a Westgrove, and the other of my personal desires. The former, you knew exactly what it was about, but the latter still seemed to be a distant dream.


    ¡°I can¡¯t, for the life of me, read your intentions. Your emotions, whether it was at home or at school, seemed to be the same, unreadable to the point of apathy. I can¡¯t tell when you are real or you are fake. Maybe that nice guy is already the real you, but nothing you do makes me feel confident that that is the case. Instead, the small pleasantries slowly suffocated me. It felt as if there was a permanent distance between us, a gap I can¡¯t cross no matter how much of myself I share with you.¡±


    Gilbert twitched a bit. Kato had said the same thing before.


    ¡°I know you meant well. You went along with my selfishness the whole time, and when you¡¯ve made your first selfish decision in a long time, the result is this. It doesn¡¯t look fair to you at all. But if you understand what I was saying this whole time, if I didn¡¯t postpone our engagement, it won¡¯t be fair for me either. I¡¯m not willing to sacrifice myself for the family anymore. Not my current self. Even if I have to face the consequences of evading my duties to my family, my personal happiness is still more important.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, within our vicious cycle of contradicting worldviews, I still want to know your thoughts before we go our separate ways for good. What was our relationship to you?¡±


    Alice couldn¡¯t see Gilbert¡¯s face, but she felt the emotional strain in his body. He didn¡¯t interrupt her throughout her soliloquy, letting her thoroughly finish with her thoughts. And although Gilbert was clearly upset, true to his calm disposition his voice barely carried that emotion.


    ¡°I cherished our relationship. I do love you. But perhaps I¡¯ve been too narrow-minded. Despite all the work I put in to make you happy, none of that was returned in the slightest. Only after yesterday did I realize that you were looking for none of the things I did for you. Kato was right when he said that the way I loved you was not what you wanted at all. I thought at some point, that you would realize your duties to your family and your responsibilities as such, but it seems like I was wrong to expect that to happen, just as you were wrong to expect that there could be a compromise between your freedom and your responsibilities.


    ¡°But just as you have your responsibilities, I have my own and I take pride in assuming these duties. Despite being casted out as a useless son of the Lafayettes whose only future is inside the mob, I climbed out of that hellhole alone to bring myself up to the heights I¡¯m at right now. I¡¯m not doing it because I¡¯m forced to do it, but because this is what I believe the whole existence of Gilbert Paul de Lafayette had been and should continue to be.


    ¡°To exemplify my will, I¡¯ll blame this whole affair on Kato, even if the situation is more complicated than just him. Obviously, I¡¯m not going to blame myself for being selfish, and this siege here is justice being served from my point of view. To me, he¡¯s merely a homewrecker who deserves the retribution.


    ¡°But I can¡¯t deny your worldview either. You¡¯ve already made a choice, so let¡¯s not dwell on it any longer. I don¡¯t need to hear any more self-serving excuses to justify what was unfairly done to me. Let¡¯s just leave the past where it belongs: in the past.¡±


    Alice didn¡¯t snap back the way she normally did when Gilbert said something that she didn¡¯t agree with. Instead, tears trailed down her cheeks as Gilbert gave her his own version of the ¡°breaking up speech¡±. Na?vely, she thought it could have been possible to separate on amicable terms, as their whole relationship had always been, but she was too optimistic. The rift between them only widened, and there was nothing she could do about it. They were truly too different from each other to come to a compromise.


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s. If this is how our paths diverge, then I must accept that reality as well.¡±


    She didn¡¯t say anything more. The couple of minutes of time to themselves were over. Alice separated herself from him, taking a few steps backward before she addressed him again.


    ¡°You wanting me to transfer to Regia Miriam, was also something you thought would correct the unfairness done against you?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. I believe any other man would be just as furious if this betrayal happened to them.¡±


    ¡°Fair.¡±


    It couldn¡¯t be helped. After all, Alice¡¯s choice was definitely unfair to Gilbert from his point of view, especially when it was Alice who chose him in the first place. A broken promise was still a broken promise, no matter how much she justified it.


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll ask one more time. Why was I arrested the moment I returned to school?¡±


    Gilbert didn¡¯t reply immediately. Instead he made a rare smile, surprising Alice as his words up until now was on the edge of patronizing and spiteful, even if the emotion didn¡¯t surface in his voice. It wasn¡¯t the usual calm and unreadable one that he often carried, but one that was genuine in its expression. It was not a happy smile; rather, it conveyed a tacit satisfaction or realization of some sort.


    ¡°To have this conversation with you, though not in this particular manner.¡±


    Alice returned the thin smile. She knew, in that moment, that she would never be able to speak to Gilbert in such a manner ever again. She took several steps further back, accepting that they would separate for good.


    ¡°Is that all to it?¡±


    The smile disappeared from his face, returning to the usual calm posture that was his defining characteristic. It would never reappear in front of Alice again.


    ¡°Of course not. But if you¡¯re asking that, then you also know exactly why there was a need to take you into custody.¡±


    ¡°I do. So are you going to call off the siege?¡±


    She kept backing up until she bumped into Kato, just outside the barricade and before the police line. The boy next to her held her hand firmly, in part to affirm his intentions and in part to comfort her. Across the aisle, Stephen reappeared beside his boss, his outer appearance as sketchy as ever.


    ¡°No, we¡¯re not lifting the siege.¡±


    ¡°Then you know what¡¯s going to happen.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    She first turned towards the barricade to see that it was already partially dismantled. Sisi was standing in the new opening, staring straight back into her eyes, and Alice nodded. She finally turned to her friend who was holding onto her hand, and smiled helplessly. He grinned back fearlessly, and reassured her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    She admired his confidence. It was something she could never bring out on her own. Perhaps that was why she wanted to chase after him. With her free hand she poked at Kato¡¯s chest, somewhat humorously.


    ¡°Class A possesses a restoration of order casus belli against Class F. With a valid casus belli, Class A shall declare war on Class F.¡±


    As Alice finished the declaration of war, the students around them began to rile up in both excitement and panic. They were in the middle of a siege, paused by the arrival of an unknown quantity, and now escalated from a police action to a Class War.


    Normally, a declaration of war would be made by the class representative, but there were actually no rules on who could declare war on whom, as long as the people involved were part of two opposing classes, the attacking party had a valid casus belli, and they wore cleanse tags. This was why Alice needed to be arrested; to prevent her from starting a war on her own. Hell, even in the absence of all the students of a class from school, a declaration of war could be made to that class¡¯s teacher, though the resulting war would be very meaningless. To declare war, one class would need a casus belli to do so, and those were often rare to produce and almost always involved teachers or students with representative authority. However, the restoration of order casus belli was one of the few special ones that were always valid. It was automatically given to all classes above the offending class who broke the ¡°normal¡± order.


    At the start of the year, Class A was given sixty points, Class B was given fifty points, and so on, down to Class F with ten points. Classes below F did not start with any points. The ¡°normal¡± ranking order was this order, denoting that the classes were in their rightful places. Since Class F has won over Class E and stolen ten points from them, Class F was now ¡°out of order¡± and could be put back into place by any class with more points than them. That was the restoration of order casus belli.


    Even after the end of a restoration of order war, if Class F still had fewer points than Class A and was still ¡°out of order¡±, the casus belli would still remain and would become valid again after their truce expired, making it very dangerous for lower classes to challenge those above them. It was conventional wisdom that only classes A to C were in contention for winning the Class Wars.


    Sisi clambered over the barricade to put herself out in the middle of the corridor, reuniting with Alice and Kato quickly. She was the only teacher in the middle of the fighting, and therefore the only Supervisor for the Class War in the vicinity.


    ¡°Alice! Kato!¡±


    But she was only able to call out their names before an earsplitting school-wide announcement blared from thin air. The school¡¯s principal, Eterna, was an alchemist of the highest order and this kind of auditory physics was merely child¡¯s play. Under her passive watch over the school from a higher plane, she managed the Class Wars for the two-hundred-something years of this school¡¯s existence.


    ¡°Attention, school. A casus belli has been claimed by Class A against Class F. As the ultimate arbiter of the Class Wars, I, Eterna, will determine that the casus belli claimed is true and justified. I now declare the commencement of war between Class A and Class F. Let¡¯s get crackin¡¯!¡±


    Without a moment to spare, the police line behind them started to shuffle forward, evidently going after Kato. However, Sisi slipped herself between the rushing Class A students and Kato and Alice, stopping them in their tracks. As a teacher and therefore a Supervisor of the Class Wars, she was normally not allowed to intervene in this physical brawl, but as Sisi had demonstrated before, she was willing to push the rules to its limits.


    ¡°Ms Romana!¡±


    One of the PSC members exclaimed, but they didn¡¯t charge through her, still respecting her position as a Supervisor. Meanwhile, the school¡¯s barrier was activated as it turned into rainbow-coloured auroras outside and everyone¡¯s peripherals turned all purple, the primary indicator that a Class War commenced. While the barrier was active, everyone was protected from most injuries, with or without cleanse tags.


    ¡°Gilbert! Shall we have a Duel?¡±


    Kato ripped off his mask that he had lowered to under his chin as he pointed his index finger at his opponent, who similarly glared back with the same hostility.


    ¡°Of course. On what conditions?¡±


    Duels were a special feature of the Class Wars, where participants from the opposing parties would fight on the terms set out by the Supervisor who approved of the Duel. In the modern day, most Class Wars were actually settled on these Duels instead of a physical battle royale, and those Duels consisted of academic challenges in a trivia quiz format. It was very rare for Class Wars to devolve into violence like it had been decades ago, as the school moved forward together with the progress of civilization.


    ¡°How about a winner-takes-all, one-vee-one? It shouldn¡¯t leave you unsatisfied, win or lose, right?¡±


    The winner-takes-all condition was not uncommon. Score-wise, it was equivalent to all of that class¡¯ students¡¯ cleanse tags being fully saturated. Sometimes, classes did agree to hinge the war¡¯s outcome on a single Duel, though the format of the Duel might be varied and may even take hours to finish. As for the one-on-one, Kato was alluding to a physical battle. Since a Class War was won by fully saturating the cleanse tag of the opposing class representative, only class representatives were allowed to propose such a condition to the Supervisor.


    A cleanse tag could either be saturated by physical injury, or artificially saturated by the Supervisor after a Duel. Although preventing injury was the common approach of understanding cleanse tags and the school¡¯s barrier, it was actually a misnomer. More precisely, it healed injuries at a rapid pace and immediately as they occurred. If someone was cut, immediately the skin would be repaired and even push the blade back out from the healed opening. However, the rapid regeneration process tapered off as it approached fully healed, akin to the growth of a logarithmic function. This was why small cuts and bruises remained on the person.


    As for the reason why it was called ¡°saturated¡±, it came from the patches of dark that appeared on the cleanse tag as one took damage, until it turned completely black. Luckily, a fully saturated cleanse tag functioned just as normally as an unsaturated one; it was merely a convenient measure of physical injury taken by the wearer. This system was an age-old method for fighters of all kinds to spar with each other without causing serious injury. This particular barrier was a special one, as it also protected non-cleanse tag wearers while it was active. The class representative whose cleanse tag was the first to fully saturate became the losing party.


    Unsurprising to Kato, who had the chance to go through the intelligence this morning in the Records Office to confirm Alice¡¯s tip off from yesterday, Gilbert grinned faintly at his suggestion. If Gilbert was as old-school and traditional as he presented himself to be, then there was no chance that he would turn down this kind of Duel. After all, it was a fair-and-square battle, brimming with the sense of chivalrous pride that he stood for.


    ¡°I have no objections to these conditions. Let¡¯s make the winning criteria the same as street rules.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m down for it.¡±


    He held up his left arm, cleanse tag and PSC scarf together, in the air. Kato mirrored him, but obviously without the PSC credential.


    ¡°What street rules?¡±


    Alice tugged on the Eternian youth¡¯s right hand that she was holding, rather forcefully, sensing the danger in those words.


    ¡°It¡¯s a euphemism for a fight to incapacitation. Because street rules basically means no rules, people beat each other up until one passes out or outright dies. In our context, that¡¯s worth about two fully saturated cleanse tags.¡±


    Alice¡¯s expression hardened at the cold explanation, but she didn¡¯t speak. Beating someone up until they were halfway to passing out was no small task. Though she didn¡¯t want them to, she kind of expected and accepted that they would go this far.


    Sisi was also holding up her cleanse tag, which glowed blue while the two men¡¯s glowed yellow. It meant that the two were now locked in a Duel and Sisi was the Duel¡¯s arbitrator. Technically, the Supervisor could impose whatever conditions on the Duel they wanted regardless of the participants, but it was an unspoken constitutional principle that they would respect the conditions that the two class representatives agreed on.


    ¡°The challenge is a physical contest. The winner is determined by street rules. That is all.¡±


    Sisi declared succinctly to the two fighters and the crowd around them, which roared in anticipation for a glorious battle. The Class A students were quite confident in the abilities of their boss, despite the open secret that Kato and Evie were trained Eternian fighters.


    ¡°Alice. It¡¯s my turn to show you that your choice is correct.¡±


    Kato let go of Alice¡¯s hand, sparing a glance at his newfound friend for the last time before the fight commenced. He saw an awkward combination of emotions on her face, including worry, anxiousness, and most importantly, determination.


    ¡°Then show me.¡±


    Her reply was as crude as she ever was, eliciting a snarky smirk from him, but he turned away just in time to not let her see it. He took a few steps away from Alice and faced Gilbert straight from the front, who took apart his body armour that he wore for the siege to reveal the usual school uniform underneath.


    Behind the barricade that Sisi emerged from, Chantal arrived from the other barricade like the other students of Class F to watch the Duel. Because they made the Duel a winner-takes-all, there was no point for the other students of Class A and Class F to fight each other. Moreover, the siege was essentially temporarily lifted as well, as once the Class War finished with the Duel the two classes would be forced to negotiate a peace settlement and that happened in the Assembly Hall, requiring most of both classes to attend. If the PSC still insisted to continue the arrests, it would be attempted inside the Assembly Hall immediately after peace was concluded.


    ¡°Wait a minute. Gilbert should know that Kato¡¯s a deity. Why would he agree to fight him?¡±


    Chantal asked the Elites next to her.


    ¡°It¡¯s because Gilbert¡¯s a challenger. He came to our school during middle school, remember? He was actually trained as a bodyguard up until he moved in here.¡±


    Caius answered first. All of today¡¯s Class F came up from the main feeder school, Korolev Junior Secondary School.


    ¡°Yeah. He originally wasn¡¯t supposed to take over his family¡¯s company, and he was physically superior, so they thought they could make him into a reliable asset to the family. But then his older brother died in an accident back then, so with his smarts it made him the next in line. Of course, his granddad is still in control right now, but it¡¯ll eventually be his to run.¡±


    Eon explained further for his classmate, to which she was very surprised.


    ¡°How did you guys know that?¡±


    Caius and Eon looked at each other, and slowly grinned with a twinge of smugness.


    ¡°Trade secret.¡±


    Chantal shook her head in disapproval, knowing fully that Caius and Eon had been up to no good, and with that in mind she didn¡¯t press them further. Of course, the Elites learned all of that from the Records Office this morning, but they obviously weren¡¯t about to admit to wrongdoing. Alice had told Kato that Gilbert was physically superior and most likely a challenger, so his file was scrutinized for traces of his martial pedigree, and to the Elites¡¯ disappointment they could not find much beyond confirmation that he was indeed a challenger.


    That was why Kato had faith that this contest would go through. He didn¡¯t know exactly how well-trained Gilbert was, and he wouldn¡¯t know until he actually fought him. Despite this unknown, somehow Kato was still confident that he would win. Kato and Gilbert kept their eyes on each other¡¯s cleanse tags, waiting for the signal.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be holding back.¡±


    ¡°Neither would I.¡±


    After a very short exchange of words, the glows on their cleanse tags on both their arms instantly turned from yellow to blue, a glow which would persist for a good ten seconds or so before it receded to a dim light so that it was not distracting. The preparatory phase was over; the challenge phase began, and so did their fight.


    Even before their feet left the ground they could instantly feel the extreme intensity of each other¡¯s killing intent. They closed the distance between each other in a flash, carrying with them the intent of inflicting maximum pain. Their fists bore the weights of their opposing ideals, principles that they could not compromise over, and there was no way to settle the fight other than through a physical battle.


    ¡°Hah!¡±


    ¡°Keh!¡±


    Kato landed the first punch, putting Gilbert¡¯s stomach into a world of hurt, but to Kato¡¯s surprise Gilbert didn¡¯t budge. Instead, the tall man absorbed the pain and went on the offensive, managing to throw Kato into the adjacent wall. Surprised, Kato flinched on impact, and that cost him dearly. He received several more punches and kicks to his body before he was able to dodge the final one and regain his footing.


    ¡°Arrgh!¡±


    Although the barrier prevented almost all injuries, guaranteeing protection from fatal injuries, oftentimes superficial bruises and cuts remained, and Kato was going to have lots of those after this fight. The wall he was slammed into was made of brick, and certainly a human body was not enough to pulverize brick, so his body was pulverized instead.


    Mentally fighting the blinding pain, he managed to clear a bit of distance away, but Gilbert attempted to immediately close it to continue his rapid attacks. Seeing that, and true to his skill and experience, Kato fought the pain to clear his mind and made a split-second decision to go all-in on the offensive, and both sides connected their hook and kick, sending each other staggering back and into the ground in intense pain.


    ¡°Ayyy~!¡±


    ¡°Wayyyy~!¡±


    Cheers roared from the police lines that still blocked off the corridor on both ends.


    ¡°Kick his ass, Kato!¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, get up already!¡±


    Similar cheers came from inside Class F, though with more words than Class A¡¯s primitive noises.


    Neither fighter inside the ring, though, took notice of the cheers. They immediately recovered onto their feet and continued their attacks. By now Kato had warmed up and got a grasp on the angles that Gilbert took and was able to parry some of them, but Gilbert was the same too. They were in a sort of a stalemate of close-range exchanges for a good, long thirty seconds, both shuffling back and forth with the flows of attack and defence, cycling through a pattern of absorbing hits while weaving in the next hook or punch. After the first encounter where Kato was pummelled, they now seemed to be evenly matched.


    Alice watched in silence and astonishment, leaning on the wall to keep herself on her feet. In place of Kato¡¯s hand, Sisi¡¯s was there holding hers instead, watching over the fight together with her. Although Gilbert¡¯s style seemed to be more on the attack than defence, somehow he was being pushed backwards by Kato.


    ¡°Agh!¡±


    ¡°Hn!¡±


    In a moment of miscalculation, Gilbert lowered his guard and allowed himself to be kicked hard backwards, crashing into the police line at the other end away from Kato. It bought a moment of reprieve for Kato who entered that deadlock from a disadvantage, controlling the pain by gritting his teeth.


    ¡°¡ª!¡±


    During that exchange, he realized that Gilbert¡¯s style of attack was very offensive-oriented, and was surprised at his proficiency in empty-handed combat. All of his hooks, punches, knees and kicks were well-formed and those that connected caused lots of damage. In fact, it was very similar to the way the masked girl in the jumpsuit fought him yesterday, if not the same.


    ¡°Ssssss!¡±


    A mechanical hissing sound reached Kato¡¯s ears as he saw several smoke grenades thrown at him from Gilbert¡¯s side¡¯s police line. By law, non-participants of the Duel were not allowed to interfere themselves, but certainly Gilbert could use his surroundings to his advantage, especially when this Duel was fought on street rules. He nicked the smoke grenades that were flying in Kato¡¯s direction from the pockets of his fellow PSC colleagues.


    Almost instantly the whole corridor was once again filled with smoke, reducing visibility to almost nothing, inducing the crowd of people to back off from the rush of the fog. Though it was not too much of a problem, it was still a disadvantage for Kato if Gilbert was from that jumpsuit girl¡¯s school of empty-handed martial arts.


    He backpedalled immediately, evading the approaching gas cloud and crossing the length of the corridor back to Alice and Sisi¡¯s end, knowing that an attack would quickly emerge from the white smoke. In no time he reached his classroom door¡¯s barricade and yanked a chair out from it by its backrest, swinging it forward just in time to intercept and parry the police baton that swung out from the smoke. The chair¡¯s metal frame under the seat connected, creating a piercing ping of metal on metal.


    Fighting at mid-range, it was much easier to read the opponent¡¯s moves as there were only one or two things that could reach his body, but naturally, it meant that the opponent enjoyed this advantage too. However, Kato¡¯s forte was not dependent on that. It was that he was much more practiced with something in hand and the creativity it afforded. He inclined the chair to one side and pushed forward, using the chair legs to guide and glide the baton away to expose Gilbert¡¯s side. Following through the momentum with the rest of his body, Kato landed a roundhouse kick that again threw Gilbert off his feet and crashed him a good twenty feet or so backward, all the while using his sixth sense to the limits as he could not see anything beyond a foot in front of himself.


    ¡°Yah!¡±


    ¡°Uuugh!¡±


    Gilbert falling to the floor face-up, Kato launched himself at him, landing on his stomach and pushing the backrest of the chair against his throat under the chin. With no end in sight for the smoke, Kato leaned forward until he was only inches from Gilbert¡¯s face, which although it was showing fatigue, it was still as passive and emotionless as it ever was.


    Despite the physical abuse, the cleanse tag on Kato¡¯s arm was probably only forty percent saturated. Dark patches dotted his cleanse tag, as if someone put those patches next to a flame and burned the false fabric. From his estimations, Gilbert should be about the same. They both breathed heavily from the pain and exhaustion, but there was still a long way away from knocking someone unconscious.


    ¡°Hey. Do you actually intend for this Duel to beat each other up until someone passes out?¡±


    Kato asked him seriously. With the chair locked at his throat and his centre secured by Kato underneath his weight, Gilbert didn¡¯t make any rash moves. He used this time to catch the little breath he was allowed as he struggled to make a strenuous reply.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I signed up for.¡±


    Kato¡¯s eyes narrowed, upset at his obstinacy.


    ¡°Can you surrender here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Hng!¡±


    He shoved the wooden backrest into Gilbert¡¯s throat for a good two seconds, evidently impatient.


    ¡°You already lost! No, your loss was decided by Alice. It was always decided by her. You even knew it from the start! If you have understood her, it wouldn¡¯t have come to this point. So why this childish tantrum?¡±


    ¡°Kuh!¡±


    Gilbert coughed violently as Kato pushed on his throat once more, closing the airways and depriving him of the air he needed to recover.


    ¡°You two are allowed to do as you wish, but I cannot? Don¡¯t make me laugh.¡±


    Gilbert croaked. Every time Kato used the backrest of the chair to strangle him, the dark patches on his cleanse tag grew larger, eating up the white of his cleanse tag under the dim blue glow.


    ¡°I¡¯d agree if this was beneficial to you, but all this is only making Alice cry. Even if you¡¯re not the one she chose, she still thinks of you as a friend. She should have shown you this. Is your love for her so conditional, so superficial that the moment she leaves you, you can trample on what remains between the two of you?¡±


    For once, a shadow of doubt materialized in Gilbert¡¯s eyes. It was as if he saw an inkling of why Alice charged through the middle of the siege, just to have a conversation with him.


    ¡°AAAAAGGGGHHH¡ª!¡±


    Gilbert realized that, somewhere along the way, he had relinquished his grip on his police baton. He wasn¡¯t conscious of it until this moment because of the lock Kato had on him and the multiple stresses at the throat. Kato had used his free left hand to pick up the baton and stab it into Gilbert¡¯s open right palm, wringing out a painful gasp from him. Not only that, Kato pushed the chair on his throat again, shutting off the gasp instantly.


    ¡°Do you not know the cry of someone in despair? Can you not empathize with her feelings? Love is not something so easily convinced of just through worldly actions.¡±


    Those worldly actions referred to Gilbert¡¯s attempt to separate Alice from Kato. Kato wasn¡¯t mad. He was disappointed, frustrated, and most of all, felt pity for the man in his grasp. From the combination of smoke and a twinge of tear gas, tears formed at the corners of his eyes.


    ¡°You should know this. I believe that you genuinely love Alice. But that¡¯s only half of the relationship. Love is not earned. It can only be given away without conditions.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t change the fact that you stole her away, and why I have the right to exact revenge¡ªAAAGGGGGGGHHH!¡±


    Kaot stabbed him in the hand with the baton again. There was little Gilbert could do from this position; his legs would not be able to reach Kato, his body was squashed to the floor by Kato¡¯s weight, his arms would not have enough power in them as his centre was pinned down, and his throat was under direct strangulation. Kato spat out.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing good that comes out of this! It¡¯s not exactly a secret that I¡¯m a deity! Your chances of winning are slim, so why?¡±


    Gilbert¡¯s breath was still laborious. His eyes flickered between open and shut as he struggled to fight the fatigue and the lack of air.


    ¡°You should know. What Alice had done will not sit well with either family. Despite what Alice promised her brother and uncle, they will make every effort to force Alice out of the Westgrove business, because my family will take action against the Westgroves as retaliation.¡±


    Kato froze. The revelation wasn¡¯t too out of left field, but he sensed something dreadful coming.


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°Smear campaigns, extortion, sabotage, every crime in the mafia handbook will be used to punish the Westgroves. It won¡¯t be a war, but it¡¯ll just be threatening enough to force Albert and Mr Justin to play their hand.¡±


    Gilbert shook his head sluggishly as Kato grimaced. What were the uses of family, if all they cared about was the money?


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong; I want to bash in that head of yours into the pavement. But this fight, if I can demonstrate that I lost to a rival too strong for me to defeat on so-called street rules, then my family would be less inclined to put that kind of pressure on the Westgroves.¡±


    Kato gasped, reeling back from Gilbert¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t let go of the chair in his hand and the lock he had on his throat, though he relieved the strangling. Gilbert immediately took a huge breath but he didn¡¯t move, allowing himself to remain restrained.


    ¡°Explain yourself.¡±


    Kato kind of knew, as he had seen his file earlier this morning, but he wanted to confirm.


    ¡°The Lafayette Group, like a lot of other businesses, is part of the mafia. I was going to become the top boss of the mob that did the physical fighting, until a few years ago. That was when I joined your class, so that I can get an education worthy of a new heir to the company. I will be the boss of both the business and the mobsters. If someone of my standing loses to Alice¡¯s new chosen one in a street fight, it¡¯ll put a damper on my family¡¯s desire for retaliation against the Westgroves. They¡¯d think twice to push on the issue if they were in an unfavourable position.¡±


    ¡°What about your own reputation?¡±


    ¡°For better or for worse, there¡¯s nobody that could replace me right now. I wish I could say that my younger sister could, but alas, she¡¯s not enough. So even if my reputation tanks, it won¡¯t amount to anything substantial.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Suddenly, Gilbert grabbed hold of the chair¡¯s backrest that was being pushed against him and threw it aside, wresting it away from Kato¡¯s grasp. Like Kato, he absolutely was tired but definitely not out of commission yet. However, Gilbert still did not move from his position, and instead he grabbed Kato by his lapels, pulling him close to his face again.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, Kato, you must defeat me here, convincingly and without doubt in the eyes of my allies and your enemies, because this is your responsibility for taking Alice away from me and her family. This is all your doing, and you have a duty to serve the consequences of your actions.¡±


    ¡°Is this why you accepted this Duel? Because you knew you would lose?¡±


    ¡°No, my main objective was to beat the shit out of you, but also yes, I expected to lose.¡±


    Despite being in such an adverse position, Kato admired Gilbert¡¯s will and modus operandi. His sense of duty and responsibility had not wavered once, even in the face of a devastating loss. Kato straightened up and said seriously.


    ¡°I will do my utmost to bring Alice wherever she wants to go. That¡¯s all I can say.¡±


    Kato gritted his teeth. Though he was prepared for a fight to the death, he still was upset at the shackles all of them were under. He briefly wondered, once he became an Eternian assassin, if he would constantly think about these shackles, just as Gilbert was doing here. Would he be able to carry out a mission if the objective was directly against his own principles and values? He did not know. He reared back the police baton in his hand.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get this over with. It was my loss. My mistake was to not keep you empty-handed.¡±


    Gilbert closed his eyes, surrendering himself to Kato. For sure, if Gilbert¡¯s school of combat was similar to the jumpsuit girl that Kato had fought the day prior, then allowing Kato to use mid-range weapons would not be favourable.


    The white smoke around them continued to billow, and they could hear the voices of their classmates shouting over and over again in the distance. The resignation in Gilbert¡¯s pensive expression was something Kato learned to hate, and even at this juncture they were prisoners of their own fates, actors that were compelled to fulfill their god-given role in society.


    ¡°Yes, that was your first mistake. Your second was to succumb yourself to your shackles. But that¡¯s a subjective take. I have no doubt you take pride in decorating your laurels with those shackles.¡±


    ¡°Both you and Alice will one day reach a wall that you can¡¯t scale. When that time comes, I wish the two of you will find a way to find comfort in these shackles.¡±


    Gilbert¡¯s will had not faltered and instead fired back. Kato raised the baton high in the tear gas-laced air.


    ¡°If she can¡¯t get out of her cage, she just has to be strong enough to fly while carrying the cage and all.¡±


    ¡°And one day, she¡¯ll be just as tired and miserable as if she didn¡¯t take that ridiculous form of flight. Flying from inside and carrying the whole cage with her is not easy.¡±


    Kato frowned. He didn¡¯t know what to say. Their ideals were opposites. He aimed at Gilbert, ready to make the final strike.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you later.¡±


    With all his might, he skewered the baton squarely in the chest. Gilbert gagged horribly from the pain, and Kato even thought he heard bones shattering underneath the pressure, but that was his imagination. The barrier would not allow any fatal injuries to occur.


    ¡°Kuh!¡±


    The dark spots on Gilbert¡¯s cleanse tag grew to occupy all of the surface area, turning it completely black. His eyes were closed shut and his face writhed in pain. If they weren¡¯t in the barrier, his ribcage would definitely have shattered.


    Kato picked himself back on his feet and staggered back from Gilbert as he dropped the baton, feeling just a bit surreal at finally reaching the end. With the cleanse tag of a class representative completely saturated, the Class War was finished, and not a moment too soon the high-pitched voice of their headmistress thundered across the school.


    ¡°Ding dong! With a fully saturated cleanse tag, Class 3-A¡¯s representative has been eliminated from the war, and with it the war itself was also lost. This is the second war in a row that Class 3-F has won! Once again, congratulations!¡±


    Before anyone outside could make a move, Eon and Caius both jumped from behind the barricade and into the smoke-filled hallway, followed by several of their classmates. The latter carried behind him a bunch of metre sticks taped together as a makeshift flagpole, and clipped to it was a huge variant flag of the Yue homeland. Instead of a white five-petalled blossom, the flower was half-wilted, the stars in its petals were missing, and was painted on a black background. The missing stars were supposed to represent the star in the star-and-chevron pattern in the Auxirian national flag. The black blossom flag was a symbol of resistance in Lien.


    ¡°Glory to Korolev! Glory to Livia! Glory to Lien! Long live the revolution!¡±


    Eon cried into the megaphone in his hand, in the midst of the silent crowd outside the classroom. Caius waved the flag furiously in the white smoke, somewhat visible as the flag was black. Their classmates began neutralizing the smoke grenades in the hallway that were still spewing out smoke. The silence only lasted a moment before the rest of the school rose in an uproar.


    ¡°¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª!¡±


    Students who were watching from a distance or from inside neighbouring classrooms poured into the filthy sector of the corridor, euphoric with cheers and chants. Conversely, the PSC carried with them their equipment, ducked out of the way and quickly retreated, slipping through the crowd. This was the first time in living memory that Class A had lost a Class War, and on the back of a political crackdown. The rebels of Class F also came out to greet the jubilant students from the other classes. In a normally class-segregated school, at this moment yesterday¡¯s enemies were today¡¯s allies.


    ¡°Stephen.¡±


    Kato breathed as he saw the man pick up Gilbert from the ground and slung his slump arm over his shoulder. Stephen spared him a vicious parting glance, but nevertheless nodded, recognizing that his party had lost this fight. Gilbert was still breathing and conscious, but was undoubtedly fatigued and in serious pain as well. Stephen carried him away, following the rest of the PSC out of the vicinity.


    Though the white smoke was thinning thanks to his classmates¡¯ efforts, it was still difficult to make out things in the distance. Lot of people rushed past Kato to the Class F doors to celebrate with the Class F resistance, leaving behind an auspicious atmosphere in its wake. He thought to himself, today was quite eventful. From Alice¡¯s worries to the fallout of an intractable political issue that traced all the way back to the Yue homeland, he wondered how many things went right and how many things could have went wrong. But for now, he appreciated the glory of victory, knowing that it was only for this moment in time that he had won.

 [END] 2.15 And Then, Reality

    ¡°Achoo!¡±


    Kato sniffed as he walked slowly along the hillside path past the Elites¡¯ old playground. It was very early Tuesday morning and as usual he was experiencing the usual afflictions of waking up too early in the morning.


    It had been a day since the end of the war between Class A and Class F, and although the win was decisive in Kato¡¯s favour, he felt like things changed as much as things stayed the same. For instance, the partisan conflict between the establishment and the masses, the cause for the siege of the 3-F classroom, had not yet been resolved. Despite the enforced peace between Class A and Class F, Chantal and her allies continued the struggle with multiple scuffles throughout the rest of the day.


    ¡°Kato, do you not take care of yourself properly?¡±


    That question had no trace of sympathy; rather, it was accompanied with a sneer. The girl with luscious curly blonde hair and a flat chest quipped with such cynicism and disdain that it actually hurt Kato a bit inside.


    ¡°You must be fun at parties.¡±


    ¡°Never was.¡±


    After Class A¡¯s defeat and the subsequent peace, Alice¡¯s ego was obviously filled to the brim and bled into each of her obstinate words. Kato could only hope that it would abate with time.


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re supposed to bring lunch today, right? I forgot to make mine. I hope Teto sees that I left behind my lunch box and stuff at home and remembers to put food in it and bring it.¡±


    Kato said nonchalantly, as if he had no care as to what he would have for lunch. But this was merely a symptom of his morning lethargy and his displeasure would be made well-known as time approached noon. Alice sighed.


    ¡°I saw it too. Your lunch box was still in the dish rack.¡±


    ¡°You saw it?¡±


    ¡°You forgot about your lunch because you were moving around like a zombie. I swear you were spacing out the entire time.¡±


    Mildly exasperated, Alice berated him without holding back. She heard that Kato wasn¡¯t a morning person, but she never thought it was this bad. At the very least, once he was in the sunshine he was slightly more animated. But only slightly.


    ¡°Aight. I get it.¡±


    Hesitating, Alice twiddled her thumbs as she looked away from him and down at her feet. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks as the words tried to leave her throat, and only by gagging herself a bit was it able to come out.


    ¡°D-do you want to have some of my lunch instead? I went back to pack some more food because I saw that¡­¡±


    Though she started off with a bright smile, her voice trailed off into a mumble, but Kato answered swiftly.


    ¡°Sure. What did you pack?¡±


    ¡°Oh. It¡¯s fish fillet in corn soup.¡±


    Suddenly, Kato grinned merrily, clasping his hands together in joy.


    ¡°Blessed, that you¡¯re good at making Yue food. Really.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. If only you weren¡¯t this sloppy in the morning, you wouldn¡¯t need to beg me¡ªpersuade me to give you my lunch.¡±


    Almost instinctively, the words left her mouth before she was even conscious of it, and within her mind she silently cursed herself. Why must she be so belligerent all the time, especially when she didn¡¯t want to do that to Kato?


    Then her next thought was why she didn¡¯t want to be like that to Kato, but she quickly banished the thought, preferring not to think about the reason. However, that only made her loud heartbeat ring clearly in her ears, and unable to steer her mind away from the issue.


    Beside her, Kato grinned some more, feeling a bit in the mood to retort.


    ¡°But you¡¯re the one who offered me in the first place, so who¡¯s begging who?¡±


    She turned deep red at the provocation, and only managed a tongue-tied response that completely exposed herself.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s obviously you! I-I¡¯m only giving you an option because it would be uncivilized if I didn¡¯t!¡±


    Kato chuckled haughtily, dodging and slapping away the hand that was reaching out to pinch him, which only riled Alice up even more. He was not fully awake yet, but he was certainly much less lethargic. Only after a few angry exchanges and a bit of chasing did she give up and stop.


    ¡°Are you getting used to living here? I¡¯d imagine it¡¯s quite different from what you used to live in.¡±


    Kato diverted the conversation in a different direction and Alice¡¯s fire was extinguished almost instantly. He noticed that she had that sharp context switching quality to her, something not a lot of people had.


    ¡°It¡¯s not too bad. I¡¯ve always taken care of myself, so it¡¯s not a problem. Besides, I always wanted to live closer to the inner city like this.¡±


    Kato and his sisters were surprised when Alice told them that she would live with them starting yesterday, and even more surprising was that Karl, their long-time caretaker, reappeared when they arrived home after school. Alice was given one of the guest rooms on Karl¡¯s side of the double apartment, sharing with Sisi the living space and the well-equipped kitchen.


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I was surprised Karl was able to find you.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s your problem. If you weren¡¯t so obvious with your grandstanding, you wouldn¡¯t have made Karl¡¯s job more difficult.¡±


    In the fallout of the Class War and the long shadow of the looming conflict between the Westgroves and the Lafayettes, Sisi notified Karl of the events that led up to that point and had him make new arrangements for Alice. After all, Karl was tasked with the objective of erasing people¡¯s memories, and now with the whole of the Westgrove and Lafayette families and their peripherals taking the existence of Kato seriously, it was only inevitable for Karl to take care of this mess. The key family members who were nomenklatura might not end up having their memories erased, but many of their peers probably would be. Plus, if Alice was looking to become a nomenklatura herself, this was also a good opportunity to make herself known and useful to her future peers.


    ¡°But couldn¡¯t Karl have found a different place for you to live in?¡±


    ¡°Do you have a problem with it?¡±


    She shot him a glare as she asked him pointedly, to which he relented and raised his hands. She then sighed and continued.


    ¡°It¡¯s the safest option at the moment. I don¡¯t have my own mob like my brother and my uncle does, so what I can do is turn to Eternia itself for help.¡±


    ¡°What does your ownership stake entail anyway? The way your family business is structured, is not normal, is it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s not normal. This is what happens when there¡¯s a succession crisis. Normally the head of the family owned everything, but there was a clear irreconcilable difference between Albert and Uncle Justin, so my father decided to split the company between the two, knowing full well that the business has a good chance of splitting into two separate entities in the near future.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s not what happened eventually, right? What about you?¡±


    ¡°My brother convinced my father to give me the majority, so that neither my brother nor uncle could split up the company. That¡¯s what my father wanted. It worked well enough for all parties, because Albert and Uncle Justin both liked me a lot, and my father¡¯s hard work wouldn¡¯t be scrapped so fast.¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Kato nodded. It made sense.


    ¡°And now? What happens now? Are you in control of part of the company?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no. I have access to the equity that my shares held, but in terms of general operations, that¡¯s a nonstarter. I¡¯ll have to establish my own clique from the ground up.¡±


    ¡°Sounds difficult. What about the Lafayette side?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. I hope that Gilbert¡¯s stunt yesterday made them think twice before actually taking action against my family.¡±


    Kato made a double take, surprised at Alice¡¯s conclusion. He didn¡¯t tell her of the exchange between him and Gilbert at the end.


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°So he told you? What a contradictory person. He wouldn¡¯t for the life of him tell me his intentions, even though he¡¯s acting on it for me.¡±


    Her eyes were once again distant, almost painful. After all, it wasn¡¯t every day that she abandoned somebody who was devoted to her, even in that warped and unbalanced way.


    ¡°Well¡­ he did explain that to me, but how did you figure it out?¡±


    ¡°He was way too gung-ho about the whole thing. I sensed it from him yesterday when we talked for the last time. Even by arresting me to prevent me from declaring war on your class too soon, that wasn¡¯t enough reason; I was not actually a threat. He never does anything he saw as useless, so unless he has some other motives, only this made sense.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m not impressed with your deductive skills.¡±


    She smiled ruefully.


    ¡°Despite what he says, he still cared about me, but of course in his own twisted way.¡±


    She said, more to herself than to Kato. She wanted to say a little bit more, but she stopped and left it there. Sensing that hesitation, he smiled earnestly to dispel her doubts.


    ¡°Alice. You should just take his parting gift to you at face value. You don¡¯t owe him anything anymore, y¡¯know? Except for one thing, probably.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°To use your newfound freedom. Else, he¡¯d probably be pretty cheesed, dontcha think?¡±


    Alice laughed, a cheery one that was devoid of the pride and arrogance that was so typical of her. A fitting end to a rather unhappy chapter in her life.


    The road to school was, as usual, a long one, but Alice didn¡¯t seem to mind the distance. One would think that a seemingly sheltered lady like Alice would not be agreeable with this long of a walk, but she wasn¡¯t a normal upperclasswoman by any standard.


    They passed through the front gates of the school, where only yesterday Alice was arrested by the PSC. Pushing through the great front doors and into the atrium, they saw that in the middle near the spiral staircase were several mobile wooden bulletin boards where teachers tacked pins to put up posters and notices. They were usually put aside against the transparent glass walls that separated the atrium and the cafeteria on the far side, but having them in the middle meant that there was a public notice of considerable importance from the faculty.


    Looking at each other for a moment, they rushed across the fairly empty atrium to the bulletin board, where a couple of other early-bird students were also looking at. Tacked there were a dozen A4 size sheets of paper, all in Old Yue and in tiny font for ants.


    ¡°¡­the faculty review on the Public Safety Committee, which shall be established on the thirty-first day of August, eighteen eighty-seven, shall be charged with the investigation of the PSC and its operating history for wrongdoing and misconduct. The results of the investigation shall be presented to the Senate for review. Following the review, the Senate shall make recommendations to the student council.¡±


    Alice read the abstract off of the first page.


    ¡°That means the faculty answered one of our five demands.¡±


    Kato grinned at Alice, whose eyes also lit up at the miraculous turn of events. Historically, no matter how ugly things got, the faculty never interfered with student issues, and especially not political ones. Today, perhaps under Sisi¡¯s influence, they stood up.


    ¡°It ends with recommendations to the student council. This will end up with Ariel?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    As the head of the Department of the Administration, Ariel was named the student council¡¯s undersecretary, and was formally addressed as Madam Secretary. Besides managing the Records Office, an informal responsibility of the administration was also to provide legal advice to the student council, and therefore the undersecretary also functioned as an attorney general. In short, Ariel would ultimately be responsible for the prosecution of police officers who had abused their privileges, according to whatever results the faculty found,


    ¡°We did it. It actually worked!¡±


    Alice smiled brilliantly. She was generally apolitical when it came to issues like these, but perhaps because of how this particular movement was entangled with her own personal predicaments, the shared experience brought her sympathy for the anti-neutrality protests and protestors.


    ¡°Yeah. We did it!¡±


    They double high-fived with glee, startling the couple of other students who were also reading the tack board. They both laughed, the sense of relief and victory for the protestors had not yet abated.


    After they visited their separate lockers, it turned out that the same notice was also posted in the third music room that was their destination. Maybe it was posted to every classroom to inform the students of the severity of the situation.


    It was Tuesday, and Mirabelle still had not returned to school, so Kato continued to supervise this music room in her absence. The difference from a week ago was that Alice now lived under the same roof as him.


    ¡°Oh, I forgot I left some of my sheet music in the classroom. I¡¯ll go get it, and also put down some of my stuff.¡±


    Alice declared seriously only moments after they stepped inside, prompting Kato to give her a bemused look. Alice shrugged exaggeratedly, returning his contempt in full. Sometimes, these things happen.


    ¡°All right.¡±


    Kato sat down at the supervisor¡¯s chair anyways, waving the blonde girl away as he pulled the notice and its many pages of text from the wall to read it. With how it was even posted in the music room, he was sure that this faculty review would be the hot topic in the school for the foreseeable future.


    He realized that a part of the faculty¡¯s notice included not just an excerpt but the full text of the peace treaty between Class A and Class F, and he snickered at the thoroughness of the faculty. Certainly, they didn¡¯t need to provide such a detailed and comprehensive report so soon, but they did. Perhaps the faculty wanted to crack down on the PSC for a long time already.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just read through the whole thing here, eh?¡±


    He waved again at the blonde girl who was taking out her other stacks of sheet music from her backpack and placing it on an empty music stand. It wasn¡¯t piano practice today. She made a quick stride for the door and returned the wave.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    She hustled for the nearby stairs, and fortunately after she got to the third floor she no longer had to cross the length of the school to her classroom. The early morning sun filtered through the windows, blinding her a bit every time she stepped inside its light.


    Like downstairs, there were barely any students around for morning activities on the third floor. Most school clubs operated after school, and for those that also operated in the morning like the music department, it was only the second week of school and not every club was up and running yet.


    She arrived at the front of an empty classroom, one where its doors¡¯ vicinities were still discoloured from the rubbish slung around during yesterday¡¯s siege. The area was all cleaned up and thoroughly disinfected, but the stains from food, paint and the like remained, which were haphazardly splattered on the floor and walls around the door, as if somebody took a humongous barf all over. She chuckled to herself, the stains a stark reminder of the struggle that took place here, and unbeknownst to the public, a struggle for her sake.


    After wading through the rows of desks and arriving at her own, Alice pulled out a few textbooks from her backpack to put inside her new desk, and at the same time took back out the sheet music that she left inside her desk yesterday. As she rummaged through the inside of her desk, she was reminded by the cassette tape in there that she should return it to its owner. She smiled widely. The album on this tape was great. Starting today, it was her age of bliss.


    She looked around. Her desk was to Evie¡¯s right, at the back row and fourth column from the left. Of course, on Evie¡¯s left was Kato and then Eon, while in front of those two were Franco and Caius respectively, and then Yui sat in front of Caius. These were the Elites of Class F.


    Stapled to the tack board at the back of the classroom was the public notice again, confirming that it was being posted everywhere. This time, she scowled as she caught sight of a detail on it that brought her some unease and embarrassment. Major peace treaties were often given shorthand names so they were easier to refer to, and this particular peace treaty was named the Alice Protocol, in reference to article six that transferred Alice from Class A to Class F. Even the faculty used this informal name to refer to the results of yesterday¡¯s Class War.


    Up until the last moment, it was really hard for her to imagine that she would end up here. If she were to guess, this was the condition that Kato planned to demand from Class A from the very start. There was not much in Class A that was particularly hard to leave behind. No matter the consequences, she only needed to accept them, and that was all. And if she could make heart-to-heart friendships that she had not made for a long time, then all the better.


    Subconsciously, her hands wrapped around the tiny trinket that was tied about her neck. She was allowed to have wishes and pursue them, was she not? She looked over longingly to the desk one over Evie¡¯s as a complex fusion of guilt and desire surfaced in her consciousness.


    ¡°Percy, I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯ve found somebody else. I can¡¯t be hung over you forever. I still have a life to live. A life that you saved in that moment of madness.¡±


    There was nobody around, so she spoke out loud to emphasize to herself the importance of it. On this subject, Alice still wavered and was filled with doubt and uncertainty. Her grasp tightened around the trinket, unable to let it go.


    ¡°It¡¯s enough now, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s time to stop living in the past and start living in the present. If I leave Gil and the family behind, I also leave you behind too, but that¡¯s fine. I have friends who know me as you once did. It¡¯s time for me to move on.¡±


    She was suddenly reminded of the final moments of the fight between Gilbert and Kato. In the midst of the noise, cheers and confusion of the audience, she heard the faint screams of Kato in that confrontation, and although she would never know how Gilbert answered, she remembered Kato¡¯s words crystal clear.


    Do you not know the cry of someone in despair? Can you not empathize with her feelings? Love is not something so easily convinced of just through worldly actions.


    After a moment of silence, she promptly put those thoughts away and let go of the dull glass-like shard. Looking forward was what she promised herself to do, even if the doubts remained inside her head. She would just have to live with it and continue searching for answers. With her sheet music in hand, she smiled widely again, suddenly bright and hopeful. She headed for the door to return to the perennially arrogant Eternian in the music room below.


    ¡°This is goodbye for the last time, Percy. Until our next lives.¡±

 [Extras 2.A] Alice Protocol

    <hr>


    Of the participants of the exalted Class Wars of Korolev Senior Secondary School;


    With Class 3-A, of the one part; and Class 3-F, of the other part;


    Whereas on the request of Lady Eterna an armistice was granted to the parties on the morning of 29 August 1887, during the time of second period, in order that a treaty of peace may be concluded, and;


    Whereas the parties are equally desirous that the war in which the objective of restoring order was delivered to Class 3-F by Class 3-A in an effort to achieve so, should be replaced by a firm, just, and durable peace.


    For this purpose, the parties have appointed as their plenipotentiaries to discuss, settle, and sign the present treaty of peace, namely;


    <hr>


    Class 3-A:


    Mr Gilbert Paul de Lafayette, Class 3-A Representative, Member of the Assembly, Marshal of the Public Safety Committee;


    Ms Mona Serine Mackenzie, Member of the Assembly, Chairwoman of the Activity Council;


    Class 3-F:


    Mr Kato Abel Danubius, Class 3-F Representative, Member of the Assembly;


    Mr Eon Atelier Koziko, Member of the Assembly;


    And together with the witnesses to the treaty in order to affirm the legislative authority of the present treaty of peace, namely;


    The student council executives:


    Ms Ganymede Bianca Jupiter, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Member of the Assembly;


    Ms Europa Ariel Jupiter, Undersecretary, Member of the Assembly;


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Ms Io Scarlett Jupiter, Executive Manager, Member of the Assembly;


    The Faculty:


    Mr Alan Jeremy Guilford-Fong, Class 3-A homeroom teacher, senator;


    Ms Elizabeth Miklos Romana, Class 3-F homeroom teacher, senator;


    <hr>


    Who having exchanged their full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed as follows:


    From the coming into force of the present treaty the state of war will terminate;


    And the acceptance in full of the following articles of peace, with the same authority of an Act of the Assembly;


    <hr>


    ARTICLE I.


    That peace between Class 3-A and Class 3-F is extended to at least the end of the current year of the Candoran Calendar (i.e. 1887), when the parties will renegotiate the length of said extension, or the termination of this Article.


    ARTICLE II.


    Where Class 3-A must relinquish their claim to the cause for war that was claimed for the war which this treaty of peace is providing for.


    ARTICLE III.


    Where Class 3-A must restrict their aggression, that they cannot declare war on an ally of Class 3-F while the provisions in Article I continue to be applied.


    ARTICLE IV.


    In light of the circumstances that developed on the eve of war, in which with almost certainty that, directly or indirectly, resulted in a state of war between Class 3-A and Class 3-F, that in the context of said circumstances neither party is to be pursued by the other in any capacity for any purposes, including but not limited to extraordinary retribution or conflict.


    ARTICLE V.


    Class 3-A agrees to transfer exactly ten points to Class 3-F.


    ARTICLE VI.


    Class 3-A agrees to transfer Ms Alice Sonora Westgrove to Class 3-F, following all appropriate procedures and protocols of a class transfer.


    ARTICLE VII.


    Of their respective class constituencies, Class 3-A agrees to transfer two seats in the Assembly to Class 3-F, where the respective outgoing and incoming Members for the transferred seats shall be determined at a later date but no later than the next convention of the Assembly.


    <hr>


    The present treaty in all, of which the Old Yue text is authoritative, shall be ratified and enter into force without delay.


    The instrument of ratification is provided by the witnesses to this treaty.


    The present treaty shall be regarded as having entered into force pending the administrative discretion of the provision of the instrument of ratification.


    In faith thereof the above named plenipotentiaries and witnesses have signed the present treaty.


    Done at the Assembly Hall, Korolev Senior Secondary School, on 29 August 1887 of the Candoran Calendar.


    For Class 3-A


    For Class 3-F


    For the student council executives


    For the Faculty

 [Extras 2.B] Constitution Act, 1668

    CONSTITUTION ACT, 1668


    An Act for the peaceful establishment of institutions for the exercising of the sovereign powers of Korolev Senior Secondary School; and for purposes connected therewith


    Whereas the sovereign is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of the rule of law:


    And whereas the institutions of the sovereign would conduce to the welfare of the students, school and society at large, and promote the interests of Eternia and the continent of Candor:


    And whereas on the establishment of such institutions, not only that the constitution of the legislative authority be provided for, but also the nature of the executive government and the procession of the judiciary unit therein be declared:


    And whereas the holistic result is the provision of a wonderful formative experience for all students:


    Short title


    <ol>


    <li>This Act may be cited as the Constitution Act.</li>


    </ol>


    Institutions


    <ol start="2">


    <li>The provisions of this Act referring to the institutions shall be construed as referring to the institutions of the sovereign in which the powers of the sovereign are exercised by.</li>


    </ol>


    Korolev Senior


    <ol start="3">


    <li>Unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the name Korolev Senior shall be taken to mean Korolev Senior Secondary School as constituted under this act.</li>


    </ol>


    Geographic, physical jurisdiction


    <ol start="4">


    <li>Korolev Senior shall be the privately-built school, bounded by the privately-owned land belonging to Eternia, provisioned to the Korolev Senior Faculty Administration, located in general in Hunghom, Livia, Central, Auxiria.</li>


    </ol>


    Census


    <ol start="5">


    <li>In the general census of the population of Korolev Senior is hereby required to be taken every year before the start of the school year, in order for the numbers to be distinguished for the purposes connected therewith.</li>


    </ol>


    Continuity of the Faculty


    <ol start="6">


    <li>The appropriate authority of and over Korolev Senior, as provisioned by the Board of Public Education or an equivalent authority of the relevant jurisdiction, is to continue to be vested in the Faculty, and shall remain inalienable therein.</li>


    </ol>


    Student Government


    <ol start="7">


    <li>There shall be a general Student Government of Korolev Senior to exercise the sovereign¡¯s powers, consisting of the Student Council, the Legislature, and the Council of Six, the powers therein being delegated to these student institutions.</li>


    </ol>


    Constitution of the Student Council


    <ol start="8">


    <li> There shall be a Student Council of Korolev Senior to aid and advise the Student Government of Korolev Senior, consisting of: the Student Council Executives, representing the Student Council and the general Student Government; the Department of the Treasury; the Department of the Administration; the Student Liaison Office; and the Independent Commission Against Corruption.</li>


    </ol>


    Student Council Executives and its Offices


    <ol start="9">


    <li>The Student Council Executives consist of the leadership of the Student Council which occupies the following offices: the Office of the President for the Student Council President; the Office of the Treasurer for the Chancellor of the Exchequer; the Office of the Secretary for the Undersecretary; the Office-General for the Executive Manager, and any other Deputies Without Portfolio, appointed as the President sees fit, to reasonably carry out his duties; all of which shall be responsible to the Office of the President.</li>


    </ol>


    All powers under Acts to be exercised by the Student Council


    <ol start="10">


    <li>All powers, authorities, and functions which under any Act of the Assembly, or any Proclamation of the Faculty, are vested in or exercisable by the Student Council or adjutants thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Responsibility of the Treasury


    <ol start="11">


    <li>Where the Office of the Treasurer is responsible, there shall be a Department of the Treasury, to be responsible for the implementation of fiscal policy of the student institutions; and student organizations and functions, events or occasions thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Responsibility of the Administration


    <ol start="12">


    <li>Where the Office of the Secretary is responsible, there shall be a Department of the Administration, to be responsible for the record-keeping of transactions of any nature of all student organizations; and the petitioning for redress of grievances.</li>


    </ol>


    Responsibility of the Student Liaison Office


    <ol start="13">


    <li>Where the Office-General is responsible, there shall be a Student Liaison Office, to be responsible for the general management of student organizations and functions, events or occasions thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Responsibility of the Independent Commission Against Corruption


    <ol start="14">


    <li>There shall be an Independent Commission Against Corruption, to be responsible for the oversight of the work of the Student Government with regards to the principle of good government.</li>


    </ol>


    Appointment of Offices


    <ol start="15">


    <li>The Office of the President is elected to by universal suffrage of the student population, completed before the start of the school year, for a term length extending to the end of the school year; the Office of the Treasurer, the Office of the Secretary, and the Office-General, when vacant, is appointed to by the President, for a term length extending to the end of the school year.</li>


    </ol>


    Executive order of precedence


    <ol start="16">


    <li>In case of invalidity of the Office of the President, the order of precedence is: the Chancellor of the Exchequer; the Undersecretary; and then the Executive Manager.</li>


    </ol>


    Constitution of the Legislature


    <ol start="17">


    <li>There shall be one Legislature, consisting of an upper house styled the Senate, and a lower house styled the Assembly.</li>


    </ol>


    Privileges of the Legislature


    <ol start="18">


    <li>The privileges, immunities, and powers to be held, enjoyed, and exercised by the Assembly and the Senate, and by the members thereof respectively, shall be such as are from time to time defined by Act of the Assembly or Proclamation of the Faculty respectively, as it pertains to the following, with regards to its respective assembly:</li>


    </ol>


    (a). the regulation of its own internal affairs;


    (b). the authority to maintain the attendance and service of its Members;


    (c). the power to discipline;


    (d). the right to institute inquiries and to call witnesses and demand papers;


    (e). the right to administer oaths to witnesses appearing before it;


    (f). the right to publish papers without recourse to the courts.


    Constitution of the Senate


    <ol start="19">


    <li>The Senate shall consist of the teachers of the third-year classes of the school year, who shall be styled as Senators.</li>


    </ol>


    Tenure of the Senate


    <ol start="20">


    <li>The Senate is summoned upon the start of the school year, and its term ends at the end thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Quorum of the Senate


    <ol start="21">


    <li>The presence of at least one half, and added the remainder after division, shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the exercising of its powers.</li>


    </ol>


    Voting in the Senate


    <ol start="22">


    <li>Questions arising in the Senate shall be decided by a majority of voices, and when the voices are equal the decision shall be deemed to be in the negative.</li>


    </ol>


    Constitution of the Assembly


    <ol start="23">


    <li> The Assembly consists of two constituencies, the Class Constituencies and the Functional Constituencies, of which their members are styled as Members of the Assembly.</li>


    </ol>


    Class Constituencies


    <ol start="24">


    <li>At the first summon of the Assembly, it shall consist of Class Constituencies of: forty students from Class 3-A; twenty students from Class 3-B; ten students from Class 3-C; five students from Class 3-D; three students from Class 3-E; and one student from Class 3-F, if and as such classes exist, named and appointed by the respective classes.</li>


    </ol>


    Functional Constituencies


    <ol start="25">


    <li>The Assembly shall consist of Functional Constituencies of the following categories:</li>


    </ol>


    (a). the Class Representatives of each third-year class;


    (b). the Presidents of School Clubs as sanctioned by the Senate;


    (c). the Student Council Executives, and up to four Deputies Without Portfolio;


    Simultaneous qualifications of an Assembly Member


    <ol start="26">


    <li>For any student qualifying to multiple seats in the Assembly in any manner, must declare their one seat to remain in, and declare all other seats invalid, starting with seats in the Functional Constituencies.</li>


    </ol>


    Speaker of the Assembly


    <ol start="27">


    <li>The Speaker of the Assembly shall be a Member from the Student Council Executives Functional Constituency.</li>


    </ol>


    Speaker to preside


    <ol start="28">


    <li>The speaker shall preside at all conventions of the Assembly.</li>


    </ol>


    Provision in case of absence of the Speaker


    <ol start="29">


    <li>If the Speaker is excused in advance, or absent for any other reason for a period of one hour to a convention of the Assembly, the Student Council Executive Functional Constituency may appoint one of its members to act as Speaker, and if such an arrangement is not possible, then one may be elected from the Assembly; and such a Member should have and execute all the powers, privileges and duties of Speaker.</li>


    </ol>


    Tenure of the Assembly


    <ol start="30">


    <li>The Assembly is summoned at the start of the school year, and shall continue until the end thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Quorum of the Assembly


    <ol start="31">


    <li>The presence of at least twenty Members of the Assembly shall be necessary to constitute a convention of the Assembly for the exercise of its powers, and for that purpose the Speaker shall be reckoned as a Member.</li>


    </ol>


    Voting in the Assembly


    <ol start="32">


    <li>Unless provisioned otherwise by this Act, questions arising in the Assembly shall be decided by a majority of voices other than that of the Speaker, and when the voices are equal, not otherwise, the Speaker shall have a vote.</li>


    </ol>


    Bills from the Assembly


    <ol start="33">


    <li>Bills of any nature shall originate in the Assembly.</li>


    </ol>


    Recommendation of money votes


    <ol start="34">


    <li>It shall not be lawful for the Assembly to adopt or pass any vote, resolution, address, or bill for the appropriation of any part of the public revenue, or any monetary demand from students, to any purpose that has not been first recommended to the Assembly by the Faculty or the Senate in the session in which such vote, resolution, address, or bill is proposed.</li>


    </ol>


    Disallowance by the Senate


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    <ol start="35">


    <li>Where the Assembly passes a bill in its own name and authority, it shall by the first convenient opportunity send an authentic copy of the Act to the Senate, for voting of the bill at a reasonable pace according to the temporal nature thereof, or for withholding its duties by declaring contempt for the bill, in which case the bill is returned to the Assembly, for no more than twice of a bill with the same intent in a fiscal quarter.</li>


    </ol>


    Supremacy of the Assembly


    <ol start="36">


    <li>Where the Senate declares contempt for a bill of the same intent for more than twice, the Assembly may present the bill to the Principal for his Assent as if the Senate voted in favour, only if the Assembly votes in favour of the bill, and also votes in contempt of the Senate, with more than two-thirds of the total number of Members voting for the motions therein.</li>


    </ol>


    Assent to bills, etc.


    <ol start="37">


    <li>Where a bill passed by the Legislature is presented to the Principal for his Assent, he shall declare, according to his discretion, but subject to the provisions of this Act, either that he assents thereto, or that he withholds his Assent, in his own name and authority.</li>


    </ol>


    Legislative authority of the Legislature


    <ol start="38">


    <li>It shall be lawful for the Principal, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and the Assembly, to make laws in the form of Acts for the peace, order, and good student government of Korolev Senior, in relation to all matters not coming within the classes of subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the Faculty; and for greater certainty, but not so as to restrict the generality of the foregoing terms of this section, it is hereby declared that (notwithstanding anything in this Act) the exclusive legislative authority of the Legislature extends to all matters coming within the classes of subjects next hereinafter enumerated; that is to say,</li>


    </ol>


    (a). public debt, assets and property;


    (b). the raising of money by any mode or system of taxation;


    (c). the borrowing of money on public credit;


    (d). public morals, order and defence;


    (e). student welfare, insurance and life services;


    (f). school-wide events;


    (g). student organizations and functions, events, or occasions thereof;


    (h). the constitution of classes with respect to students;


    (i). intellectual property;


    (j). school facilities;


    (k). functions under the rules of the Class Wars;


    Constitution of the Council of Six


    <ol start="39">


    <li> There shall be a Council of Six, consisting of one student from each of: Class 3-A; Class 3-B; Class 3-C; Class 3-D; Class 3-E; Class 3-F, each thereof are styled as Judges.</li>


    </ol>


    Appointment and tenure of Judges


    <ol start="40">


    <li>At their pleasure, the Senate shall appoint the Judges of the Council of Six, whom shall not hold any other public office while appointed as Judges.</li>


    </ol>


    General Court


    <ol start="41">


    <li>The Student Council may, notwithstanding anything in this Act, from time to time provide for the constitution, maintenance, and organization of a general court for the better administration of the laws of Korolev Senior.</li>


    </ol>


    Funding


    <ol start="42">


    <li>All revenues over which the Legislature have power of appropriation shall form one consolidated revenue fund in the Department of the Treasury, to be appropriated for the public service of Korolev Senior in the manner and subject to the charges in this Act provided.</li>


    </ol>


    Expenses of collection, etc.


    <ol start="43">


    <li>The Department of the Treasury shall be permanently charged with the costs, charges, and expenses incident to the collection, management, and receipt thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Property, etc.


    <ol start="44">


    <li>The Student Liaison Office shall be permanently charged with the maintenance and the good housekeeping of public property and facilities as pertains to the students thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Oath of allegiance, etc.


    <ol start="45">


    <li>Every Member of the Assembly shall before taking his seat therein take and subscribe before the Faculty, the oath of allegiance contained in the First Schedule to this Act.</li>


    </ol>


    Rights and freedoms in Korolev Senior


    <ol start="46">


    <li>The constitution guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.</li>


    </ol>


    Fundamental freedoms


    <ol start="47">


    <li>Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:</li>


    </ol>


    (a). freedom of conscience and religion;


    (b). freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;


    (c). freedom of peaceful assembly;


    (d). freedom of association.


    Democratic rights of citizens


    <ol start="48">


    <li>Every student of Korolev Senior has the right to vote in an election of the Student Council President, or of any public office in which an election the general electorate is to be held for, and is qualified for such a position amenable to the term length thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Maximum duration of public offices


    <ol start="49">


    <li>No assembly, committee, body or other public office shall continue for longer than the school year it has been elected or appointed to.</li>


    </ol>


    Continuity of allegiance


    <ol start="50">


    <li>Every holder of any public office must do so with allegiance to his class, and where that is no longer true the public office is relinquished.</li>


    </ol>


    Sitting of legislative bodies


    <ol start="51">


    <li>There shall be a sitting of the Assembly at least once every month.</li>


    </ol>


    Mobility rights


    <ol start="52">


    <li>Every student has the right to enter, remain in and leave the grounds of Korolev Senior.</li>


    </ol>


    Hierarchal mobility rights


    <ol start="53">


    <li>Every student has the right to move to and take up residence in any class, provided that the student has been granted assent by and obtained scores of qualified examinations amenable to the teacher thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Life, liberty and security of person


    <ol start="54">


    <li>Every student has the right to life, liberty and security of person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.</li>


    </ol>


    Search or seizure


    <ol start="55">


    <li>Every student has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.</li>


    </ol>


    Detention or imprisonment


    <ol start="56">


    <li>Every student has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.</li>


    </ol>


    Arrest or detention


    <ol start="57">


    <li>Every student has the right on arrest or detention: to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor; to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to the informed of that right; to have the validity of the detention determined by way of hapeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful.</li>


    </ol>


    Proceedings in criminal and penal matters


    <ol start="58">


    <li>Any person charged with an offence has the right:</li>


    </ol>


    (a). to be informed without reasonable delay of the specific offence;


    (b). to be tried within a reasonable time;


    (c). not to be compelled to be a witness in proceedings against that person in respect of the offence;


    (d). to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal;


    (e). not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause;


    (f). not to be found guilty on account of any act or omission unless, at the time of the act or omission, it constituted an offence under the law;


    (g). if finally acquitted of the offence, not to be tried for it again and, if finally found guilty and punished for the offence, not to be tried or punished for it again;


    (h). if found guilty of the offence and if the punishment of the office has been varied between the time of commission and the time of sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser punishment.


    Cruel punishment


    <ol start="59">


    <li>Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.</li>


    </ol>


    No self-crimination


    <ol start="60">


    <li>A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.</li>


    </ol>


    Interpreter


    <ol start="61">


    <li>A party or witness in any proceedings who does not understand or speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted or who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter.</li>


    </ol>


    Equality before and under law


    <ol start="62">


    <li>Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination of any kind, including but not limited to discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, disabilities, socioeconomic status, political affiliations.</li>


    </ol>


    Official languages


    <ol start="63">


    <li>Old Yue and New Yue are the official languages of Korolev Senior and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use throughout, including student institutions.</li>


    </ol>


    Languages in the Assembly


    <ol start="64">


    <li>Everyone has the right to use Old Yue or New Yue in any debates and other proceedings of the Assembly.</li>


    </ol>


    Languages in public records


    <ol start="65">


    <li>Public records, documents or other methods of communication from the Student Government of any form shall be printed in Old Yue and New Yue, and both language versions are equally authoritative.</li>


    </ol>


    Languages in public service


    <ol start="66">


    <li>Any member of the public has the right to communicate with, and to receive available services from, any office of an institution of the Student Government in Old Yue or New Yue.</li>


    </ol>


    Enforcement of guaranteed rights


    <ol start="67">


    <li>Anyone whose rights or freedoms have been infringed or denied may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances, and where a court concludes that evidence was obtained in a manner that infringed or denied any rights or freedoms, the evidence shall be excluded where the admission of it would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.</li>


    </ol>


    Recognizing multiculturalism


    <ol start="68">


    <li>The laws shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of the students.</li>


    </ol>


    Exception by the Legislature


    <ol start="69">


    <li>The Legislature or the Faculty may expressly declare in an Act of the Assembly, that the Act or a provision thereof shall operate notwithstanding Articles 54 through to 62, where the application thereof shall cease to have effect at the end of the school year.</li>


    </ol>


    Great majority of the Assembly for exceptions


    <ol start="70">


    <li>An Act of the Assembly in part or in whole containing provisions operating notwithstanding Articles 54 through to 62 shall only be an Act after voted for with more than two-thirds of the total number of Members.</li>


    </ol>


    Commitment to an ideal school life


    <ol start="71">


    <li>Without altering the legislative authority of the Legislature, or the rights of any of them with respect to the exercise of their legislative authority, the Student Government is committed to:</li>


    </ol>


    (a). promoting equal opportunities for the well-being of students;


    (b). promoting extracurricular activities to the benefit of social awareness;


    (c). providing essential public services of reasonable quality to all students.


    Amendment procedure


    <ol start="72">


    <li>A general amendment to the Constitution, in relation to all matters not coming within the subject classes provisioned elsewhere in this Act where the amendment procedure is declared to be different, shall be made by Proclamation of the Faculty or by the Principal where so alone or recommended by: resolutions of the Legislature where more than two-thirds of the Assembly and more than two-thirds of the Senate voted for; and of the Class Representatives of all classes where more than two-thirds voted for, and those voted for represents more than two-thirds of the student population, where the passed resolutions shall be identical.</li>


    <li>An amendment to the Constitution in relation to the following subject classes shall be made by Proclamation of the Faculty or by the Principal where so alone:</li>


    </ol>


    (a). Articles 1 through to 7;


    (b). any rights, privileges, or similar thereto of the Faculty or of the Principal;


    (c). any part of legislation of Acts with exceptions;


    (d). Article 72;


    (e). this part.


    (f). Article 74;


    <ol start="74">


    <li>An amendment to the Constitution in relation to the following subject classes shall be made by Proclamation of the Faculty or by the Principal where so alone or recommended by: resolutions of the Legislature where more than two-thirds of the Assembly and more than two-thirds of the Senate voted for; of the Class Representatives of all classes where more than two-thirds voted for, and those voted for represents more than two-thirds of the student population; and of the general student population where more than two-thirds voted for, where the passed resolutions shall be identical:</li>


    </ol>


    (a). the Rules of the Class Wars, or the Rules of the Game.


    Revocation of authorization


    <ol start="75">


    <li>A resolution for the purposes of amendment may be revoked at any time before the issue of a Proclamation authorized by it.</li>


    </ol>


    Primacy of the Constitution


    <ol start="76">


    <li>The Constitution is the supreme law of Korolev Senior, and any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is, to the extent of the inconsistency, of no force or effect.</li>


    </ol>


    Constitution of the Constitution


    <ol start="77">


    <li>The Constitution comprises of this Act, the Schedules therewith, and any amendments thereof.</li>


    </ol>


    Nature of amendments


    <ol start="78">


    <li>Amendments to the Constitution shall be made only in accordance with the authority contained in this Act.</li>


    </ol>


    Old Yue and New Yue versions


    <ol start="79">


    <li>Where any portion of the Constitution has been or is enacted in Old Yue or New Yue, the Old Yue and New Yue versions of that portion of the Constitution are equally authoritative.</li>


    </ol>


    THE FIRST SCHEDULE


    OATH OF ALLEGIANCE


    I, A.B. do swear, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Eternia, and to uphold the values and principles of Korolev Senior Secondary School.

 2.9.5 End of Recess

    Although Kato rejoined the group without trouble, they were evidently miffed by Mirabelle¡¯s unannounced departure. Alice was the most visibly upset, expressing her concerns using some choice harsh words. Luckily, Evie eventually calmed her down enough to carry on with the last leg of their trip through the Bozz.


    ¡°Haaaai, we¡¯ll go home on time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll probably go straight home afterwards. I¡¯m pretty tired.¡±


    ¡°Here is your money for supper. Sisi is fortunate to not worry too much about the three of you, but get home safely all the same.¡±


    The day ended uneventfully, with everyone waiting for their bus home. Since Sisi and Kato were on a mission, they were parting ways from the other three residents of the Habsburg flat. Of course, the home-goers would eat dinner together, minus Alice who had already left in one of her family¡¯s limousines, not unlike Mirabelle¡¯s departure.


    The three other boys sat at the curb like they did in the morning, but this time, they were too tired to do anything inappropriate. They remained silent as they watched the long road that stretched towards the inner city. Without a word they passed their lollipops around to each other, business as usual.


    In contrast, the girls stood diligently right at the bus stop¡¯s metal pole. Attached to it at eye level was a plastic casing covering up the bus schedule inside it. Unlike the boys, they always seemed to have a topic of conversation and they filled the air with noise.


    On the bench that Evie and Yui were sitting on in the morning, was now Kato and Bianca, watching their friends and family from afar. Bianca was still in Mirabelle¡¯s pink outfit, but she already had her usual loose bun behind her head.


    ¡°How was Mira for you today?¡±


    ¡°No idea. I can¡¯t get a peep of what goes on in her head.¡±


    Bianca sighed at Kato¡¯s despondent answer. She was torn because she felt relieved at his response when she shouldn¡¯t be, but also sad that nothing seemed to have changed.


    ¡°Then what happened after the two of you left us?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know? Mira didn¡¯t plan that part out with you?¡±


    ¡°I have an idea, but nothing more. It¡¯s her prerogative, so to speak. Right?¡±


    ¡°Then how exactly did the two of you plan this out?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t explain this to you? Wow, she¡¯s such a lazy bum.¡±


    ¡°I can tell you what happened if you explain to me your side of the story.¡±


    Kato said as he put his arms across the bench, laid his head back onto the woodwork, eyes closed and facing the sky above. Bianca sighed again, this time with a hint of disapproval. It was best to take his offer before he internalized it and shut his mouth for good. Similarly, she stretched out her arms behind her, in a somewhat un-ladylike manner, definitely feeling the fatigue of walking around all day.


    ¡°It¡¯s not very interesting. Mira came to me afterwards on Monday and retold how the two of you were flirting with each other at the playground.¡±


    Kato furrowed his brows as he felt the words needle him at the heart, but he didn¡¯t interrupt.


    ¡°She¡¯s also my twin, so it¡¯s only natural that she can come up with good ideas. It wasn¡¯t bad, right? She wanted you to go on the Ferris wheel with her, and she needed a distraction for Evie, so swapping places with me became the plan.¡±


    ¡°But it shouldn¡¯t have gone as easily as planned. By the next day, I¡¯ve already given one of those tickets to Alice.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we kinda needed to rethink that a bit, but luckily she was part of her little group with Mira and Evie, so it turned out better than expected. To make things even easier for us, your behaviour today gave her an easy reason to pull the two away from you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    He said, bemused yet satisfied. She didn¡¯t pull any punches, but that was expected from his old playground rival. Though thoroughly cutting, the familiarity of it gave him an unusual comfort.


    ¡°Ariel and Scarlett were already on board with it from day one, so there were no problems there either.¡±


    ¡°Then the biggest issue here is: what¡¯s in it for you?¡±


    ¡°I spent the morning with you, didn¡¯t I? That was my part of the deal.¡±


    ¡°Is that really it? I feel like that¡¯s an unfair trade.¡±


    Bianca turned to the deflated Kato next to her and saw that his eyes remained closed and expression unchanged.


    ¡°Why do you think that it¡¯s an unfair trade?¡±


    ¡°So you thought it was fair?¡±


    ¡°What makes you think it has to be a fair trade?¡±


    She shrugged at his non-response and replied with her own. Smiling lightly to herself, Bianca could see him making a face as if he ate something sour, satisfied that her words had the desired effect.


    ¡°Aight. Understood. My turn now, is it?¡±


    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready.¡±


    Kato didn¡¯t move though. He continued to slump in his seat, feeling comfortable and unwilling to move out of it.


    ¡°I know I told you this yesterday, but it seems like you haven¡¯t told her that I could already tell the difference between the two of you.¡±


    ¡°So you really could tell the difference.¡±


    ¡°You thought it was a joke?¡±


    ¡°Well, I still want to see it to believe it.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even get to see it happen. Anyway, I figured out what happened the moment she spoke to me, but I didn¡¯t let her know yet ¡®cause I wanted to test her a bit.¡±


    ¡°Test her?¡±


    ¡°You knew we were going to the Ferris wheel, right? We passed by the souvenir stand we were at earlier.¡±


    Bianca¡¯s hand subconsciously held onto the little trinket in her pocket.


    ¡°And you didn¡¯t expect me to tell her about it?¡±


    ¡°I thought the chances of that happening were low, so it was one way to catch her in the act red-handed.¡±


    She tightened her grasp on the star-shaped metal accessory.


    ¡°And did you?¡±


    ¡°Sorta. She did let go of the act quick enough, but then she returned to being her usual self, which is very very very hard to deal with if you didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Only for you.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Bianca laughed as he made another sour face. Mirabelle always seemed to give Kato a hard time, every time.


    ¡°Then we were on the Ferris wheel for a while. We ended up talking more about you rather than the two of us. Well, it was Mira who did that. Any reason why?¡±


    ¡°What exactly happened?¡±


    He peeked over to Bianca, who watched him expectantly.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Kato thought carefully. Contrary to her usual self, the Mirabelle he saw on the Ferris wheel today did not seem like someone who took joy in witnessing her plan unfold perfectly in front of her. She even went to the lengths of bribing the caretakers in advance as a part of her plan. If it was indeed Mirabelle who called the shots, then why did she feel like she needed to say those things?


    Something happened in between Monday and today. That must have been the case. Otherwise, Mirabelle would never willingly show her weak side to Kato like this on her own. If so, then what could have eroded her confidence?


    ¡°Bia, y¡¯know the song, Happy Ferris Wheel? I always thought that it was Mira¡¯s favourite song, but it didn¡¯t seem like she remembered it at all. Did she really change that much?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Really? She didn¡¯t remember?¡±


    Bianca was visibly surprised.


    ¡°Yeah. She used to love this song so much, but when I mentioned it she just kinda glossed over it as if it was nothing.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound right. I mean, she only wanted to do this because this song made it all the more special to her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought too, but I don¡¯t know why her response was so mild.¡±


    ¡°Beats me. Are you sure she was paying attention to you?¡±


    ¡°Most definitely, I assure you.¡±


    ¡°I dunno about that, dude. That song was really well-liked, even for the rest of the crew. Can¡¯t imagine her forgetting about it completely.¡±


    Then, he was reminded of a crucial detail. It was true that this song romanticized the Ferris wheel for Mirabelle, but if that was the case¡­


    ¡°¡­then, Bia, you like this song a lot?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I like that song. Why?¡±


    ¡°A favourite of yours too?¡±


    ¡°Of course it is. Stop being stupid, ye already know.¡±


    ¡°I do?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    He did not know that. And from both their reactions, they assumed he did and that was why Mirabelle¡¯s reaction was so muted and he was given the cold treatment for that answer.


    That aside, Kato¡¯s hunch was correct. As Bianca was a very faithful music student, she too probably loved that song as much as Mirabelle did, if not even more. And if she did, then she also had every reason to go on the Ferris wheel with him.


    He sat up from the bench, no longer slouching. He didn¡¯t mince his words, laying it out clearly in the open.


    ¡°Then why did you accept this kind of a request from Mira? Did you not want to go on the Ferris wheel with me?¡±


    Bianca opened her mouth but she didn¡¯t speak immediately, as if she couldn¡¯t find any suitable words to answer with. Her hesitation was all that was needed to be said. Of course she wanted to.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would have mattered, so I let her go.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t want to go on the Ferris wheel with me?¡±


    ¡°No! I do! It¡¯s just that, it wouldn¡¯t matter in the end if I went. On the other hand, it would matter to her if Mira did.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean it would and wouldn¡¯t matter? Where¡¯s the difference?¡±


    ¡°Our crew¡¯s gonna be together for only one more year, right? There¡¯s not much time left, and it¡¯s because this was her idea to begin with, not mine!¡±


    ¡°But neither of you would have memories of me after the end of this year! You¡¯re just going to let that go? What kind of a reason is that?¡±


    Bianca held her tongue, again not knowing what she should say. Kato continued, ignoring her unnatural lack of a retort.


    ¡°I just can¡¯t believe that. I know you more than I know Mira, and you would never just let her have her way. This ain¡¯t about me. It¡¯s about the two of you.¡±


    His aim had found its mark. For somebody who lived in Mirabelle¡¯s perfect shadow for so long, and then to have rebelled against it in the past, Bianca wouldn¡¯t just quietly put herself back into chains. Because she had yet to overcome this spectre completely, there was no reason for her to back down at this juncture.


    However, at the time Bianca didn¡¯t think of that, or rather, she didn¡¯t want to think of that part of her strained relationship with Mirabelle. Instead, her original intentions were for the sake of the status quo, especially with regards to their little-now-large group of troublemakers. She tried her best to put the triangle between the three of them as secondary, but it seemed like the other two did not treat this situation that way. And she herself too, her determination to keep it that way had also faltered a few times when she was overwhelmed by her own desires, in spite of the fallout from two years ago that caused her to insist on maintaining this distance in the first place.


    ¡°So I can only think that you¡¯ve got something from her in exchange for your help, right?¡±


    She held her trembling hands together tightly. Somehow, the air was harder to breathe and her heart beat ever louder in her ears.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s something I did for her without any strings attached. There¡¯s nothing in it for me.¡±


    Even though that was true in a sense, Bianca refused to make eye contact with Kato, who was staring at her beautiful figure in anticipation of a real response. However, he could only frown as she spoke those feeble words, and somehow inexplicably felt betrayed at her attempt to brush off his accusation.


    ¡°Then explain to me this. Why did Mira do the same thing you¡¯re doing right now?¡±


    Bianca froze. She only now realized that if Mirabelle broke down in front of Kato, as she was about to in this moment, then it would have been abundantly obvious to him that something was terribly amiss and her denial would quickly fall apart.


    ¡°What did she do?¡±


    She murmured those words, almost afraid of having the question answered.


    ¡°She told me that I should choose you instead of her to take with me on the Ferris wheel. That to her, choosing you was the correct choice.¡±


    Bianca closed her eyes as she heard what she feared. It was beyond doubt that Bianca and Mirabelle were hiding something from him, but at the same time, he felt awful to subject Bianca to this kind of scrutiny when he wasn¡¯t willing to test Mirabelle to this extent.


    Also under the shadow of two years ago, he felt especially terrible that time and again he needed to say things she didn¡¯t want to hear, but he found himself unable to stay silent at this unfairness against him. If the twins really did decide on something to change the status quo between the three of them, then he had every right to do the same. Whether his intervention would bring them to where he wanted, he wasn¡¯t sure. He wasn¡¯t sure where his heart laid in the first place.


    ¡°And what was your answer?¡±


    ¡°She cried as she said that, so I didn¡¯t answer.¡±


    She finally turned to look at Kato, tears welling up in her eyes. Mirabelle didn¡¯t do anything wrong. It was Bianca¡¯s short-sightedness that brought her to this point. She couldn¡¯t foresee that Mirabelle would react that way and that Kato would have the courage to push her. He didn¡¯t have the same awkwardness to him as he did two years ago. In fact, this more mature Kato kindled an ever-stronger passion in her to desire it, but her actions up to now might have cost her everything.


    ¡°And your conjecture is, that I¡¯m the reason that she would say that?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no one else besides you who can make her say something like that.¡±


    However, Bianca was not the same from two years ago either. If it was her former self, she would have broken down right here and cried. She found a bit of solace in the fact that her perfect elder twin sister had let her emotions take over, and it calmed her down as much as it made her feel petty. She didn¡¯t let her tears flow, and struggled to force out of her mouth a lie that she thought would protect all three of them.


    ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯ve said would make her do that. I don¡¯t think anything from me was that out of line.¡±


    ¡°¡­is that so?¡±


    Looking away quietly, his purpose rapidly faded, leaving behind a cold and desolate expression. He was not allowed to have the truth, so what could he do? Flail out recklessly in desperation? He couldn¡¯t make the same mistake again. He forced himself to let go of the spiteful feeling that was welling up from within, knowing fully that it would only bring further harm. In the end, nothing had changed, so he candidly decided to move on. Bianca was as strong-willed with her convictions as she ever was.


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Bianca fell silent as well, letting the tension between them hang in place. She didn¡¯t know what to say either, other than to acknowledge his capitulation.


    In this reprieve, she lamented on how it all had come to this. Like countless times before, she replayed the events of the past in her mind over and over, unable to let go. She wished she could jump back in time and redo that scene, with the firm but perhaps na?ve belief that any other outcome would have been better than the one that had played out.


    They watched their friends and family at the bus stop, who were oblivious to the discord on this bench. Time passed, flowing as smoothly as the falling sand of an hourglass.


    ¡°Bia! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    After what seemed like an eternity, a bus finally arrived to take passengers out of the park. Scarlett waved and called out to her sister, and to that both Bianca and Kato got up from their seats.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    As she said her goodbye she didn¡¯t turn to make eye contact, and instead merely waved with the back of her hand, unable to bring herself to face him. She began to walk in the direction of the idling bus, and her mind was in such a mess that she almost stumbled over herself.


    ¡°Bia.¡±


    After she made some distance, he called out to her in earnest. She halted in place but she didn¡¯t turn around, and only waited for Kato to finish.


    ¡°Next time, let¡¯s go on the Ferris wheel together.¡±


    Bianca felt as if her heart was twisted up and wrenched out by an invisible hand, and it hurt so much that her knees almost buckled. Of all the times he could give her hope, it had to be when her emotions were smothering her alive. She began walking again, but her thoughts were a thousand miles away in a hypothetical universe.


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    She only nodded, and in no time she and the rest of the crew disappeared into the awaiting bus, which eventually left the turnabout noisily for the city, leaving Kato and Sisi behind at the side of the road. He couldn¡¯t see her face as she left, leaving him in the dark about the intentions behind that affirmation. He wasn¡¯t upset though, since at this point he couldn¡¯t expect anything more.


    But what he could say was that Mirabelle was wrong. Bianca didn¡¯t make a scene of it. She simply accepted his suggestion, pinning her impossible hopes on him time and again, knowing that none of it would live beyond this fateful year.

 3.1 The Return of the Captain

    ¡°Again, from bar fifty-five¡¯s pickup into the D.S. al coda. One, two¡ª¡±


    An unholy chorus of woodwinds, brass and percussion reverberated throughout the soundproof audio-visual recording studio on the fourth floor of Korolev Senior Secondary School. It was early in the morning for the little band of students who were immersed in their music practice, some time before their first period class at ten past eight.


    The fourth floor of the school was a floor of spare classrooms, used according to the variance in the local demographics. In recent times the floor slowly fell into disuse due to the dwindling student numbers. Fortunately, this meant that specialty rooms like this one were up for grabs for students to use, and many groups and clubs did take up these spare classrooms for their own use.


    ¡°Kato, you¡¯re still coming in too slow on the pickup. Do it again, from two bars before.¡±


    Halting the ensemble, Alice shook her head along with her wavy and volumized pure blonde hair topped with a red hair band. There was an acuteness in her words that matched well with her sharp features and personality. In the absence of the other girls, her tone was one of paternal arrogance that, to be fair, was needed to control the little group of newbie musicians, for the boys here were a bunch that were normally too independent-minded for their own good.


    ¡°If you¡¯re having trouble with that pickup, which I¡¯ll admit is unorthodox enough because it¡¯s on the third beat rather than the fourth, instead of counting the beats, you can count the eighth notes. It takes more effort, but more importantly you¡¯ll come in on time.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    Kato nodded at their new music instructor who was also their classmate, and once more played his trumpet at her command. His short, dull auburn hair was even messier than usual because he was now committed to waking up early, and as a bad morning person he left his cowlicks and all in sleep mode. Although Kato and his younger sister Teto were Auxirian by birth, they both had smaller, narrower eyes and a comparatively flatter facial geography that were more characteristic of the Yue people from the Orient, making them less obvious that they were technically foreigners to this city of Livia.


    As Alice took out her dissatisfaction on Kato, the other three in the room let go of sighs of relief at the draconian drill that Alice had put them under for the past week they began playing.


    ¡°Heh, Kato¡¯s getting it again.¡±


    On the trombone was Eon, a black-haired and glasses-wearing Yue native of their city. Still sometimes termed as a border town, Livia straddled along a strategic pass in the mountain ranges between the two territories of Auxiria and Ava. Founded by Yue refugees long ago, it and its surrounding towns became a multiethnic region of all kinds of nationalities that assimilated and spoke the Old Yue language, the vernacular of the Yue homeland. Somehow, the pass was blessed with a very warm and mild climate, actually close to subtropical, making the valley one of the most suitable for a sprawling major settlement. On the Auxirian side of the range, it followed a major tributary river towards the capital of Auxiria, New Karine. On the Avian side, it followed the only reasonable path from Auxirian territory to Kalmar, the second-largest city in the Kingdom of Ava.


    ¡°Alice¡¯s been on top of him the whole time, yeah?¡±


    Letting the alto saxophone hang by the shoulder strap, an edgy comment dripped out ever so softly from the short blond with curly hair sat next to Eon, drawing out delighted chortles from the men around him. For the uninitiated, Caius¡¯ baby face did not give any indication of the absurd things he said on a regular basis.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what to say to that¡­¡±


    Behind the drum set was a tall redheaded Rinian boy, quite toned and sporting a bowl cut that was popular from the last decade or two. His taste in fashion was baffling, but because his macho stature was somewhat imposing it never affected him. As his chunky presence suggested, he was the stereotypical no-brains type of brawn that became both the butt of many jokes and a peculiar source of aggravation for the rest of the boys.


    ¡°Huh? What did you have to say about me?¡±


    A menacing glare accompanied the snap from Alice, immediately silencing the three at the back, but they were all smiles nonetheless. Alice¡¯s face was tickled pink against her porcelain skin, her emotions amply apparent to all around her, but at least this time it could be blamed on the physical activity they had been doing. Kato on the other hand heard every word and was enjoying the show, and turned away from them as he stifled a snicker.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t you give me that look! Man, why are the Elites always like this?!¡±


    Still red-faced, Alice tried to push it out of her head as her imagination ran too wild too often. Her mental efforts manifested in a superficial slap on Kato¡¯s head, ending their tangent as she picked up her flute from her chair. She returned to her stand in front of their little group, lifting her instrument up for the first time in a while.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try again with everybody. Yes, everybody. One, two¡ª¡±


    <hr>


    It had been three weeks since the standoff between Alice¡¯s former Class 3-A and the Elites¡¯ Class 3-F, in which Kato had won it all against Class A and under the peace terms brought Alice over into his class. Masked as a crackdown against seditious elements, the marshal of the Public Safety Committee, who was contemporaneously Class A representative and Alice¡¯s formerly arranged fianc¨¦, Gilbert de Lafayette, laid siege to the 3-F classroom in a vengeful effort to bring Kato to heel, but the ensuing Class War led to Gilbert¡¯s defeat and Alice was released, at least in part, from the chains of her family responsibilities. There were other crucial motivating factors, but at least on the surface, the PSC suffered a major setback as one of the foundational pillars of student institutions in Korolev Senior.


    With her newfound freedom and friends, they decided to form a small band with Alice in the centre and the four horsemen of the apocalypse around her. Because she was an outstanding music student, she was able to convince the faculty to give her use of that A/V room on the fourth floor.


    The fourth floor was technically an abandoned floor ever since an education reform removed the thirteenth year of public education, also known as grade thirteen, almost a decade ago. This meant that senior high used to be four years long, but the de facto first year, the tenth year of education, was not actually called first year but called a probation year, and was assigned a zero in its notation, as in Class 0-A or Class 0-B. Thus, what used to be the thirteen year would have been Class 3-A or Class 3-B and so on.


    Though the fourth floor slowly fell into disrepair, over the years some students found use in these old rooms, but like the rooftop, most of the fourth floor was normally off-limits. Under normal circumstances, the student organization known as the Activity Council would be responsible for the management of student facilities, like these kinds of rooms, but for prohibited areas of the school those rights were reserved with the faculty.


    As the bell rang and music played for the imminent start of first period, they returned to the third floor to head for their homeroom. It was a simple stratification where the first-years were on the ground floor, second-years on the second floor, and third-years on the third floor. The school building was huge but simple in design, which was basically a hollow square without a fourth side, and at its two open ends was an auditorium and a gymnasium.


    ¡°Alice, how much longer until the guitars come in?¡±


    ¡°I told you already, Eon, it¡¯ll take a few weeks¡¯ time. Meanwhile, I¡¯d rather have everybody learn the basics of music through classical instruments first.¡±


    They all initially wanted to form an amateur rock band, and they would eventually. As a part of the top of the bourgeoisie, Alice bankrolling their hobbies like this was not even a dip in her wealth.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s good to know a classical instrument. You can disguise yourself as a music student if you do.¡±


    Caius nodded, the only boy in the group who was already well-trained in music. He played piano for a long time.


    ¡°I need to go undercover to infiltrate the music department. Just like in those undercover cop movies, I¡¯ll bust down the drug ring disguised as a wind ensemble.¡±


    Kato snickered with the rest of the boys as Alice shook her head and felt a bit exasperated. They made their way to their seats at the window corner at the back of the classroom; to say it was the back of the classroom though was a misnomer, because behind them were several rows of counters with sinks and faucets that were characteristic of a chemistry lab than a regular classroom, but they were left to disuse ever since this classroom was reserved to be 3-F¡¯s homeroom. Because of this extra space, it was some twenty feet or so longer than the average as it was more like a massive double classroom than a regular one.


    ¡°Yo.¡±


    ¡°Hey, everyone.¡±


    There were two other girls already there waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive. The first was the cool supermodel and Kato¡¯s stepsister, Evianna. The second was the kind and gentle longtime classmate who grew up alongside the old guard of Class F, and under extenuating circumstances recently joined Kato¡¯s and Evianna¡¯s household, Yui.


    ¡°Evie, did you remember to bring the lunch we left for you on the counter?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s right here.¡±


    ¡°Yui, how ¡®bout you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it too.¡±


    Though Kato asked the two of them the question, it was Alice who prepared the food. Because of the fallout with her family, Alice chose to live with Kato¡¯s family for the time being.


    ¡°It¡¯s better to eat homemade food once in a while instead of eating from the cafeteria all the time, y¡¯know.¡±


    Alice usually spoke in New Yue in contrast to most everybody else in the school who spoke the common vernacular of Old Yue, mainly because her Old Yue carried the embarrassing reverse accent that reflected her order of learning these two languages. A foreigner by both circumstance and technicality, her first language was her ethnic Rinian.


    ¡°The cafeteria¡¯s food¡¯s awesome, what¡¯re you going on about.¡±


    ¡°So are you saying my cooking is not good enough?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not. Yours is the best, I swear.¡±


    Kato put his hands up but the smirk on his face put an asterisk on it as the other men joined in.


    ¡°You¡¯d be real amazing if you¡¯re able to make barbecued and roasted meats in Kato¡¯s kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Or frying the rice noodles, although his gas stove might let you make something close to it.¡±


    ¡°Are any of those even good for lunch? They¡¯re best served hot, not reheated.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    If you squint just hard enough, you could see the steam spurting out of Alice¡¯s head, but that was only for a moment before Evie weaved her fingers through Alice¡¯s, holding her hands firmly and calming her down.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it soon. If you keep up the insults, they¡¯ll bend eventually.¡±


    ¡°Since when did we bend to you?¡±


    Alarmed at Evie¡¯s lack of discretion in her words, the four turned their heads toward her in sync, giving Evie sideways looks as well as checking out her alluring form. Even with just a simple platinum blonde bob cut and fringes pinned to the sides, her face and form exuded such an overwhelming aura that it was hard to avert your gaze. Her facial features were neither too sharp nor rounded, only could be described as Yue¡¯s most perfectly balanced. Also showing her half-Yue ancestry, her skin was smooth but not as fair as Alice¡¯s, though Alice¡¯s might be too far to the other side.


    Evie stared back with an evil-spirited ghoul behind her blue eyes, immediately making each and every one of them break off eye contact with the devil.


    ¡°If those loose tongues of yours aren¡¯t bent already, I can do much more than bending to fix that problem.¡±


    Knees weak and palms sweating, they eventually sat down in their seats obediently, giving up at Evie¡¯s aggression as they usually do. They took out their textbooks quietly for first period and remained eerily silent for the bunch of troublemakers that they were.


    ¡°See? They¡¯re dogs who know their place.¡±


    Once again her incendiary commentary drew synchronized incredulous eyes, but no sound was made. Alice sighed at how her best friend took the draconian method to put down the men of the Elites.


    ¡°It only works when you do it, Evie. It¡¯s not something that¡¯ll work coming from me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easy. Train them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve had years to do that! I can¡¯t do it in this short of a timeframe.¡±


    ¡°Of course you can. It starts today.¡±


    ¡°More like it started a week ago, but again, it¡¯ll be a miracle if it worked.¡±


    The bell finally rang for first period, indicating that the boy band plus Alice had made it to their homeroom just in time. The door opened simultaneously and their homeroom teacher entered, strutting to the front of the class with her notebooks in one hand and a piece of chalk in the other.


    ¡°How come Sisi¡¯s late? Teachers should make it to homeroom easily, no?¡±


    ¡°Did you come to school with her?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sisi came to school with us.¡±


    Yui, who sat in front of the square phalanx of the four men and away from the Evie-Alice pair to the east side, answered for them. Between her shoulder-length orange-red hair, soft visage and dimpled smile, she seemed too much of a gentle soul for this group of merry men.


    ¡°With Teto, it should be the four of you coming to school together. Huh, strange.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and Sisi¡¯s not at all a sloppy person. If anything, she¡¯s the most punctual of everybody.¡±


    As their teacher took a pause writing on the chalkboard, she turned around and shouted in their direction, high-pitched and squeaky as usual. It was a noise that matched her very small physique, and her partially tied-back shoulder-length blonde hair puffed out fittingly together with the outburst.


    ¡°Don¡¯t use ¡®Sisi¡¯ in class! This is not home!¡±


    They immediately straightened their backs, remembering that their teacher was not only a by-the-rules kind of person at school, but also the matriarch for Kato¡¯s humble household of lost children who possessed sharp enough senses to overhear that bit of their conversation among the noisy chatter of their class, which naturally didn¡¯t quiet down until their teacher got their attention with the squeal.


    ¡°Yes, Ms Romana.¡±


    Even though Sisi was some seventy years old, her outer appearance was no different from a primary-schooler¡¯s, a consequence of an old alchemical experiment. Of course, they were well aware of her seniority, and they responded in unison as to not get into too much trouble at the very start of the day. A bit miffed by the interruption she herself made to her flow of work, Sisi decided to just get going with homeroom and cleared her throat to address the class, leaving the print on the chalkboard half-written.


    ¡°Ahem. Mine beloved class; as you all know the first midterm period for the advanced classes are starting middle of next week, which shall last for almost two weeks.¡±


    Advanced classes were the afternoon classes that followed a course selection scheduling method that would mix up the students from the different classes, unlike the compulsory morning classes that moved from one subject to another with the same class of students and homeroom teacher.


    ¡°As a result, the first midterm period for the morning classes shall begin a week after the advanced classes finish. In terms of dates, your advanced classes¡¯ midterm period shall finish on the¡­ eighth of October, so the seventeenth shall be our expected first midterm.¡±


    Already struggling to extend her reach because she was too short, Sisi went to finish writing the dates on the chalkboard. Acknowledging the difference of schedule systems between morning and advanced, the faculty tended to set aside designated exam periods to make sure they didn¡¯t overlap. Of course, exam periods weren¡¯t blackout periods. If there wasn¡¯t an exam for the subject on that day, then the class would move on as usual.


    The class murmured amongst each other, but the situation was within expectations. The first month of school was over and with it their free time. Because there were three semesters of advanced classes a year on top of the partially standardized morning classes, it was pretty much for certain that there would be some kind of examination period every month.


    ¡°This time they¡¯re cutting it a bit close though, eh?¡±


    ¡°With two exam periods per semester of advanced classes, and then four big exam periods for the morning classes, sometimes they¡¯ll have to cut it close. That¡¯s ten exam periods in total.¡±


    ¡°The advanced midterm periods are easy. The big chunk of the morning midterm periods are the worst.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. We only take two elective advanced classes a semester, but the morning classes are year-long courses so instead of writing two midterms we¡¯d be writing six or seven? I don¡¯t remember.¡±


    ¡°Must be nice to be someone who consistently aces their exams so that they don¡¯t even need to worry about which exam they¡¯re writing.¡±


    In response, Eon¡¯s grin was wide yet cryptic like a chameleon¡¯s. Out of the Elites that sat in a bloc together for many years, he was the only one that was able to make study seem effortless.


    ¡°Ahem. Then onto the second order of business. Starting today, there shall be a new transfer student from Regia Miriam All-Girls Private Academy joining our class. Romana says new, but she has been told that some of you may already know her, so perhaps it is more appropriate to say ¡®welcome back¡¯.¡±


    As Sisi spoke, she moved across to open the classroom¡¯s sliding door so that the new student waiting at the door could come inside. Tapping lightly on the floor tiles, a short girl who seemed to belong in middle school arrived at the front in her former school¡¯s summer uniform, which was mostly navy blue on white in comparison to Korolev Senior¡¯s white or white on baby blue.


    Though her uniform was clean and tidy, her black hair was too messy for comfort and shiny to the point of seemingly greasy, though it was actually not so. At least it wasn¡¯t long and didn¡¯t reach her shoulders. Her complexion was as pale and rosy as Alice¡¯s, but nonetheless evidently Yue, a bonafide face of a girl from the Orient.


    Naturally, eyes followed the girl with interest. Or more accurately, their eyes followed her one brown left eye. The other was hidden behind a large white eyepatch, one of a medical rather than decorative use. Her slim frame was similar to Sisi¡¯s tiny stature, but neither her height nor her apparent disability could make her unidentifiable from her past form from long ago. In fact, her current form made even more sense to those who knew her. She wrote her name, a New Yue one, on the chalkboard before turning to the class, eye sparkling, cheerful and full of energy as she had always been known to be.


    ¡°Hi! For those who don¡¯t know me or have forgotten about me, my name¡¯s Mayumi Hanamiya. Though I¡¯m transferring from Regia Miriam, I also was formerly of Class F from Korolev District Public School. I wasn¡¯t able to finish it there, but I have returned to do so here. I¡¯ll be in your care!¡±


    Speaking in surprisingly perfect Old Yue and smiling radiantly, the class gave her curious looks before a warm applause spontaneously materialized alongside salutations and cheers, indicating that some of the class did remember who she was. To be exact, around a third of them did, growing up and staying within the Class F caucus all these years.


    As Mayumi waved to her old and new classmates, she scanned the classroom. And when she finally saw the Elites sat at the back, showing expressions varying from bewilderment to impishness, she jumped from her spot and ran into the rows of desks for the group with her arms out wide.


    ¡°Kato!¡±


    Somewhat baffled at the call of his name, he stood up and kicked his desk to Eon¡¯s side just before Mayumi was due to trip into it and caught her in his clutches brilliantly. It was as if he was a soldier who just disembarked from a warship returning from an overseas deployment, greeting his ecstatic wife who was eagerly awaiting his return.


    ¡°Mayumi!¡±


    They all exclaimed together; all meaning Kato, Eon and Caius. Plus Evie, the ever reserved one, they were the Elites who knew Mayumi from their childhood. Eon was especially alarmed with Kato¡¯s desk slamming into his on short notice, demonstrating Kato¡¯s natural disposition, a trait known as physical superiority. Born with this greater-than-normal physical ability and combining it together with paramilitary and martial arts training all throughout his life, he slowly and steadily reached this abnormal degree of physical strength, reaction time and coordination.


    ¡°Ahahahahahaha! I missed you so much! Didja miss me?¡±


    Looking up at Kato with her arms around his neck, her smile stretched from ear to ear. He could feel the warmth rushing into his cheeks as he was reminded of how brazen this childhood friend was, the shock especially strong after this many years of separation.


    ¡°Y-yeah, missed you loads, Mayumi. It¡¯s been years. How¡¯ve you been?¡±


    His stutter was all that was needed to tell the newer Elites who was the dominant one in their relationship. Both Alice and Evie turned colourless at Kato¡¯s submissive attitude.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been all right, but much better now that I¡¯m back here with you.¡±


    ¡°Uh, mm. Thanks, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Heheheh. You¡¯re still the same old Kato, aren¡¯tcha? Letting me have my way with you without a fight?¡±


    ¡°And you haven¡¯t changed much either, have ya? Dialling it up when you don¡¯t need to?¡±


    Without letting go of her tight embrace she giggled at Kato¡¯s mere slap on the wrist and turned to her right, where Eon and Caius watched on curiously.


    ¡°Eon! Caius! How¡¯re ya?¡±


    ¡°Still kicking, Mayumi, and you too it seems. They must call you a bee gee ¡®cause you¡¯re stayin¡¯ alive.¡±


    ¡°I guess you could say, the Elites are like the hotel California; you can check out any time you like, Mayumi, but you can never really leave.¡±


    Her raw laughter that was akin to a squawking goose was loud and piercing to the point of annoyance, but that was also a part of what made up her uniquely infectious personal charisma. It wasn¡¯t only Kato who was accommodating; the other two were just as amenable, albeit Kato was overly so.


    However, awkwardly for the rest of the class, in her words or her actions there was no intention of letting go of Kato. The moment that realization set in, a restless impulse within Alice urged her to get up from her seat and reach out to grab hold of Mayumi from behind, attempting to peel her off. The strain in her voice was about to burst into outright shouting.


    ¡°Excuse me, but could you let go of Kato?¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    And suddenly, a coarse and unruly pounding of a fist on the chalkboard brought everyone¡¯s attention back to the front, where Sisi had had enough of the disruption already.


    ¡°Hanamiya! Please take your seat. It is the empty one in front of Misaya.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Ms Romana~¡±


    Mayumi and Alice both extricated themselves from the melee, turning to head back to their seats in earnest. For a moment their eyes met, and in Mayumi¡¯s was an unrestrained kind of mischief while Alice¡¯s were with impassioned apprehension.


    Kato noticed the minor exchange and sighed as he pulled his desk back into position. While Mayumi set up shop in front of Evie quietly, Alice shot Kato an angry glance, obviously demanding an explanation for later. He forced an apologetic smile, tentatively agreeing with her.


    ¡°Let us get started. We shall pick up right from where we left off yesterday, and then we shall discuss it. Misaya! Start reading from the last passage on page sixty-seven.¡±


    Sisi decided to move on as quickly as possible, and so Evie stood up to recite the passage from her textbook. Mayumi waved at the Elites from below the desk, and with a cheeky parting grin at Kato she turned to the front. He sighed again, having a feeling that things would explode once they all were freed from class. Recalling those times with Mayumi from long ago, he couldn¡¯t expect anything less.


    ¡°Y¡¯all still go to that park? It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve been there!¡±


    ¡°If you come with us after school, we can hang around there for a while.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s do that!¡±


    It was already lunchtime before they had a chance to continue the reunion, and even then a lot of old and new classmates came by to greet or welcome back the old Elite, so it wasn¡¯t until everybody got their food and was halfway into their lunch that they had time for themselves.


    Those from Kato¡¯s household had lunch that they brought from home, but the others bought theirs from the school cafeteria. They had moved their desks together to sit around it, and after exchanging some of his food with Kato¡¯s, Eon gave it an appraisal.


    ¡°Although the caff¡¯s Yue lunches are really good and made on the spot, Alice¡¯s is almost as good and it¡¯s been microwaved. Kato, do you have a big gas-fired stove at home or something?¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°It¡¯s in Karl¡¯s kitchen, that¡¯s why.¡±


    ¡°I ¡®member Karl! He¡¯s like your uncle, right, Kato?¡±


    Suddenly, Mayumi interjected emphatically.


    ¡°Yeah, something like an uncle. He¡¯s got reassigned to a new job this year though, so Sisi¡¯s our new caretaker instead.¡±


    ¡°Ms Romana? She¡¯s like, living with you but also is your homeroom teacher?¡±


    ¡°Whack, I know, but that¡¯s just how things turn out. We¡¯re Eternians, after all.¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s got to do with that.¡±


    Evie shrugged. Eternia was a secret society, or an underground mob, who was the patron of Kato¡¯s household. It wasn¡¯t only Kato but also together with Teto and Evie, that they had undergone training to be the top soldiers in service with Eternia. As plain as their daily lives could be, the inexplicably abnormal was also the norm.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that unexpected, I guess. After all, Kato and Evie were selected long ago to become Hearts, and Korolev is basically the Eternian school.¡±


    Eon explained in place of Evie¡¯s characteristically lack of explanation. If there was anything that Evie was good at, after her physical ability, giving half-baked commentary was her next best trait.


    ¡°Anyway, I guess I have yet to formally introduce myself to the Elites who have come after me, don¡¯t I?¡±


    With a breakfast wrap being eaten for lunch still in her hand, she stood up from her seat and postured elegantly, surprising the original group more than the newcomers. Their little gathering at the back of the classroom became more of a club meeting than lunch hour.


    ¡°I¡¯m Mayumi, one of the original Elites along with Eon and Caius, and together with Kato we were the Elite Four. Due to my fam¡¯s circumstances, I moved away from the Korolev district right at the end of grade four to Regia Miriam¡¯s in Tuenmun. Now, I¡¯ve returned when that was no longer a problem.¡±


    She smiled earnestly at the newcomers, Alice, Franco and Yui, although Yui was a classmate from that time too.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that Yui out of all people joined the Elites. How did that come about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to thank you, Mayumi. The Elites are a good group of kids because of you, and they helped me get away from my old life in the Shamshuipo ghettos. I live with Kato and them now.¡±


    ¡°Hmmmmm? Since when did that start happening?¡±


    Mayumi leaned in to Yui¡¯s face with an exaggerated expression, a stunt that was normally associated with Eon and Caius. While Alice was still cautious about her, in this moment she begrudgingly acknowledged that Mayumi was undoubtedly the origin of the Elites¡¯ eccentric idiosyncrasies.


    ¡°Several weeks? Since the start of this school year. It wasn¡¯t that long ago.¡±


    Yui didn¡¯t budge and returned an earnest smile to Mayumi. She was surprisingly steady when under pressure.


    ¡°Ah, I see. It¡¯s a very very recent thing. Well, we kinda know each other well enough anyway, eh?¡±


    ¡°Like Kato said before, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve changed much either, Mayumi. Welcome back.¡±


    Mayumi reached over to clap her on the back cheerfully, grinning like a gremlin, although that was her usual state of being. Yui could only maintain her warm smile, relieved that that part of Mayumi had not changed.


    ¡°If I may, Ms Hanamiya. I¡¯m Franco Atkinson, the first of the Elites that came after your time. I moved to the area about five years ago, at the start of middle school. My original home¡¯s in Breisgau. Nice to meetcha.¡±


    Alice perked up at the name of a certain familiar city, but said nothing.


    ¡°Same, Franco. Just call me Mayumi.¡±


    Although Franco intended for his extended right hand to be a normal handshake, Mayumi grabbed it by the base of the thumb instead to turn it into a bro shake and quickly followed through with the hug with her free left arm. He stumbled at first but he was able to successfully recognize and reciprocate the camaraderie in the end, even though the other guys burst out laughing at Franco¡¯s expense.


    ¡°Hey! What gives?¡±


    ¡°Mayumi¡¯s not actually a girl. She¡¯s the eldest brother of the brothers here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault for tripping over, Franco. Mayumi¡¯s been like this since forever.¡±


    A mischievous spark illuminated Mayumi¡¯s eye.


    ¡°But gosh, Franco is a real looker, eh? Poster boy material?¡±


    ¡°What are you, a grandma? I¡¯m a handsome man too, y¡¯know. In my own world on some standard.¡±


    ¡°For as long as I¡¯ve known him, Franco is a blessed creature, that¡¯s all I gotta say.¡±


    ¡°Blessed creature indeed. And yes, Eon, only in your own messed up world that you¡¯d be anything close to Franco.¡±


    ¡°What the hell, man¡­¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, Mayumi, at least throw him a bone.¡±


    ¡°I can throw other things at him if you want, Caius.¡±


    Franco¡¯s forehead began sweating buckets. Eon and Caius were usually already overwhelming enough, but he can¡¯t help but suspect that Mayumi only added more fuel to this fire. He had got to manage that fire.


    ¡°But hey, how come it¡¯s the Elite Four? Weren¡¯t there six of you if Kato¡¯s already there?¡±


    ¡°Kato, Evie and Teto count as one. Don¡¯t ask me why that¡¯s the case, but we kept our fights with the Jupiter sisters on fair numbers.¡±


    ¡°So they¡¯re like a substitution team.¡±


    ¡°Rotating in for that one spot, yes.¡±


    Evie leaned back into her chair, feeling comfy about the old times as Mayumi turned to meet her eye to eye.


    ¡°And Evie, you¡¯re as relaxed as always, aren¡¯t you? But I guess now I have to look up to see your face. How the bodies have changed.¡±


    ¡°I know, right. It¡¯s been seven years of puberty, after all.¡±


    To condescendingly emphasize her point, Evie puffed out her chest, jiggling her nice rack in plain sight of everyone around her. The boys, of course, stared at the tall hills intensely, but perhaps surprisingly Mayumi was doing the exact same thing too. In fact, there was a naked lust in her eye which accompanied an open mouth that was on the verge of salivating. It was hard to imagine that this was what Evie had become when she was a midget as a little kid.


    ¡°Well, I can agree with everybody else¡¯s silence that you possess an unworldly physical attractiveness compared to the rest of us, but can I touch those¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªno.¡±


    Evie calmly turned herself away from Mayumi¡¯s hands that were in grabbing mode, which snapped Mayumi out of her trance just in time to wipe away the drool at the corner of her mouth. She cleared her throat to put a stop to her unbecoming behaviour, but nevertheless showed no sign of repentance.


    ¡°Mm. But I¡¯ll have a squeeze of those in due time, just watch me.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±


    Evie only shrugged, prompting an ill-advised idea from Eon and Caius.


    ¡°Evie! What if we said we want the same?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on board too. Whaddo¡¯yasay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna break your necks the moment you touch me.¡±


    Delivering yet another threat calmly and securely, the two receiving it were spooked but sadly not unfazed, which meant they continued talking.


    ¡°See, this is discrimination! What of equal rights for men and women? This is preposterous!¡±


    ¡°Sadly we live in a new age of feminism where double standards and affirmative action takes precedent. We¡¯d be better off just keeping our head down and minding our own business.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god, you guys.¡±


    Surprisingly the bemused dissent was from Mayumi, but it was because she had already made her way to the front of the latest Elite to join the ranks. Despite being about to lay down a challenge, she still smiled good-naturedly.


    ¡°Well? What¡¯ve you got for me?¡±


    Mayumi laid her free hand on Alice¡¯s desk, making a loud and clear thud as she took a bite out of her sandwich. Alice didn¡¯t take offence to the flippant attitude, and decided that holding her ground cautiously and observing a bit more was a more prudent strategy.


    ¡°I¡¯m Alice Westgrove, formerly of Class A, and joined this group only a month ago. As for Korolev, I¡¯ve only come here at the start of second year. My old home¡¯s in Breisgau, the same as Franco, apparently.¡±


    ¡°Oh, actually? That¡¯s a coincidence.¡±


    ¡°I guess there¡¯re a lot of people who move between Breisgau, Livia and Lien. They¡¯re all big Yue majority cities.¡±


    Franco was pleasantly surprised, though it was true that the interchange of people between these cities were definitely significant. Breisgau was some five hours away by train in the neighbouring, formerly independent Kingdom of Rine.


    ¡°Hm, you seem like you understand Old Yue, but how come you use New Yue?¡±


    Of course that question would come up. It came up every time for Alice, so she was used to it by now.


    ¡°My Old Yue sounds awful, so I tend to stick to New Yue. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Oh really? Then you should speak more so you can get it right! C¡¯mon, give it a whirl!¡±


    Eye sparkling again, the presence that Mayumi possessed felt the same as when Kato too egged her on to use Old Yue when they first met. Alice attempted to brush it off, but to no avail.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pass. It¡¯s already an incurable habit, so there¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to use it.¡±


    ¡°Aw c¡¯mon, just say something just once. I wanna hear it!¡±


    ¡°No! We¡¯re not doing it!¡±


    ¡°Please? Please? Pretty pleeeeeaaase?¡±


    ¡°Your perfect Livian standard is not helping your case!¡±


    Food still in her mouth, Mayumi laughed at Alice¡¯s flustered resistance. The Old Yue language was in fact a group of linguistically similar but only partially mutually intelligible dialects, the lingua franca being the Kwangchow dialect. Within this lingua franca, the Livian standard was one of two standards, the other being the Homeland standard, where they differed only in minor pronunciations. However, in mass media, the Livian standard was the preferred variant.


    ¡°Then all right, I give, I give. Pleased to make your acquaintance.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡±


    Mayumi clutched Alice¡¯s free hand with her own, beaming as she was the whole time. Alice could feel that their relationship was going to be a bumpy one, yet at the same time she couldn¡¯t help but be impressed, though also envious. For Alice, it was difficult to bring that kind of a smile to her face, but Mayumi readily showered everyone with her happiness.


    Bleeeeeeeee¡ª


    The blaring noise of the P.A. system rang loudly, bringing everyone¡¯s attention to the imminent announcement that was sure to follow.


    ¡°Attention, school. A casus belli has been claimed by Class D against Class C. As a Supervisor of the Class Wars, namely Elizabeth Miklos Romana of Class F, senator, acting on the authority of the principal, namely Lady Eterna, while in her regrettable absence, shall determine that the casus belli claimed is true and justified. Romana shall now declare the commencement of war between Class D and Class C.¡±


    The students around them rose up in curiosity as their peripheral vision turned mysteriously purplish, signifying that there truly was a Class War starting. The barrier that encased the school grounds was activated, and outside the window they could see the barrier boundaries some distance away materializing as rainbow-coloured auroras.


    ¡°Mayumi, do you have your cleanse tag yet?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Ms Romana gave me and briefed me about the cleanse tags this morning.¡±


    Kato asked Mayumi as he held up his left wrist, where he wore his own cleanse tag. It wrapped around his wrist and forearm like a ribbon-like bandage, but it was in fact his student identification with his name and class printed on it along with the school chop. Mayumi lifted hers up to show them the same, also already personalized with her New Yue name.


    ¡°Then remember to keep it on at all times, especially during a Class War. And especially during a Class War involving our own class. And even with it, still try not to get hurt.¡±


    While wearing a cleanse tag with the boundaries of the now-rainbow-coloured alchemical barrier, it protected the wearers from injury by instantaneously reversing damage to a previously healthy state at hyper-speeds. However, the system was far from perfect.


    ¡°Umu. I get it, I get it. We¡¯d still feel most of the pain, minor injuries tended to not trigger the protection effect, and major injuries don¡¯t get fully restored, right? Like if ye got a big ol¡¯ cut, it would get reduced to a li¡¯l cut.¡±


    ¡°Sisi¡¯s taught you a lot then, eh? That¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°But this Class War is between C and D only, right? It won¡¯t involve us.¡±


    ¡°Right. And at least during a war, when the barrier is glowing like city lights, even if you lose your cleanse tag for whatever reason, the activated barrier will still prevent you from getting injured.¡±


    ¡°And you win a war by beating up the¡­ opposing class rep? I remember this whole thing is a martial tradition, but it¡¯s kinda whack in this day and age.¡±


    Mayumi retreated back to her seat in front of Evie, barbarically sitting down on the chair in reverse, her front leaning on the backrest and her legs open wide with her feet on either side.


    ¡°Beating up? Yeah, that¡¯s the basic method. Nowadays, though, Class Wars are mostly just answering subject-focused trivia questions overseen by a teacher. It¡¯s called the Duel system, which basically means a teacher-mediated fight of some sort.¡±


    ¡°So the loser allows himself to get beat up? Heh.¡±


    Eon was unperturbed.


    ¡°Your cleanse tag slowly turns from white to black as it reverses your injuries, and it turns completely black when it¡¯s fully saturated. However, in a Duel, the teacher artificially saturates your cleanse tag. Once the class rep¡¯s cleanse tag is fully saturated, they lose the Class War.¡±


    ¡°The Duel system is supposed to bring a peaceful way to resolve conflicts between the classes, but pop quizzing like Who Wants to be a Millionaire isn¡¯t the only method. Sometimes we do get brawls. Right, Kato?¡±


    ¡°Indeed we do.¡±


    Kato nodded satisfactorily at Caius.


    ¡°Geh. Isn¡¯t that kinda unfair for Kato¡¯s opponents? And Evie¡¯s too. They can probably take on everybody else in this school at the same time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly our class¡¯s advantage.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Do you think we have enough nerds in our class to fight an orthodox Class War with our competitors?¡±


    ¡°No, I guess not. Ohhhh, I get it now.¡±


    A lightbulb went off in Mayumi¡¯s head, illuminating her face.


    ¡°Yeah, that makes sense now. Korolev¡¯s classes are stratified by merit, so because we¡¯re Class F out of, like, ten classes or something, we¡¯re smack in the middle of the pack. We¡¯re not supposed to win against the higher classes.¡±


    ¡°But miraculously, we did win against Class A a few weeks ago, courtesy of Kato¡¯s fists. And you all say I¡¯m the one who always uses brute force.¡±


    Evie said as if it completely justified her own twisted tendencies, which naturally frightened the men here.


    ¡°Really? Then is that why¡ª¡±


    Mayumi paused for a moment before a crafty grin spread across her face. She turned at Alice, closely observing her as Mayumi¡¯s eye sparkled once more with mischief. Like a time goddess, she wasted none with anything and pounced at the first opportunity.


    ¡°That¡¯s why Alice is here, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    As if receiving an electric surge Alice¡¯s back was straightened immediately. Mayumi got it right on the mark, and Alice¡¯s inability to speak as she turned red as a tomato pretty much confirmed Mayumi¡¯s thinly veiled insinuation. Too late. Kato was a moment too slow to intervene before Alice¡¯s face gave it all away.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true, but it was also an opportunity to put a dent into Class A and its reign of terror.¡±


    ¡°Opportunity?¡±


    Leaving no trace of the smugness in her face, Mayumi returned to normal, almost abnormally so. Both Alice and Kato were glad that she didn¡¯t insist on pressing the issue.


    ¡°Most of our school outside of academics is essentially student-run. We exist in a system that¡¯s patronized by the parents of the elites, not us Elites but the bourgeoisie. It has always been that way, so the privileges of the students are grossly disproportionate.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Unlike in other schools where those powers are invested monolithically in the student council, Korolev split those powers into two branches, the student council and the Assembly.


    ¡°The Assembly is the legislative branch of student government that passes policies, resolutions, laws, et cetera, for the student council and the rest of the school to run on.¡±


    ¡°On the other hand, the student council is the executive, responsible for the day-to-day functions of student government and carrying out most of the policies passed by the Assembly.¡±


    ¡°In practice, we¡¯re under the rule of the Assembly, and it¡¯s an elitist club that¡¯s controlled by Class 3-A. The constitution gives Class A an almost majority of seats.¡±


    ¡°Meanwhile, a good portion of the student council¡¯s nominal powers are actually split off into two different and independent organizations, the Public Safety Committee and the Activity Council.¡±


    Eon and Caius began explaining to Mayumi in tandem once again.


    ¡°A few weeks ago, the Mona faction of Class A, or the Activity Council faction, put forward a bill in the Assembly called the Act of Neutrality. The substance is here.¡±


    Caius threw a file folder on Kato¡¯s desk, already the focal point where everyone was turned facing for their lunch gathering.


    ¡°In essence they wanted, for the sake of so-called neutrality, to ban political campaigning in relation to the real world situation in Lien right now. This was proposed immediately after the defacing of national symbols in the legislative council in Lien.¡±


    Lien was a neighbouring Yue-majority city on the other side of the border with Ava, and heavily integrated with Livia on many levels, the most tightly at the socio-cultural level. However, the difference was that while Livia enjoyed de facto independence from the imperial government of Auxiria, Lien was nominally under the control of the Kingdom of Ava, a possession of the Auxirian Empire for almost two centuries. Decades of struggle between imperial power and localist demands came to a head in a storming of the legislative building by protestors four weeks ago, directly challenging the current political arrangement between Lien and Auxiria.


    ¡°Our class is spearheading the lobbying for striking down this bill. Most of the lower classes are on the ¡®yellow¡¯ side of the conflict, so to speak. They tend to be more localist-leaning than collaborative with an oppressing ¡®blue¡¯ power. It¡¯s the spirit of the Yue people.¡±


    Eon said confidently, proud of his people. Of course, it included the non-ethnic Yue people around him as they were every bit Yue on the inside, regardless of their race or skin colour.


    ¡°Yeah, but it isn¡¯t you who¡¯s doing that. It¡¯s Chantal and them who¡¯re doing that, and somehow Alice¡¯s been the poster girl for the anti-neutrality movement.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only a figurehead, okay? It¡¯s the result of circumstance, not because I¡¯m a capable leader.¡±


    Alice pointed out quickly to correct Caius. Mayumi tilted her head.


    ¡°A result of circumstance?¡±


    ¡°If only me joining Class F was as simple as you thought. Imagine, the fianc¨¦e of the marshal of the Public Safety Committee leaving him behind and crossing the floor for the class that was the explicit target of police action by the PSC. Not only that, but that class was being charged with sedition, or in other words, undermining the authority of the PSC. That was me. With such a high profile defection, the story¡¯s romantic to the point of delusion, so of course it¡¯ll turn the whole school upside down.¡±


    ¡°Ooooooh! It does sound amazing! So you¡¯re no longer his fianc¨¦e? Are you now Kato¡¯s?¡±


    Both Alice and Kato almost gagged while the people around them snickered.


    ¡°So that¡¯s all you¡¯ve got from my explanation?!¡±


    ¡°Well, for the other parts, I already have a sort-of-an-opinion on it based on my political views. So what did you end up doing for the anti-neutrality side? Making speeches and public appearances?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much. It¡¯s tiring sometimes, but Chantal and them are good people. I wished I was in this class earlier.¡±


    ¡°But do you have your own political position?¡±


    ¡°I do. I¡¯m on the yellow side, but as rude as it sounds, it¡¯s not my fight. I¡¯m not from here, and I can only cheer from the sidelines within the limits of my abilities.¡±


    Alice shrugged without much emotion as Mayumi looked towards Eon and Caius.


    ¡°Then are the rest of you guys in on this project too?¡±


    ¡°In on the project? Sure, but a lot of the on-the-ground work is left to the rest of our class. Our fight is in the Assembly.¡±


    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Me, Caius, Kato and Yui are Members of the Assembly from our class constituent, while Alice is a Member by virtue of being our class representative. Originally, Class F only had one seat, but it got expanded to four after a couple of wars. By stealing it from the losing classes of course.¡±


    Mayumi just as quick turned back to Alice on the other side.


    ¡°You¡¯re our class rep too? Didn¡¯t you say you joined this class only a while ago?¡±


    ¡°The rest of Class F thought I would be a better public-facing figure for the class than Kato, who is now our former class rep. I¡¯d tend to agree, don¡¯t you, Kato?¡±


    Needling Kato was second nature to Alice, but at least in this instance he didn¡¯t mind the jab. She was probably better than him at that job, to be perfectly honest.


    ¡°Whatever, dude. You¡¯re way better than me at public speaking, so it¡¯s a lot better for us both inside and outside the Assembly.¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s eye lit up again, doubtlessly another great idea spawned in her brain.


    ¡°Hey, can I join in too? If Alice needs someone else to do the public speaking outside the Assembly, then I¡¯m the perfect replacement. We¡¯re doing this.¡±


    She puffed out her chest arrogantly and directed the last sentence to her two oldest lackeys, to which Eon and Caius nodded readily. Alice smiled, albeit bemusedly.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome to do that. It¡¯s Chantal who¡¯s calling the shots anyway.¡±


    Mayumi stood up from her seat again.


    ¡°Where is she right now?¡±


    ¡°Right now? Busy with organizing the next protest most likely. Or already doing it. Sometimes I get pulled away for it too. It¡¯s lunch time after all.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mayumi. She¡¯ll show up sooner or later to discuss her next plan with us.¡±


    ¡°Good job, Kato. I¡¯m glad to hear that the Elites are still the kings of this class.¡±


    Both thumbs up, Mayumi laughed again, but without the background chatter of a fully occupied classroom it was a few decibels louder than normal. Included in the last flurry of students leaving the classroom for the hallways were Eon and Caius, who gestured to the remaining Elites to come hither.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go watch. It looks like an orthodox Class War.¡±


    ¡°Because at this rate, we¡¯ll probably get more abnormal wars than orthodox ones.¡±


    After quickly tidying themselves, or in the case of Mayumi still holding onto her food, they followed the two out and after a short walk through the somewhat crowded corridor they made their way to the balcony that overlooked the atrium. Many other students too were looking over the balcony at the students on the first floor below, which they recognized to be students from Class 3-C and Class 3-D.


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯m still impressed that your school¡¯s atrium is really humongous.¡±


    It was indeed a wide open space, probably enough to stage a small-scale performance with a sizeable audience. Though they were on the third floor, they could definitely still see all the tiny details of the class confrontation. Students from the two belligerent classes lined up on either side of the atrium with a big open space between them, all encased by a ring of crowds of mostly first-years. Immediately below them, they could see second-years lining their own floor¡¯s balcony.


    ¡°What¡¯re they fighting over?¡±


    In place of the Elites, two girls, one short and one tall, suddenly appeared next to them to provide that explanation.


    ¡°A place in the upcoming talent show.¡±


    ¡°If they were just a bit smarter, they¡¯d avoid the war, but hey, I¡¯m not complaining about them fighting each other into exhaustion.¡±


    ¡°Ooooo~¡±


    Eye lightening up again, Mayumi grabbed hold of the short one¡¯s hands. Unfortunately for her, Mayumi was just a bit shorter than the newcomer with the sparkling platinum blonde hair in an old-fashioned hime cut. But like Mayumi, this girl hadn¡¯t changed much from the last time they saw each other. On the other hand, the gal with the brown pixie cut standing tall behind her had a wide smile on her face, clearly physically different from when she was a little runt. She was as tall as Evie and equally imposing, a great contrast with her much smaller sister in front of her.


    ¡°We meet again.¡±


    ¡°Oi! Long time no see, Mayumi!¡±


    ¡°Ariel! Scarlett! Good to see you too!¡±


    They were all smiles, exchanging salutations and subsequent small talk as Mayumi did earlier with the Elites. They were surprisingly amiable, as they used to challenge each other at the playground. The new arrivals were two of the Jupiter sisters, the antithesis of the Elite Four. Eon eventually waved at one of their childhood rivals for her attention.


    ¡°Hey, Ariel, what exactly are they going for when they win? It shouldn¡¯t be just a spot in the talent show, is it?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They are definitely using it as a pretext to fight for seats in the Assembly.¡±


    Ariel was a calm girl, serene to the point where as if her voice could make echoes all by itself.


    ¡°Why? How come they¡¯re that desperate?¡±


    ¡°Class C is part of the Gilbert faction, while Class D is part of the Mona faction. Though Gilbert and Mona are on the same side at the personal level, at school they represent different interests.¡±


    ¡°So this is a proxy war? That kinda explains why they went for the orthodox method of war.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Given Gilbert¡¯s resignation, the next in line to succeed him in the PSC is the class representative of Class C, Donovan Avgothia. Gilbert and his inner circle will still control Donovan from behind the scenes, but the public will be seeing Donovan and his people more than Gilbert.¡±


    Caius snapped his fingers, an idea clicking in his head after Scarlett¡¯s commentary.


    ¡°Class C and Donovan are mostly people from the drama department, which is a big independent organization. But for Class D, they¡¯re mostly a divided class of multiple smaller clubs that are under the Activity Council¡¯s thumb, which is Mona¡¯s territory. They¡¯re fighting a war of big clan versus small clans.¡±


    Mayumi put her fingers at her temples.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I¡¯m kinda lost.¡±


    ¡°The Mona faction is in charge of the Activity Council, or the AC, which is responsible for club activities and other cultural events, and naturally also manages their resources like manpower, facilities and to an extent finances as well. So they have a handle on Class D.¡±


    ¡°On the other hand, the Gilbert faction is law enforcement, as they¡¯re PSC. Historically, the big independent organizations, like the drama, music and phys. ed. departments, are aligned to the PSC because of their natural conflict of interest with the AC. The AC tends to be a control freak when it comes to managing their external resources, like getting approved for a publicity campaign or whatnot. And these organizations are provisioned close to no representation in the Assembly or other parts of student government, so they leverage the PSC¡¯s influence to retain their independence. Since the PSC usually doesn¡¯t care about the endless resources that these organizations use up, they get along well.¡±


    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t all these supposed to be the responsibility of the student council? Where do they come in?¡±


    ¡°You mean, where do we come in.¡±


    Ariel smiled easily as her older quadruplets sister Scarlett grinned as well.


    ¡°I am the undersecretary, head of the Department of the Administration and the Records Office.¡±


    ¡°And I am the executive manager, head of the Student Liaison Office.¡±


    Speaking proudly, low-key in a pretentious way to show off to the Elite Four, they revealed their identities to Mayumi.


    ¡°No way! You girls are actually student council? That¡¯s cool! And judging from your job titles, I¡¯d assume Mira and Bia should be part of it too?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got that right.¡±


    The Jupiter sisters were quadruplets, but only Mirabelle and Bianca were identical. It was a strange complement of twins plus two others with completely different physiques.


    ¡°I¡¯m the most involved with the AC, since the AC and the SLO are supposed to be joint organizations sharing the same responsibilities. And I can say that Eon and Caius¡¯ perception of the AC is accurate.¡±


    ¡°Hoho, politics. And I guess the SLO¡¯s existence is to try to impose the student council¡¯s will in the AC?¡±


    ¡°Exactly, exactly.¡±


    Scarlett nodded excitedly as Mayumi caught on quickly.


    ¡°So then what¡¯s Ariel responsible for?¡±


    ¡°General administration. Tabulating minutes, running Assembly sessions, making public announcements, data collection, espionage.¡±


    ¡°Espionage?! Did I hear that right?¡±


    ¡°Damn straight.¡±


    Mayumi paused for a second.


    ¡°But if the Jupiter sisters are student council, then they¡¯re on our side, right? The anti-neutrality protesters¡¯ side. Then we have this triangular struggle for power.¡±


    ¡°Bingo. A triangular struggle.¡±


    ¡°And the struggle is going to get a lot more complicated because of the new incoming PSC marshal. He may be a puppet of the Gilbert faction, but he has his own clique as well.¡±


    Eon concluded their thoughts as he watched the war, or more accurately, the trivia contest just starting down below.


    There was a teacher standing in the middle of the clearing, flanked on both sides by the two opposing classes a safe distance away. He held his arm high in the air, showing a teacher¡¯s cleanse tag wrapped around his wrist over the long sleeve and glowing blue. Immediately, one student from each side walked forwards to meet each other in front of the teacher, where they also held up their cleanse tags, glowing yellow instead before they lowered their arms again.


    ¡°This is the preparatory phase, where the Supervisor lays out the rules of the Duel. In other words, this is where the trivia question is asked.¡±


    Caius explained to Mayumi, who was stretching forward and leaning over the ledge a bit too far. Without a moment to spare, the teacher asked the first question loudly so that even the third floor could just hear him with enough clarity to make out the question.


    ¡°In the play Macbeth, explain the author¡¯s meaning and the significance to the play of the excerpt starting from line two thousand three hundred eighty-one, for five lines, in act five scene five, beginning with ¡®life¡¯s but a walking shadow¡¯?¡±


    They could see both sides¡¯ cleanse tags glow a bright blue, indicating that the Duel had begun. Immediately, the student on Class C¡¯s side raised their hand in the air first and the teacher acknowledged it, but with their distance they couldn¡¯t hear the subsequent answer clearly.


    ¡°That¡¯s a really hard question, what the hell?¡±


    ¡°Tough luck, I guess?¡±


    Then, surprisingly, the teacher gave the Class D student a chance to answer as well. The student gave an empathic one that sounded more confident than Class C¡¯s.


    ¡°Class C¡¯s answer isn¡¯t good enough? Wow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Normally, the first taker has the advantage because if the answer is sufficiently correct, they get the win.¡±


    After Class D gave their answer, the teacher gave it a good ten seconds of thought before tapping his cleanse tag, which ended the challenge period. Class C¡¯s student¡¯s cleanse tag turned from blue to red, while Class D¡¯s turned to green, which was accompanied by cheers and celebration by the rest of Class D.


    ¡°Well, Class D could have given a crappier answer than Class C too, but this year looks like Class D has some smart people.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d think Class C would know these answers better because they¡¯re from the drama department.¡±


    And that was exactly the sentiment among the bystanders. Right out of the gates, Class C suffered a loss on home turf.


    ¡°Even the Supervisor in charge here is Mr Nigel, one of the drama department¡¯s advisors. Class D is already on the back foot ¡®cause the Supervisor is definitely favourable to Class C.¡±


    The Class C student had to retreat back to his class in disgrace, and another of his comrades had to step up to replace him, once again facing the same opponent from Class D.


    ¡°Wait, they¡¯re replacing their vanguard already? What gives?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Usually in this kind of trivia quizzing format, they¡¯re given two or three lives before they¡¯re considered ¡®out¡¯. I guess they¡¯re playing with only one life this time around.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. That seems to be the case. Then they¡¯re playing on really high stakes, eh?¡±


    ¡°How do they keep track of the antes?¡±


    Caius held up his cleanse tag to Mayumi.


    ¡°Remember this cleanse tag turns to black as you get injured? After every one of these quizzing rounds, the Supervisor artificially saturates the loser¡¯s cleanse tag, turning them black. Once it¡¯s all black, the Supervisor won¡¯t accept your participation anymore because you¡¯ve used up all your chips. No ante, no game.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯ll end up with the whole class getting taken down, with the class reps the last ones to join the fray.¡±


    ¡°In isolation, that¡¯s what game theory tells us. The bigger your class, the more defence in depth you have. But you can also win it all with just one genius at every subject. It really depends. But at the same time, classes play a game of resource management and damage control too. Cleanse tags don¡¯t get fully de-saturated until the start of the new month, except for the class rep¡¯s which gets de-saturated after every war.


    ¡°So, say if Class C is going to lose, and Class C knows that another class has beef with them and likely has a valid casus belli against them, they might not throw everybody at this war if they think the next one is more dangerous to lose.¡±


    Mayumi sneered, just a little bit.


    ¡°Do you guys actually need to calculate that hard? Are the rewards of a war that good?¡±


    ¡°Of course! A peace treaty has the same effect as an Act of the Assembly. In other words, the peace terms become the law of this land. Within the boundaries of their reasons for war, naturally.¡±


    ¡°It just sounds surreal that you guys would wager your student life on a series of trivia questions.¡±


    ¡°Well, wars are supposed to be rarer than this, and this is the civilized way of doing things. Trivia quizzing isn¡¯t the only peaceful method of war, just the traditionally most popular. We saw a couple of games of association football decide some matches last year, for example. That¡¯s ¡®cuz those classes had their own football teams that were pretty good. The Class War made the stakes in those games super-high, so those were really good matches.¡±


    ¡°Oh I get it, the classes can agree on any kind of competition that they can propose to the Supervisor to referee.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. And if all else fails, we go back to the barbaric way of settling things, by the way of fists.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I can see why things trended towards peaceful measures. I assume that only classes with challengers or deities would consider the free-for-all option.¡±


    Challengers and deities were existences that Kato, Teto and Evie were; trained in combat and physically superior. Depending on the level of superhuman ability, they were assigned the challenger moniker for green up-and-coming super-soldiers, or a deity for a recognized or established fighter of incredible ability. They were the latter, not through any established reputation of themselves but a recognition of such status from an established peer.


    ¡°Or be cool like Kato, proposing a one-on-one physical fight to decide the Class War. Stole a bride out of it too.¡±


    Kato¡¯s eyes narrowed at Eon¡¯s choice of words as Alice, who was coincidentally standing with Kato, turned away in embarrassment.


    ¡°I understand the optics may appear that way, but that was the plan from the start, my foul-mouthed friend.¡±


    ¡°Nah, Kato. That was all you, my man.¡±


    ¡°Caius, what happened to one for all and all for one?¡±


    ¡°Nowhere to be found, of course. What, d¡¯you think we¡¯d soften up and let our feet off the gas pedal?¡±


    Mayumi giggled but was also touched. Kato, as the edgy newcomer at the time, used to be the butt of their jokes until Mayumi left, and his role began to slowly shift away from that. It was nostalgic to see them all as if rewinding back in time. She peeled herself back from the railing and launched herself into Kato and Caius, hanging onto them by their shoulders.


    ¡°Hah! We never had, and we never will!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say that ain¡¯t true, but we haven¡¯t done that at my expense for a long time. And I implore you to keep it that way.¡±


    ¡°If only there was any other way, Kato. And no, Franco¡¯s not gonna help.¡±


    ¡°I, for one, welcome Kato in reprising my role as the court jester.¡±


    Franco said with comical arrogance, as if he made all the effort to make that happen when it was abundantly obvious it was Eon¡¯s and Caius¡¯ efforts.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it great? Things are the way they should be, right, Kato?¡±


    Seeing her eternal smile made him choke on his retort, and could only laboriously bring out a forced smile of his own. Maybe it was because of her sudden reappearance that he was softer towards her than he used to.


    ¡°Agree? Agree on what? No matter how you look at it, you can¡¯t convince me to throw away my self-respect.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. I forgot that this doesn¡¯t need the consent of the tormented. It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s already a done deal.¡±


    Sticking her tongue out, she let go of the two of them and gave them the peace sign. Kato sighed, but was also relieved. It was going to be a long year with her here and thankfully too, because he didn¡¯t want it to end quickly either. He was grateful that she decided to drop whatever she was doing, whichever path she was going down, and returned to rejoin her old friends one last time.

 3.2 Idiots of Suburbia

    Caius took a bit of a detour before going to his literature class after lunch. Normally he would go with Ariel if they were gathered together for lunch as they just were, but perhaps just as usual he felt he needed the time to himself to wander about by his lonesome before rejoining his friends.


    The bell already rang for the end of lunch period, meaning it was almost the start of the first of two advanced classes every day that went for about fifteen weeks before their final exams. Then the next two advanced classes would start fresh in the next semester, for three semesters a year. It was already the fifth week in, so almost a third of the semester was already over.


    Actually he merely remained in the vicinity of where they just were, near the entrance to the main library. The war was still ongoing, but most of the spectators retreated for their classes.


    However, he wasn¡¯t concentrating on the fight anymore. Rather, he was ruminating over what had happened in the morning. Out of nowhere a childhood friend reappeared in front of him, and not just that, but it was somebody with which he had some reservations.


    Caius sighed with a forlorn expression on his face. His feelings were mixed, to say the least. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t get along with her, though. In fact, the three of them plus Kato got along the best. Precisely because they once did, he was at a loss at how he should conduct himself.


    When Mayumi had left them, she had left them at a time when there was a falling out in the group for the very first time. Specifically, it was between him and Mayumi, and this was why he was still leaning on the balcony railings as class was about to start. Did the passage of time heal those wounds, or would Mayumi hold a grudge against him in the back of her mind? Her attitude this morning didn¡¯t seem to point to that. He couldn¡¯t know if it was one or the other, and at this stage he knew that he would never find out. Despite that, he couldn¡¯t help but run the possibilities through his brain, desperately trying to recollect the events from the past that he spent so much time and effort to bury deep enough in his memories so that he couldn¡¯t recall it easily anymore.


    He turned around to lean his back against the rails as he let his eyes wander, watching the last batch of students making their way to their advanced classes. Naturally, his line of sight was drawn to the skirts, both short and long, of the female students, and of course he was smart enough to not let his eyes linger for more than even half a second. It helps to an extent, but only to an extent. The female students who were more alchemically compatible would be able to sense, from the mana flow in the ether, the feeble but uncomfortable energy coming from his glances. He was aware of it of course, but hey, it was what boys did.


    Caius then noticed a tall, blonde girl with loose socks and a sweater tied by its sleeves at her hip entered the library, which was remarkable to him because no girl who looked like that would ever go to the library. Her hair was long and dishevelled, and her skirt was super short, which was part of why he noticed in the first place. However, he was not able to get a good look at her face because she already opened the doors and disappeared inside. Unfortunate. Caius liked this particular brand of street fashion of inner city popular culture, similar to Alice¡¯s and Scarlett¡¯s casual wear outside of school. Although they hadn¡¯t crossed paths enough to learn each other¡¯s names, over years of indirect contact he could still recognize that she was from Class C. At the very least, this girl had been in the Korolev school district for at least a few years.


    Before the second bell rang for the start of class, Caius quickly made his way to the classroom, but was carrying none of his belongings. He asked Ariel to do that for him as a favour, and as promised he saw them on the seat next to her with a minute to spare before attendance was taken.


    ¡°How¡¯re you feeling?¡±


    Caius almost did a double take. He didn¡¯t expect Ariel to speak first; usually he was the first to do so, because Ariel was the kind of girl that didn¡¯t talk unless it was necessary.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, thanks.¡±


    ¡°What do you think of Mayumi returning?¡±


    He smiled wryly at her question.


    ¡°Is it that obvious to you?¡±


    ¡°You give off too many clues. Why would you hang around outside at such a bizarre time with only minutes before class?¡±


    ¡°An observant person, you are. Worthy of a rival of the Elites.¡±


    Ariel shrugged, unimpressed.


    ¡°If I wasn¡¯t, then I would be another Scarlett.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me, though. This class is the first time we have class together, eh? Even though we always took the same advanced courses, we missed each other completely for the last two years.¡±


    As she turned her head towards him, Ariel¡¯s platinum hair waved in the air beautifully together like radiant chandeliers. It was a mystery as to why her hair was so silky smooth, but then again her sisters¡¯ hair were also of similar quality.


    ¡°It only took you five weeks to notice? Here!¡±


    She raised her hand at the call of her name. Unusually, the class continued on talking even while attendance was being taken, but since it was the eccentric and lenient Mr Verne who was teaching the class, this degree of freedom was expected. It didn¡¯t help that the noise meant it would take twice as long to finish with it.


    ¡°But at least Mayumi isn¡¯t here. If she was, it would¡¯ve been a big oof for me. Here!¡±


    ¡°Is it really that bad?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m probably just over-thinking it. Really, it doesn¡¯t matter to me if it falls either way. I just want to know what her motivations are, and then I¡¯ll be at ease.¡±


    Caius obediently returned to her initial question, to her mild surprise, but then this was one of Caius¡¯ styles too.


    ¡°Well, what happened back in grade four was something from when we were children. Would you not take this opportunity to start off on a clean slate?¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s the plan, eh? But it doesn¡¯t mean that I can pretend nothing happened back then. It¡¯ll still haunt me in the back of my mind, until she shows me what her intentions are.¡±


    ¡°I see, though I think this is still a you problem. But have fun waiting for that. She won¡¯t let it slip, because she¡¯s waiting for the same thing from you.¡±


    ¡°Waiting for the same thing?¡±


    ¡°Of course. You¡¯re not the only one in the wrong, so to speak. Both of you are looking for¡ª¡±


    Ariel suddenly stopped herself, and right on cue Mr Verne closed off the attendance book to slap his desk with his ruler, finally signalling to the students to be silent and get on with class. His mind already detached from Ariel¡¯s half-finished analysis, Caius thought it was nigh impossible to know what Mayumi was thinking, just as Ariel thought too. What was he going to do, go up to Mayumi and ask ¡°remember the time when we fought and hurt each other? Have you forgiven me for that yet?¡± If it was only as simple as that.


    Ariel¡¯s face remained pensive, and usually did so no matter the subject. Her disposition was naturally calm, steady and reliable in contrast to her more emotionally-charged sisters. But it didn¡¯t mean she was a pushover in their childish competitions; she was probably the most competitive and resourceful of them, leading the Jupiter sisters to win after win over the Elites, whether it was an athletic contest or a card game. She seemed to have a knack at solving games like no other and, having sisters whose abilities met her strategies¡¯ high burdens of execution, made her feared by the Elites, who on the other hand largely depended on their absurd individual talents to contest the Jupiter sisters.


    But outside of their competitions she was a sober and quiet girl who didn¡¯t have much ambition, or at least she never showed it. Out of the children between the Elites and the Jupiter sisters, probably Ariel changed the least, both in personality and physical stature. Most importantly, she happened to be the most emotionally detached from the group, and that was why even the feistiest rival in Caius would talk to Ariel this easily.


    They sat very far into the classroom, right next to the windows in fact. Although students could sit anywhere and didn¡¯t have designated seating plans for the advanced classes, because Ariel was the student council¡¯s undersecretary, she was given a lot of respect by her allies and enemies alike. Usually, having a Class B student sit together with a peon from Class F would have been an immense controversy in this socially stratified school, and that was correct. And because she held public office, it was expected for her personal life to be followed around and gossiped about, and this pairing was the most obvious choice of speculation for the busybodies.


    Ariel, however, didn¡¯t care about it as long as she commanded the loyalty of the Class B students who worked under her in the Department of the Administration, and in the Records Office that was under her department. Luckily, Class B was more or less familiar with the Elites of Class F already, more specifically those who the Jupiter sisters were friends with.


    In no time, class was at its end with the end of fourth period bell ringing. Mr Verne was talking to almost the very last minute; it was one of those high intensity classes where the teacher talked by his lonesome for the entire duration. As a result, the rest of the class was in a hurry to gather their belongings with the short amount of time left before the next period. The exception was Caius, who under any circumstances marched at his own pace.


    ¡°Sorry, I have to rush. See ya later.¡±


    Ariel, on the other hand, quickly packed her notebooks as was the rest of the class.


    ¡°There are more trials?¡±


    ¡°Yup. The last set of them. Skipping fifth period again today.¡±


    ¡°Good luck.¡±


    Ariel cocked her head to one side, taking the spare moment to stare back at Caius with a blank expression. Caius returned the glance curiously.


    ¡°Never mind.¡±


    Ariel finally uttered her exit line, and it was Caius¡¯ turn to tilt his head bemusedly. This happened often, and it was an indication of the gears in her brain turning vigorously to solve a problem. Whether it was about the trials or something else, that was unknown to him.


    But she hurriedly skipped away from their desks for the door. Along the way, several other girls from her homeroom class hastily joined behind her. Caius couldn¡¯t help but be impressed by the great extent of the Jupiter sisters¡¯ influence, whereas the Elites only had dubious authority over their own homeroom students. Their network was no doubt built up by Mirabelle¡¯s auspicious charisma, and required the efforts of both Bianca and Ariel to manage it.


    As for the trials she alluded to, it was the consequence of the senatorial investigation into the abuses of power by the PSC. Key members were put on trial for past crimes, crimes that the PSC historically got away with through sheer dereliction of their duties. The crooks who accepted bribes and put down personal enemies were the same people who were supposed to fight and protect against those very wrongdoings.


    As the undersecretary, her auxiliary role was to also act as the attorney general, who performed such public prosecutions in the name of the student council. Constitutionally, the Senate should not prosecute students on issues that lied inside the areas of student life as the Senate was made up of third-year homeroom teachers, and that would break with the constitutional principle of ¡°students governing student life¡±. Then again, the Senate wielded the power to investigate, so most of the leg work was already covered by them. It was then up to the student council to deliver the prosecution and argue for the offences committed by the PSC to the judges, who were specially selected students appointed by the Senate. These judges formed the Council of Six, the judiciary body that was responsible for trial proceedings like these, judicial reviews, and interpreting the supreme law.


    Caius, however, was not so buoyant about the prospects of these trials. Most of the wrongdoings involved were made last year, so it was very difficult to press charges when half the operation was manned by the former third-years who had already graduated. And at most, a successful case could only force resignations from the indicted. Despite Gilbert¡¯s preemptive resignation, Caius and most others expect Gilbert to continue exerting immense influence over the remains of the PSC.


    ¡°Caius! Come here!¡±


    By now the classroom was cleared of most of the students, leaving only the laid-back stragglers like Caius left. He promptly made his way to Mr Verne at his call, who was sat at the tall stool at the front of the classroom. Unfortunately for Mr Verne, his chequered sweater vest gave off more of a geeky than a sophisticated feel to him.


    ¡°I need a favour from you.¡±


    Mr Verne took a stapled stack of paper from the teacher¡¯s table next to him and handed it to Caius.


    ¡°Another assignment set for me? I already have it.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. This one¡¯s not for you. I want you to take it to a classmate of yours.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Ariel¡¯s the only one who I actually know in this class, though¡­ and would have any chance of seeing again after class.¡±


    Mr Verne scratched his balding head apologetically.


    ¡°Usually, I let Ariel do this job, but she left for the trials already. You can take it to Ariel if you want; she¡¯ll understand what to do. The assignment¡¯s for Cecilia, from my homeroom class.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t ask another person from your class to give it to her?¡±


    ¡°No, and though it¡¯s a bit rude of me to say, she doesn¡¯t have many friends from my class. I would give the assignment to her tomorrow in homeroom, but the first part of it is due tomorrow. I want to give her a chance at least.¡±


    ¡°I understand. But how come she didn¡¯t come to this class?¡±


    ¡°She usually skips classes. Her tardiness is going to be an issue soon, though, but until then I can only make the best out of her situation.¡±


    Mr Verne shrugged lightheartedly as Caius put away the assignment package in his bag.


    ¡°Usually you can find her in the library, but I¡¯d thought you¡¯d know her through Ariel. Like I said, pass it on to Ariel if you don¡¯t think you can find her.¡±


    ¡°Mhm. Okay.¡±


    Caius was about to leave, but stopped as he recalled the girl he saw earlier.


    ¡°Cecilia. Is she a tall, blonde girl with long hair and wears super-casual?¡±


    Mr Verne turned his head around towards him as his body was still turned away, his arms putting away the paperwork into his suitcase.


    ¡°Uh, yeah. Exactly. That description fits her.¡±


    Caius nodded, somewhat satisfied. That girl was a friend of Ariel¡¯s? Interesting.


    ¡°Okay, I might know who it is then. I think I saw her going into the library before class.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like her, yep. See what you can do. Thanks, ya big foig.¡±


    Caius slowly bit his lip with confusion, mildly startled but also entertained at Mr Verne¡¯s attempt to use trendy lingo. With a final bow, he left as the bell rang for fifth period, already late for the last class of the day. And as usual he was the last student to vacate the classroom.


    <hr>


    The school¡¯s library was on the third and fourth floors above the cafeteria. Though the third floor was spacious enough, there was more even surface area the floor above because on the fourth floor it protruded outwards over the school grounds, producing an overhang that consistently shielded the third floor windows and the cafeteria from the direct sun. In turn the edge of the overhang hugged an independent clear-glass overpass connecting the auditorium and gymnasium¡¯s fourth floor. The fourth floor had two short connecting overpasses to that one, which served as extra emergency exits for the obvious reason that a library should only have one regular exit. On a separate note, the neighbouring classroom was the art room that also occupied the third and fourth floors, and like the library it also had its self-contained staircase.


    Besides the secret rooms operated by the Records Office of the Department of the Administration, the fourth floor was a dense store of books with few desks and workspaces, which were more common on the third floor. Precisely because of that, it was prime real estate for anybody who wanted to study undisturbed, though it was almost always unoccupied during regular class hours. It was more of a place for students to catch up on schoolwork before school, during lunch or after school.


    It was at one of these tables that Cecilia sat comfortably, leaning back into the chair with her head in one of the few books that she took out from the shelves and stacked neatly on the table next to a notebook. She set aside her light sweater on the adjacent chair, her dress shirt loosely clinging to her slender body. The dirty blonde hair flowed beyond her shoulders in garbs and patches, almost as if it was alive and would actively resist any attempt to comb or straighten it. Several stray strands flowed over her front, but she heeded no attention to it. Her expression was composed, her eyebrows never moving up and away from her indigo eyes. Her features had varying topography, with her tall, thin nose, deep eyes and high cheekbones, and together they were well-formed. In a normal world, with her looks she would definitely be above average in popularity, but just like Yui, other factors around Cecilia didn¡¯t allow a fan group around her to emerge.


    She had her earphones in, connected to a portable cassette tape player on the tabletop. For somebody to have one was a mark of economic status, as with Alice¡¯s walkman compared to Kato¡¯s lack of portable music. The new fangled thing in Auxiria proper was the portable compact disc player, but they hadn¡¯t made their way to popular use yet; perhaps in several years as the fad gets caught up with more artists releasing their music on the new medium.


    She often spent her time alone in the library like this. She didn¡¯t like the crowded classroom where she couldn¡¯t focus, and regularly skipped classes to self-study here. If only her grades were also just as good to justify it, because if it wasn¡¯t for her homeroom teacher Mr Verne¡¯s eccentricity she would have been on academic probation by now.


    And she was self-studying. At least for now. What was in her hand was a major piece of analysis work on the play that her fourth period literature class was studying, the same literature class that was taught coincidentally by her homeroom teacher. Auxirian Idiot was a high-profile musical theatre stage adaptation of the story in the popular music album of the same name by the alternative rock band The Outlaws. It received critical acclaim across Auxiria, and its popularity even spilled over into the Yue language cultural sphere; both the musical and the music were originally produced in Standard Candoran in Auxiria proper. It wouldn¡¯t be a contemporary Auxirian literature class without any study of recent Standard Candoran works.


    In Korolev Senior almost all students were bilingual in Old and New Yue, but as they were part of the larger Confederation of Auxiria, and through a long, tangled political and cultural history with Auxiria proper, most Yue speakers also learned Standard Candoran; or the other way around too in a lot of cases, like the Jupiter sisters, and Cecilia herself.


    ¡°Yo. You¡¯re Ms Cecilia, is it?¡±


    Her reading was interrupted by a bright smile shining from across the table. The owner of the smile was a boy with short curly blond hair who waved to her warmly. He was only about as tall as she was, which for a girl might have been on the taller end, but for boys he was on the shorter end. His baby face was naturally cheerful, with round features all throughout. Momentarily, she eyed her notebook that had her name in clear handwriting on it, but she turned back to the boy quickly. She knew who he was, and that was why it took a moment to find her words.


    ¡°Uh, yeah. T-that¡¯s me. What is it?¡±


    Caius beamed.


    ¡°This is the assignment for today from Mr Verne.¡±


    ¡°Ah, thanks. Sorry for troubling you.¡±


    Taking out the earphones from her ears, she awkwardly received the stapled assignment from him, abundantly confused. Her hands didn¡¯t tremble but felt a bit out-of-body, and the heat on her forehead was a consequence of how unquestionably nervous she was. Why was it Caius, one of the troublemakers of Class 3-F, here?


    Then, she remembered exactly what she was holding onto.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°The assignment, how come Ariel¡­¡±


    She trailed off as her mind suddenly blanked out on the words to finish her question. She immediately caught it and straightened up, alarmed and embarrassed, but before she was able to correct herself, Caius answered anyway the question that was stuck in her throat.


    ¡°Ariel went off to prosecute some PSC thugs in the senatorial trials, so I¡¯m here to give it to you in her place. Well, it was Mr Verne who asked me to do this. Ariel got away too quickly.¡±


    ¡°Mr Verne asked you?¡±


    ¡°I sit with Ariel, so naturally Mr Verne would ask me. I was going to hand it off to Ariel if I couldn¡¯t find you here.¡±


    He shrugged, almost as if it were normal, everyday things to do; it was an average Tuesday for Ariel and Caius, but not for most people.


    ¡°Anyway, how come Ariel¡¯s been handing you off your assignment questions? You¡¯re in different homerooms, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    At Caius¡¯ enthusiasm, Cecilia¡¯s eyes widened and hesitated in her response.


    ¡°W-we¡¯re in different homerooms, yeah. But we¡¯ve been in the same literature classes together for the last two years now, so she¡¯s a good friend of mine.¡±


    Friendships across different homeroom classes were uncommon due to the way it socially stratified the students. Some would remain friends if one got promoted or demoted to another class, but most others wouldn¡¯t. Even in the advanced classes students tended to stick to their homeroom classmates.


    ¡°Not bad, not bad. Sounds like she treats you really well, then? As her long-time friend, all I get from her is attitude.¡±


    He gave her a carefree laugh, but somehow Cecilia was still taut with tension. Maybe she was overly cautious with him and his intentions, but his last bit did pique her attention. Ariel was a close friend, after all.


    ¡°Really? She¡¯s usually a quiet girl, but we always have something to talk about together and we¡¯re super friendly. She¡¯s also a really amazing person of her own abilities, so it¡¯s interesting to be around her.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that does sound like her, a super genius. You have no idea how many times she beat us in the fights we have.¡±


    ¡°Fights?!¡±


    ¡°Not fighting with our fists, but with our brains. We have been friends since primary school, so we¡¯ve competed with each other many times during recess playing different games.¡±


    ¡°Ehhh, so it¡¯s like that? The two of you have a really long history then.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true, but it¡¯s more accurate to say that our friend circle has a long history together. We were in different homerooms since long ago too, after all.¡±


    ¡°To remain close friends for that long, you¡¯re both really exceptional people.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the only criteria, then you¡¯re just as exceptional. Not many can make friends across classes.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no. I¡¯m just a normal person of no particular importance. Well, she¡¯s a close friend to me, but that¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary, is it?¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be in a normal world, but this is Korolev Senior. That Class War your class just fought at lunchtime, that shouldn¡¯t happen in a regular school, should it?¡±


    ¡°Nah, that Class War¡¯s got nothing to do with me. I stayed in homeroom while my classmates went to fight it.¡±


    Caius suddenly stood up and held his hand out to her, still smiling warmly.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m so sorry. I should have done this earlier. It was rude of me to not introduce myself before I mentioned the Class Wars. My name¡¯s Caius Evans, Class 3-F and Member of the Assembly in Class F¡¯s constituent. Apologies for not declaring myself earlier.¡±


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s all right. Like I said, I don¡¯t care about the Class Wars. You don¡¯t have to be that official with me when you talk about it.¡±


    She waved her hand nonchalantly as she said ¡°no¡±, trying to convince him that it truly didn¡¯t matter to her.


    ¡°And also, I already knew who you were. You and your circle are infamous in this school, after all. Definitely so after that impressive defence against the PSC¡¯s raid. That¡¯s part of what I mean you being exceptional.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that. That makes sense, yeah.¡±


    ¡°¡ª!¡±


    As he listened slowly, Caius¡¯ smile turned apologetic as his extended hand slackened, letting it droop there in the air between them. Only then did Cecilia realize she spoke too much of what she was thinking and her eyes darted away from him in embarrassment, freezing up at her mouth¡¯s misfire. The cogs in her brain kept turning rapidly as the silence turned increasingly awkward.


    ¡°Nnnng, damn it!¡±


    But Cecilia wasn¡¯t one to keep it awkward. She already knew what she should have done.


    ¡°Cecilia Nightingale, Class C. Pleased to make your acquaintance.¡±


    She swiftly clutched his hand with both of hers as she forced a smile awkwardly onto her face. It wasn¡¯t because she felt Caius was a bother, but rather she was flustered by her own absentmindedness.


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡±


    Caius¡¯ smile returned to its flamboyant form, or rather it turned into a smirk. He shook her two hands just once; reminding her of this position she hurried herself into. As soon as she was made aware of that, she hastily let go of his hand and instinctively hid her hands under the desk, gripping each other with strength proportionate to how deeply coloured red her face was turning.


    Caius felt a strange kind of tingling delight in his chest as he watched Cecilia fidget shyly across from him. He didn¡¯t want to admit that he had the same obsession that Mayumi had, who always put the boys on the spot for almost everything, but he understood now why this could be addicting. He cut her some slack and sat back in his seat.


    ¡°Anyway, now that you mention it, am I really that infamous now across school? I understand that the siege of Class F was pretty sensational, but I¡¯d imagine it was Kato and Alice whose names would be remembered.¡±


    Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief as she was handed an easy slow ball, her whole body evidently relaxed for the first time since he appeared before her.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably true, but they¡¯re already kinda famous. Kato and Evianna are obviously deities, while Alice was Gilbert¡¯s fianc¨¦e. If I don¡¯t recognize them, I would know their names at the very least. I guess the people around Kato and Evianna got more attention because in that siege, you were actually one of the people the PSC were after, right? Even Ms Romana was named as one of their targets.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I was actually named as one of the to-be-arrested.¡±


    ¡°And then, you were the one who carried the black blossom flag into the hallway after the siege was lifted. The newspaper club took a photo of that and it made their front pages, dude.¡±


    The black blossom flag was a symbol of resistance in the neighbouring city of Lien, which was currently suffering from social unrest. The spread of the revolutionary contagion naturally sparked the aspirations of the youths who dreamed and sought for a better, just world. Or in Caius¡¯ case, a good photo op.


    ¡°True, that was a good photo op. Well, it¡¯ll be like that. If I¡¯m gonna fight for a cause, I¡¯d have to put at least that much effort into it.¡±


    ¡°Hey, at least you have the heart to put into it. For normal people, it¡¯s hard to find that kind of heart to do something like that.¡±


    As she gave him a light chuckle, she realized that she was way more relaxed than she was before and her brain was put on pause for a moment. Maybe it was because Caius was chill the whole time and not the troublemaker that the newspapers made him out to be, that she gradually loosened her wariness. She was on edge precisely because of his recently acquired notoriety, after all.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a regular folk like you, Cecilia. I literally have contributed nothing except for that photo op in that siege.¡±


    ¡°Stop right there¡ªyou are definitely not regular folk. Regular folk wouldn¡¯t be waving rebel flags, nor would they be fighting the establishment inside and outside the Assembly.¡±


    Cecilia put her hand up in protest, but Caius just smirked.


    ¡°Regular folk wouldn¡¯t be skipping class on a regular basis either, would they?¡±


    ¡°Wait, how did you know?!¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t that hard to figure out you haven¡¯t been to a class if I¡¯m supposed to be in the same class as you, and Ariel¡¯s been passing on the assignments to you the whole time¡­¡±


    He trailed off as he shrugged exaggeratedly. Cecilia¡¯s head dipped again, deflated once more as she scratched her head and gave a relenting smile. Point taken.


    ¡°Ahahaha¡­ well, that¡¯s true¡­¡±


    ¡°Why not come to class?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I don¡¯t like going to class, I guess. I don¡¯t like it when there¡¯re too many people around.¡±


    ¡°Mah, can¡¯t say that I can deny that if I¡¯m doing the same right now. But you¡¯re actually looking at the class¡¯ material anyway, aren¡¯t you? That¡¯s like, some kind of companion analysis book to Auxirian Idiot, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    He pointed to the text that she put down earlier, to which she jumped a bit in surprise.


    ¡°You also know this book?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. I mean, it¡¯s one of the few good ones that are around, innit?¡±


    ¡°Wait, then you know Auxirian Idiot pretty well, then?¡±


    ¡°Of course! It¡¯s pretty popular, so why not?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, no, no, nobody knows the musical theatre enough, and definitely wouldn¡¯t know literary analysis works on it of their own! I mean, maybe you¡¯d know from class, probably¡­ but this text isn¡¯t in the course syllabus, I don¡¯t think.¡±


    ¡°Hehe. It¡¯s not. I just like the music and the story in Auxirian Idiot so I do my own readings on it, and it was just coincidence that our class is gonna study it.¡±


    Caius smiled brightly, and was obviously proud of his taste in music.


    ¡°How much of this have you got through?¡±


    ¡°Erm, most of it already. I already know the whole story though. This is like the third analysis work I¡¯m reading through.¡±


    ¡°This book¡¯s really good too. It¡¯s a really in-depth multimedia analysis, including the music and the theatre parts, not just the lyrics. It¡¯s written by a Yue author from Yue¡¯s cultural perspective, so it gives more spice to it and probably more relevant to us. Although the story itself is about an Auxirian-centric social phenomenon, it definitely is not just Auxirians who share the same sentiments with this story. Even us fake Auxirians who lived in a Yue territory for our whole lives can connect with this story.¡±


    He took the text away from her and opened it up expertly to a specific page, as if he knew the pages by heart. The text was in Standard Candoran, of course. Cecilia shook her head as she sighed.


    ¡°There you go with your dangerous use of vocabulary again. No wonder you¡¯re in the PSC¡¯s sights.¡±


    ¡°What did I say? And what do you mean ¡®again¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°You were the one who was quoted in the newspaper for that kind of incendiary rhetoric. At least that¡¯s their claim. Livia is a free city in Auxirian territory.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re on the blue side¡­¡±


    Caius¡¯ expression turned cautious, but comically so because it was that exaggerated. Cecilia sighed once more and put a little more force in her words.


    ¡°I¡¯m on neither the blue side nor the yellow side. I just don¡¯t want to get in trouble for no reason and waste my time with the PSC.¡±


    ¡°But your class is gonna take over the PSC¡¯s mantle from Gilbert and Class A, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°If my class has anything to do with me, I wouldn¡¯t be skipping class like this.¡±


    ¡°I thought that was just a daily routine or something.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice to start with.¡±


    Cecilia realized she uttered that more to herself than to him, and also let on more of her inner thoughts than she really should, but luckily Caius didn¡¯t seem to heed too much of it.


    ¡°Hmm. Well, I¡¯ll have to take your word on your neutrality. Then let¡¯s get back to this.¡±


    Ending the political distraction, he pointed one more time at the page he opened to and began.


    ¡°The part of the assignment that¡¯s due tomorrow is about the opening act of the play. The three neighbourhood friends and highschoolers, Tommy, Mark and Susan, lived in the dreary suburban town Sunnyville, Auxiria. Tommy was the unhappy everyday boy, Mark was the bullied chubby kid at school, and Susan had the dangerous personality combination of dumb and loose. Growing up in a quiet and peaceful community filled with sugary pop and potato chips, couches and television, petty crimes and juvenile delinquency, they slowly became disenchanted with the inertia and do-nothing lifestyle of suburban Auxiria. That was the song Auxirian Idiot, and also the name of the whole stage performance.


    ¡°They saw that they were doomed to become an insignificant part of this world, destined to take on the same boring and monotonous jobs and lifestyles that their deranged, messed up or even separated parents carried. When they couldn¡¯t handle it anymore, the three resolved to run away from home to look for a new life in the city ghetto. Before they were able to leave, Susan was found to be pregnant with her boyfriend¡¯s kid, so only Tommy and Mark took the bus for the city. That was the song Prince of Suburbia, the epithet for Tommy.


    ¡°When they got to the city, they were obviously lost because they¡¯re completely new to the place. Tommy found that the city was not all the lights and excitement he dreamed it was. It was hard to get by on nothing, but he continues to search for his escape. Mark, on the other hand, really couldn¡¯t handle life in the ghetto and after seeing a recruiting ad on TV, he enlisted with the Marines and left to serve overseas.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the summary, but I read the story at least fifty times over by now.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was only fair to deliver on the scope of tomorrow¡¯s assignment, like Mr Verne did.¡±


    ¡°Is that what he covered in class today?¡±


    ¡°For the last three or four days, actually. We¡¯re gonna be studying this work for the next four or five weeks as the second of three different works for this class.¡±


    ¡°... issat so?¡±


    ¡°Does Ariel ever tell you what happens in class? Or do you even look beyond the first paragraph of the syllabus?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I do. I just don¡¯t know it like the back of my hand. That¡¯s a good student¡¯s habit, not mine.¡±


    Caius made a hearty chuckle.


    ¡°To me, that¡¯s the bare minimum effort needed to survive in this school, but let¡¯s not talk about those standards right now and get back to Auxirian Idiot. Since the first question is asking about Tommy, what impressions do you have on the protagonist? It can be anything from his character to the decisions and actions he makes and takes.¡±


    ¡°Are you the discussion facilitator now?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, I am. And also a participant at the same time, since it¡¯s only the two of us.¡±


    She sighed, but she was also aware that she was letting her thoughts slip out too much again, so she tried her best not to get distracted from the main point of the conversation. Caius did entertain the distractions, but he always steered it back eventually, and twice now.


    ¡°It¡¯s an autobiographical story, so we¡¯re given the view of the characters from Tommy¡¯s standpoint. Naturally, he¡¯s the easiest to understand because he¡¯s the protagonist. So, we¡¯ll start with him. He¡¯s a kid who¡¯s sick of the suburban lifestyle, which festers a really unsettling feeling of uncertainty and discontent with first his daily routines, then his immediate surroundings like his school and family, then his two best friends, and then if we look forward, everything in the city as well; ironically, since the very thing he thought would cure him also becomes corrupted by, within his mind of course, his dissatisfaction with the world; which is what it really was. An unrequited dissatisfaction with how the world is.


    ¡°As for his personality, he seems to be a well-meaning kid, but he¡¯s still in an age of innocence, still trying to figure out how the world worked, and thus becomes disenchanted seeing how it was so mismatched from ideals. In that process, he became a well-known troublemaker and went on delinquency streaks with his two friends, which is what Auxirian Idiot and a part of Prince of Suburbia served to describe.¡±


    ¡°Huh, not bad. You already know enough about it to already start writing something down. The first question is asking about how his surroundings shaped his decisions, and then how the author used this as a vehicle to reflect a real life social phenomenon.¡±


    Cecilia looked down on the assignment paper in front of her. They were a series of short-form essay answers, expecting at least a few long paragraphs per answer. Typical. It would take an hour to fill out the first part with something substantial.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s an easy enough question. I mean, the whole character of Tommy is a direct comparison to suburban life. Like you said, that¡¯s where the title Prince of Suburbia comes from.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about that. What is this suburban life that¡¯s described by MJA, and how much of it can be seen in the real world?¡±


    Mary Jane Armstrong was the lead singer of the band and wrote the songs in the album, and on stage she was known as MJA because her first name was too common to sound cool in a rock band.


    ¡°Well, in the story it describes it as very boring, monotonous, has a lack of excitement, and doomed to be a place that ¡®goes nowhere¡¯, whatever that means.¡±


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s about the feeling of ¡®going nowhere¡¯ in the quiet suburbs. But isn¡¯t this where ¡®ignorance is bliss¡¯ would apply? If peace and quiet is all you ever know, then you¡¯d be more inclined to lay back and coast through the rest of your life in easy mode, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Maybe for the adults who went out into the world and failed to reach their dreams. For the younger kids, they see it in the media and from the previous generation, and they start thinking ¡®do I have a choice whether to live in this place or not?¡¯. Not all kids are equal in this social order, and naturally some will not fit in and feel oppressed by it. If the conclusion they come to is that they don¡¯t have a choice, then they¡¯ll become someone like Tommy.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying it¡¯s more of a social issue rather than a problem with living in suburbia?¡±


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s my and also the Yue interpretation of it, no? We don¡¯t have the sprawling miles upon miles of houses-only districts like they do in Auxiria proper. It¡¯s just that the ideas of ¡®going nowhere¡¯ and ¡®no other choice but to live in misery¡¯ manifests themselves very visibly in suburban life. For the advantaged, they would think nothing of their quiet and easygoing lifestyle. For the disadvantaged, it¡¯s like a slow suffocation of their minds, thinking that they have to endure this for the rest of their lives.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s even more miserable because of the physical scene too. Compared to the city, a suburban district is basically one colour, one paint brush.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. The physical imagery¡¯s way more striking. In fact, where Tommy escapes is right to the busy city, just like Livia here.¡±


    ¡°It does sound edgy enough. Tommy¡¯s state of mind is like this because he¡¯s part of the ¡®undesirable¡¯ group; or so he labelled himself because the whole point of suburbia is that everybody can coexist peacefully and be in a reasonably comfortable state, physically and mentally.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I think we can sum up the issue as, like I mentioned at the start, a general dissatisfaction of the status quo; in the case of Tommy, he¡¯s dissatisfied with the state of suburban life.¡±


    ¡°Not only dissatisfied, but completely disenchanted with the idea. He sought for a completely different lifestyle in the city that was advertised to him from afar, which he eventually went for in the end. Now, we¡¯ve said that ¡®going nowhere¡¯ and ¡®no other choice¡¯ are the key motivating factors for his disenchantment, we need to unpack one more level deeper about what caused him to feel this way.¡±


    ¡°That one level deeper is more and more speculation, though, since the source material only goes this far to describe his state of mind.¡±


    ¡°Then good thing we can come up with our own interpretations. Songs can be interpreted from different angles, and the author is only one of these angles. That¡¯s the beauty of lyrical work.¡±


    Cecilia smiled lightly.


    ¡°Then what would your interpretation be?¡±


    Caius did not let off the gas pedal.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a step back and look at Auxirian Idiot again. Most of that song is a rebuttal of the state of mass media in the modern age. If you¡¯re familiar with the Auxirian press, to pursue corporate agenda they increasingly made the news more violent and sensational. References to a ¡®redneck agenda¡¯, ¡®doing the propaganda¡¯ or the ¡®age of paranoia¡¯ is basically spelling out how the media can be used to control the narrative of the day, whatever it may be; MJA didn¡¯t explicitly say what it was.


    ¡°This power, or authority, to control the way people think is what¡¯s dangerous, even if some of the so-called propaganda has merit to it. The Candoran Assimilation ended only a mere few decades ago, but we¡¯re already sending troops abroad again, unrest at home here continues to rumble and the Candoran problem is still unsolved. Those in control of the media can control which side of these conflicts gets favourable or unfavourable coverage, swaying the opinion of the unknowing masses who lived in the peaceful suburbs that would never ever see the level of violence or lawlessness shown on TV or the newspapers.¡±


    ¡°MJA definitely has politics behind that insinuation, but she probably kept it broad to include the social aspect too. Tommy wouldn¡¯t know about the city if it wasn¡¯t for the very mass media that he and MJA thought were propaganda arms of the powerful. Ironically, the very thing he thought was wrong with the country also gave him an escape route.¡±


    ¡°Yup. The mismatch between what he sees in the media and what he sees in his suburban home is bizarre and unsettling; why is there so much injustice and carnage out there, while at home we¡¯re just sitting on the couch doing nothing? And even at home, peace and quiet is only relative; mom and dad are separated for some reason, Susan has a penchant for unprotected sex at an age where she can barely provide for herself, and being in the lower-middle class means they didn¡¯t have any social standing in a gentrified area. They¡¯re ¡®going nowhere¡¯ because they¡¯re told that they live in peace, but at the same time everything around them tells them otherwise. They conclude that them, their society, and their country aren¡¯t ¡®meant to be okay¡¯, as in the song, and of course there seems to be no solution to it.¡±


    ¡°Not only that, but the media angle goes the other way around too. They see that their parents, while being led like sheep by the news, also become jaded and indifferent to the violence and injustice; they really didn¡¯t want to become that pitiful existence either. Their naturally disadvantaged social and economic situation is already pitiful enough, and because of that they feel like they do not have the power to change this status quo. That¡¯s what ¡®no other choice¡¯ means.¡±


    ¡°That would eventually feed into their anti-establishment attitudes later on. The song right after that is Holiday, after all.¡±


    Suddenly, Caius leaned back into his chair and took a deep breath, smiling brightly.


    ¡°Not bad, Cecilia. I never get to have these kinds of discussions except in class, and usually on subjects like these, most everyone is always more diplomatic so the answers aren¡¯t that great. Only the most edgy and whack in the head would blabber on like we did.¡±


    ¡°... huh.¡±


    Taken aback by the abrupt halt, Cecilia¡¯s hard-won energy deflated and naturally returned to a state of wariness once more.


    ¡°I¡¯m just here to bounce ideas off of another hardcore fan of Auxirian Idiot. I thought it would be a good use of time.¡±


    ¡°How would you know if I¡¯m a hardcore fan or not?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±


    ¡°¡­is it?¡±


    She lost count already of how many times she was bewildered by his way of thinking; or rather, she thought this situation was occurring too many times.


    ¡°I mean, nobody would spend their time reading through three different analysis works on this story if they didn¡¯t love it.¡±


    ¡°Uh, I guess you can say that¡­?!¡±


    ¡°Is it not? What do you like about it?¡±


    It sort of made sense, but who normally would be able to see that? Nobody. Caius shrugged and gave a crooked grin, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Cecilia stuttered a bit, again unsure of how much to say.


    ¡°Mmm¡­ I guess you can say that Tommy¡¯s story is really cool.¡±


    ¡°Tommy¡¯s story is really sad and depressing, my sister. You find that cool?¡±


    Caius bursted into laughter at her answer as she instantly straightened her back at attention, eyes wide in alarm at his insinuation.


    ¡°I mean, that¡¯s just how it is, isn¡¯t it?! I can¡¯t help it if I find it cool.¡±


    ¡°All right, all right. I get it. Then which part of it appeals to you?¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t know. The whole setting around Tommy, the unease he felt at home, the struggles he eventually goes through in the city, all of that are interesting to me. Maybe it¡¯s the whole spectacle put together? I¡¯m not quite sure what exactly...¡±


    ¡°Well, while you give some more thought to it, I¡¯ll explain mine too since it¡¯ll be only fair.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    While Cecilia was incredulous, Caius didn¡¯t hesitate in his declaration. He was either stupidly confident, or his eighth-grader syndrome was relapsing.


    ¡°I think why a lot of people, as well as myself, liked Auxirian Idiot is because a reader can, on some level, sympathize or connect with Tommy¡¯s character. They shared some issue or struggle or whatever with Tommy, whether it is in his surrounding situation, his decisions or his story. In other words, they saw a part of themselves in Tommy and the story, which makes that connection personal. And who would identify themselves this way? Anybody who is sick and tired of suburban life, like MJA.¡±


    ¡°Then do you see a part of yourself in Tommy¡¯s story?¡±


    ¡°Why yes, of course, but what about you? Do you agree with my analysis, and would that explain your train of thought?¡±


    She nodded tentatively. Without a doubt she felt the same way, and only after he explained it that she realized that.


    ¡°I guess his surroundings remind me the most about myself. I do completely agree with MJA¡¯s take on the empty life of suburbia.¡±


    ¡°Mhm. And given how much popularity this work has, many others probably share the same sentiment as yours.¡±


    Cecilia¡¯s cheeks tickled pink as the confession was a little too close to her heart, as all inner thoughts were, but she had to hand it to Caius to have the balls to bring it up in the first place. Normally others would shy away from him pressing forward into uncomfortable or personal areas of discussion.


    ¡°Then what about you? Which part of his story did you connect with the most?¡±


    ¡°That, uh, is¡­ hm.¡±


    Caius actually paused for once and so Cecilia looked on expectantly, but then he smoothly answered as if it was natural to think of the answer, which to his credit it did, and Cecilia sensed the meaning behind the pause immediately.


    ¡°You should know how Auxirian Idiot ends, right? What really hit home with me is the final song, a fitting conclusion to what happened in the song three songs before that. You get it?¡±


    He smiled lightly, but in no way were those two songs light. Although it wasn¡¯t directly about the social issues, it was an imaginative display of its symptoms, and symptoms of a very personal nature. Cecilia¡¯s expression turned dry at his continuous lightheartedness.


    ¡°You¡¯ve had¡­ that kind of an experience? Can I confirm that, you¡¯re talking from Tommy¡¯s point of view, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly. Even I was surprised at how the events matched so closely with my own, but that¡¯s just pure luck. MJA is good, but she won¡¯t be writing songs about my life story any time soon.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    ¡°She still haunts me in the back of my mind from time to time, but that was what Tommy¡¯s life had become too in the end, didn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°That part, yeah, I guess that makes sense.¡±


    Cecilia nodded at his good-natured reply. He was still mildly cheerful, as if it wasn¡¯t a big deal to him, to which Cecilia did not and could not know if she could take it at face value or not. But she felt it still wasn¡¯t her place to pry into it any further, even though Caius didn¡¯t seem to mind it at all and opened the discussion in that direction in the first place. Though, she was still fascinated by how the true rebel¡ªtrue at least to her¡ªacross the table could also experience the same thing that the fake rebel Tommy did.


    Almost as if done way too well, Caius seamlessly segued into the next matter at hand; probably because they should be doing it if they wanted to make good use of their little discussion anyway.


    ¡°Well then, Cecilia, let¡¯s get started with writing down the answers, shall we?¡±


    Cecilia forced another smile, but again, not because Caius was unpleasant, but because of her disbelief at the current situation. On these topics, she was used to being left alone in her head, but now she felt a tickling anticipation, finally finding somebody who shared the same interest to discuss about. Maybe it was because he finally shared his earnest thoughts with her that she felt much more at ease now, compared to her perception of him from before talking to him for the first time, this time. She pointed lightheartedly at him.


    ¡°Celia is fine. It¡¯s a bit easier that way, right?¡±


    Caius brightened up at her cooperative mood and nodded agreeably.


    ¡°Then Celia it is.¡±

 3.3 Shadows and Cons

    ¡°So, how come you¡¯re in our class?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    The number in their group increased to five in the fifth period home economics class with the addition of Mayumi. On Alice¡¯s left were Evie, Franco and Bianca, while the newcomer but also old guard sat on her right on the previously empty stool.


    It was a chill class with lots of teaching downtime for the students to work on their ¡°projects¡±, as cooking was something that couldn¡¯t be taken home as homework. As such, there were no exams for this class and instead marking only involved what was done in class and a few relevant written reports.


    ¡°Hey, Alice, what¡¯s your relationship with Kato?¡±


    ¡°W-w-w-what do you mean, r-relationship?!¡±


    Alice jumped at the question, flustered. Fortunately, the others were too focused on the flaming kitchen in front of them to notice. Staring back at Mayumi, Alice could see nothing but innocence in her eye, which made it even harder to reply.


    ¡°Do you like him?¡±


    ¡°What¡ª¡±


    Levelling up her distress, she dropped the spoon in her hand onto the floor as her face turned beet-red. Amazingly, Mayumi didn¡¯t blink during the whole ordeal, which internally scared the living soul out of Alice.


    ¡°Was it not clear enough?¡±


    ¡°N-no, it¡¯s abundantly clear. And also no, it¡¯s not what you think it is.¡±


    After a short pause, Mayumi burst out laughing, apparently finished with her antics and returned to her usual bright smile.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d just ask directly. The two of you are super close, that much I can see.¡±


    ¡°R-really? Does it seem that way?¡±


    While Alice¡¯s stammer remained, Mayumi sighed exaggeratedly with an arrogant smirk.


    ¡°The whole class can see it if they have a pair of eyes. Kato was never subtle with the girls he favoured.¡±


    ¡°Then what you mean is¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oops, I worded that wrong. I have to say ¡®people¡¯, not ¡®girls¡¯. That makes more sense.¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s grin turned several shades darker with evil. Knowing that her own face lit up for a moment there, Alice put a hand to her face in defeat. Unbelievable, this tiny runt was.


    ¡°Mayumi¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t worry too much about it. I just want to know what everyone¡¯s situation is. I just got back from a seven-year hiatus, y¡¯know?¡±


    ¡°Then, if I may ask, what¡¯s your relationship with Kato?¡±


    ¡°Hm, mine? You can say I¡¯m another Caius or Eon. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    ¡°Actually, yeah, I can see a lot of similarities. I¡¯m not sure how I want to feel about it, though.¡±


    ¡°Pft. Well, I don¡¯t blame you for asking. I do favour Kato in that sense.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I see.¡±


    ¡°Your reaction, that¡¯s all? I¡¯m dropping my own dimes here, Alice! I pay my dues, obviously.¡±


    ¡°I guess... I¡¯m kinda surprised that you would tell me that, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Mayumi put a finger to her head, and she struggled a little while she gave it some thought.


    ¡°Hmm. I guess I want to tell you because, well, it feels like we¡¯re in a similar situation, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    She dropped another cryptic message accompanied by an innocent smile, and Alice could only hesitate.


    ¡°Mayumi, is he the reason why you¡¯ve returned?¡±


    A plethora of emotions danced across Mayumi¡¯s face, a mixture of surprise, curiosity, admiration and satisfaction. She eventually shrugged contently.


    ¡°I guess it would have to be you who would ask that. None of the others would have the balls to ask that to my face.¡±


    ¡°You said it yourself. You¡¯re their big boss, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re not gonna recognize me as your boss?¡±


    ¡°Hmph. I¡¯ve never recognized anybody as my boss.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s not out of the ordinary. To answer your question, it¡¯s a partial yes. This is the last chance, after all. Am I right?¡±


    Mayumi shrugged once more, and Alice¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°You knew about that too?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also my understanding that you¡¯re joining the nomenklatura as well. So yes, I¡¯m in the know, so to speak.¡±


    Now, Alice was sufficiently alarmed. Mayumi was more mysterious than she initially thought.


    ¡°How did you¡ªwho are you?¡±


    ¡°You can say I¡¯m connected to Eternia in an indirect way. I mean, most everyone in this school is, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t be here. I heard it from when you broke off your engagement with a son of the Lafayette family.¡±


    She smiled lightly, but it was obvious to Alice that she was hiding a lot more about herself than she was showing. Alice crossed her arms in defiance.


    ¡°If you¡¯ve heard about that, then you¡¯re not a nobody. You¡¯re at least close to the nomenklatura to know that kind of info.¡±


    ¡°Hehehe. That¡¯s about right. Still, I¡¯m only tangentially related because I only happened to hear of it, not because I¡¯m supposed to be privy to it.¡±


    ¡°Then you already knew who I was!¡±


    ¡°Knew of you. I didn¡¯t know what kind of a person you were, or what your relationship with Kato was like until today.¡±


    Alice stiffened at the mention of Kato¡¯s name, and tightened her hands¡¯ grip on her arms to mentally defuse herself. She felt embarrassed not only because of Mayumi¡¯s straightforwardness but also her own failure to not blush when that topic was brought up.


    ¡°Then how about your other reason to come back?¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re pretty sharp, aren¡¯t you? Not letting me get away with half an answer, huh?¡±


    ¡°Apparently, I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s qualified to ask, like you said earlier, right?¡±


    ¡°Not wrong.¡±


    Mayumi grinned and nodded agreeably, wagging her finger at Alice. It wasn¡¯t the condescending kind; rather, it was of the silly grandstanding kind that the Elites usually did.


    ¡°I just wanna settle some old scores. If you have an idea of how I knew you were going for nomenklatura status, then you¡¯d probably know what kind of scores I¡¯m settling; although those aren¡¯t the only ones.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re not gonna tell me what it is?¡±


    ¡°Nope. And the rest of the Elites don¡¯t know either. It¡¯s completely unrelated to them, after all. It¡¯s my family¡¯s business at the end of the day.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°To be very honest, though, it¡¯s not that big of a factor for me. If I end up not needing to deal with it, it¡¯ll be even better.¡±


    Alice nodded at the hint she dropped, understanding why she took such a roundabout way to explain herself. In Alice¡¯s imaginative head, she already thought of several identities that Mayumi could be in relation to Eternia. But just as Mayumi did not question Alice¡¯s unique position, Alice decided that Mayumi would explain herself when the need arises, at the very least to the original Elites.


    ¡°Also, there¡¯s a third reason.¡±


    ¡°What? There is?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t just have scores to settle with the establishment, but ironically, with the Elites as well. Or rather, I want to fix things up.¡±


    ¡°Fix things up? What kind of things?¡±


    Mayumi shook her head readily and kept her mouth shut. Alice took that as another dead end and sighed, almost exaggeratedly. Maybe it was her impatience, but it might also be the Elites¡¯ influence. Mayumi¡¯s comment definitely piqued Alice¡¯s interest, but if she was unwilling to say any further, that was fine; Alice was planning on cornering Kato about it later anyway. Parlaying that mild frustration, she demanded from Mayumi.


    ¡°Forget that then. What¡¯s your endgame with Kato?¡±


    Even Alice was surprised at the plain naked aggression in her question. Maybe it was because Mayumi was too much like the Elites that her usual restlessness with them naturally asserted itself. Mayumi was an original, after all, so it made perfect sense. Instead of asking an impossible question about her relationship with Eternia or the Elites, Alice instead asked an impossible question about her relationship with Kato. Amused, Mayumi gave her a rough shove on the back and moved across to join the others at the front of the stove. She gave Alice a parting peace sign.


    ¡°For starters, I¡¯ll be tentatively joining you guys¡¯ morning practices. I¡¯m also a student of the performing arts, after all.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what? Really?¡±


    Alice, too, followed her lead and joined in their multiple simultaneous cooking efforts. She didn¡¯t even have the energy to find a better rebuke, and by corollary accepted Mayumi¡¯s determination to do as she wanted. She briefly wondered if this was going to be the new norm between them going forward, but her thoughts were distracted by the flames continuously spouting out of the gas stove. It had only been half a day. She could think about it later, she guessed.


    <hr>


    Inside the spacious drama classroom today after class were members of the drama department whom, on the back of Class C¡¯s victory, secured the prime time slot for the upcoming talent show. It lasted for almost two hours, with both sides putting all of their weight into the fight. The last round did indeed go to a deciding match between the two class representatives, in which Class C ultimately prevailed. Of course, as the Elites had pointed out, Class C stole a couple of seats in the Assembly as collateral for their victory.


    In a normal school, the student council was supposed to make the executive decision to cut one or the other in the talent show, but this was Korolev Senior; the decision was ultimately made by the Activity Council.


    Nominally, the PSC and the AC were extensions of the student council, but it had been traditionally that these two organizations cannibalized certain responsibilities for themselves with great autonomy to exercise these privileges; namely public order and extracurricular activities respectively, to summarize their roles. The Student Liaison Office was, in some ways, the predecessor to the AC, and over the years it devolved into something that matched its namesake as it steadily lost its authority to the autonomy of the AC.


    On a separate note, the Records Office was the SLO counterpart to the PSC, in that the Records Office shared equipment, facilities and intelligence with the PSC and vice-versa, albeit the level of integration was never as close as the one between the SLO and the AC. Their relationship was informal at best, but because of the practical logistics of how the faculty provided for these two groups, they coexisted alongside each other fairly closely.


    During the years that an ally of the PSC became student council president, they would use the SLO to put pressure on the AC to bend to its will. Conversely, during the years that an ally of the AC was student council president, they would turn the Records Office into an arm that would let them have immense leverage over the PSC.


    But this year the balance of power was broken by Class B taking control of student council. It was purely a coincidence that the city of Lien on the other side of the border was almost in open rebellion in the name of justice and freedom, and then in Korolev Senior an underdog group of students were elected to the presidency. And then not too soon after that, one of two pillars of Korolev Senior¡¯s establishment, the PSC, suffered an almost fatal wound by the senatorial investigation scandal and forcing their marshal to resign. Cecilia felt she didn¡¯t live in more troubled times than these.


    For better or for worse, the departure of Gilbert from the PSC meant that there was only one other candidate that was far enough from his inner circle to justify his succession, and that was the now-former president of the drama department, Donovan Avgothia. His prot¨¦g¨¦s from the drama department naturally joined him at the PSC, and with them the PSC gained new blood, new ideas and newbie incompetence that came with such a shift in human resources.


    ¡°And with today¡¯s victory in the Class War, my duties here are close to its end. I won¡¯t be able to take on the role of president of the drama department any longer.¡±


    Donovan waved to the crowd of students who were sitting in chairs or standing up haphazardly, most of which were from Class Cs of all three years. He stood at the blackboard that allowed this classroom to be used as a regular one. There was a mini-stage at the other end of the classroom complete with an elevated platform and a backstage. The drama room was also two stories high, essentially as large as the main music room.


    The crowd was rather large today. There were almost sixty students in here, close to a third of which were from Class 3-C. Normally there wouldn¡¯t be this many gathered at once as students had their own roles and specializations, so they had their daily activities separated accordingly. Though there were students from outside of Class C, their total didn¡¯t make it to five, and they were mostly made up of subject enthusiasts or those who were seeking to join Class C the next year.


    Donovan was an imposing man by his own right, so appearance-wise he fitted the bill to become PSC marshal. His dirty blond hair was not unlike Cecilia¡¯s, and he had a face that was comparable to a rough boulder. If he put on a chequered shirt and overalls he would look like a stereotypical lumberjack, but in the school¡¯s semi-formal uniform he was just a big guy with an abundance of short facial hair.


    ¡°This is an unprecedented situation as I was never expected to become marshal, so we won¡¯t have an internal election lest we set inappropriate precedents. There won¡¯t be a new president, and I¡¯ll leave the student body to our general operations manager, Anne Congreve.¡±


    A freckled brunette with twin ponytails in the audience stood up at the mention of her name, waving to her peers as they clapped in response. It was a clear acknowledgement of her rising to the position of president in all but title.


    ¡°Of course, our faculty advisors, Mr Verne, Mr Nigel and Mr Madison will continue in their roles unchanged, and helping out where there¡¯s any backfilling of duties needed as a consequence of my departure. As for myself, I won¡¯t say goodbye to all of you yet. I¡¯ll still be here as a senior member, as well as my trusted classmates who are going with me to the PSC. We¡¯ll just be doing less work here, and it¡¯ll be a wonderful opportunity for others to take on leading roles on both the stage and the drama department.¡±


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Murmurs abound, Donovan continued professionally with the corporate smile on his face.


    ¡°As you all know, we¡¯re gonna be performing our rendition of Auxirian Idiot as a part of the talent show and a few of us moving on to the PSC were casted in some major roles, including myself where I¡¯ve been casted in Tommy¡¯s role. We¡¯ll have to vacate these roles and the faculty must recast them. Mr Verne?¡±


    Mr Verne stood up at his cue and waved to the obviously growing noise that was the crowd.


    ¡°Although this will mean our schedule is a bit shorter to make the November timeline for the talent show, which is only less than seven weeks out, hopefully we can find the appropriate people to fill in these roles in the stage performance by the end of this week. This means emergency tryouts, especially for the role of Tommy.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Tommy¡¯s role tied to Whatzshecalled¡¯s?¡±


    A question from the audience was shouted out at Mr Verne, who took it good-naturedly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why the tryouts will be different from usual. We don¡¯t want to take away roles that were already decided on, but we¡¯ll have to accommodate both sides by making some compromises between the tied roles and our new replacements.¡±


    Cecilia, who was spaced out staring at the floor, looked up at Mr Verne¡¯s response. She didn¡¯t expect her part, Whatzshecalled, to be managed in this manner. In her head, she sighed at Mr Verne¡¯s decision as, while it was nice to retain a main role, it wasn¡¯t worth the daggers in the eyes of her peers that were now unrelentingly digging into her back. She sat alone in one of the chairs near the front as she usually did, since almost none of Class C were her friends.


    ¡°Then what you¡¯re saying is, we¡¯ll have to recast Tommy¡¯s role with Cecilia remaining in her part?¡±


    ¡°For now, yes, that¡¯s our intention.¡±


    Anne asked to specifically confirm, and nodded agreeably at Mr Verne¡¯s answer. Murmurs turned loud at the revelation and a girl behind her piped up in response.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we recast both parts?¡±


    In Auxirian Idiot, Whatzshecalled was a true rebel that Tommy met in the city ghetto, whom he fell madly in love with. So if Donovan was vacating Tommy¡¯s role, then Cecilia expected her role to be re-casted too, but apparently that wasn¡¯t the case and it didn¡¯t fall on the deaf ears of her peers.


    ¡°Because we really don¡¯t have enough time to do both roles¡¯ recasting. It¡¯ll be a lot faster if Mr Verne can make an executive decision on who gets Tommy¡¯s role, or on any of the roles, to be very honest. If the AC announced the talent show at a sooner, more appropriate timing, we wouldn¡¯t have this kind of time crunch.¡±


    Donovan slighted the AC behind a reasonable explanation in place of Mr Verne, who himself nodded in agreement. It attracted some sneers from the crowd, naturally so as they were Donovan¡¯s clique.


    ¡°In any case, our ultimate goal is to put on as good of a show as we can with the resources we have, so let¡¯s put our faith in Mr Verne to see this through.¡±


    Anne piped up to affirm Donovan¡¯s assertion. With both de facto leaders of the drama department taking the same stance the rest of the room quieted down, albeit begrudgingly.


    ¡°Thanks, Anne.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, no need to thank me. Your explanation is reasonable, given our circumstances. That¡¯s all.¡±


    And just like that, Donovan and Mr Verne sat back down as the rest of the room started moving again, suddenly dismissed. A smaller crowd gathered around them to ask further questions, but otherwise the club returned to their regularly scheduled programs.


    There were a few specialists within the drama department. The fashion team, for example, was in charge of makeup and costumes. There was the small film crew, who took care of producing the show from off the stage. A few were in the publicity team, which took care of advertisement and liaison with those outside the drama department; doubling as secretaries for Donovan and Anne due to the nature of that role. Most of the rest were in the nebulous stage crew, who were responsible for everything on stage; from procuring props, lighting, and sound for performance prepping, to directing cues and making scene transitions during a performance.


    Performers, those who were selected to play a role in a performance, were not mutually exclusive. Students were expected and did take on multiple roles, whether they were performing or not, and the big stage crew was usually made almost entirely of performers; there might be a few outliers when there was not enough manpower. Only the most precocious of performers would not voluntarily accept a stage crew role, for example the relocation of props during a transition. All of these people were under the direction of the president and the general operations manager¡ªwhich was just another name for the vice-president¡ªto bring the whole thing together into a show.


    ¡°Looks like you lucked out. You got to keep your role, Celia.¡±


    ¡°Not too bad, is it? I¡¯d bet it was Don who vouched for you.¡±


    ¡°I wish I had Don¡¯s bankrolling too. Celia, what¡¯s your secret, really?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any secret, really¡­¡±


    ¡°Aw, don¡¯t sell yourself so low, Celia. If you just kept yourself not so shaggy, you could have been a popular girl for sure.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious that Don¡¯s liked you since the start of high school. You¡¯re still unsure? If I were you, I would¡¯ve taken his bait a long time ago, just for the benefits.¡±


    ¡°Flora, it¡¯s useless. Celia¡¯s too airheaded to even know that that was an option, despite us reminding her all this time.¡±


    ¡°I know, Risa. Celia¡¯s been too obstinate. What¡¯s wrong with Don?¡±


    Cecilia¡¯s only two friends in the drama department were these two black-haired Yue girls from Class 3-E. They weren¡¯t performers like Cecilia was, and instead they were just enthusiasts who were part of the fashion team, and luckily for Cecilia they were the only ones who were willing to do her makeup for her these last two years. As dedicated makeup artists and hairdressers, naturally, their faces too were perennially behind mascara and powder, and wore intricate hair accessories, earrings and baggy clothes of today¡¯s popular trends. Together with Cecilia, their appearance was not too far from the classical punk style and ethos.


    ¡°I told you guys many times. He¡¯s just not the type for me. You saw how he took the PSC job so readily. I don¡¯t think I can handle being the¡­ the marshal¡¯s object of affection.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you. A man¡¯s gotta have some ambition to be a man. From my point of view, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.¡±


    ¡°And besides, it¡¯s not like you¡¯re accepting his hand in marriage. If it really turns out that you don¡¯t like him, then you can leave him after we graduate. You can¡¯t force a relationship that isn¡¯t working anyway, so no harm in that.¡±


    ¡°You two¡­ if I really were like you two, I would have done that a long time ago, but I still don¡¯t want to be so involved like that. I dunno, it¡¯s just hard to put myself into the fire.¡±


    Cecilia could only force a smile at her two sighing companions.


    ¡°I guess that can¡¯t be helped. Celia¡¯s been too traumatized, eh?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say traumatized, just really cautious, and I just don¡¯t want to have unnecessary trouble following me around.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we call traumatized, Celia.¡±


    Flora patted her head as Risa picked up their schoolbags, preparing to leave. There was only this general members¡¯ meeting, and the fashion team didn¡¯t need to show up as much as the performers, after all.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see you around, Celia.¡±


    ¡°See ya.¡±


    ¡°Bye.¡±


    The two fashionable gals left the buzzing room, leaving Cecilia alone in her seat once more. Cecilia appreciated their friendship over the last two years. If they were Class C, they would not have been friends at all, and even as non-Class C students, it was already a miracle that they remained friends for this long.


    ¡°Cecilia!¡±


    A shrilly voice called out not long after the Yue pair departed and it was a voice Cecilia recognized like the back of her hand, for better or for ill. It was Anne, and as usual the annoyance and disapproval in her tone was as clear as day, despite the neutrality of the lettered words that were coming out of her mouth.


    ¡°Have you finished helping the lighting team fix their setup? Last I heard, we needed to replace several big coloured lights and put them together, and they¡¯re going in the centre, so it¡¯s important we have it. What¡¯s the status?¡±


    ¡°Um, I still haven¡¯t been able to get the lights replaced. I¡¯ve handed the potential receipt to Ariel, but she hasn¡¯t approved of the transaction yet.¡±


    ¡°And did you ask Mr Verne to push that forward? The drama department¡¯s funded nominally through the student government, but we, as a non-partisan union, can have our money bills recommended directly by the faculty.¡±


    Procuring resources for school clubs was somewhat bureaucratic in Korolev Senior. In general, school clubs were divided between two groups; ones affiliated with the AC, and the independents. In technical terms, the first group were school clubs funded directly by the student government; the second group were known as non-partisan unions, i.e. student organizations established by the faculty. This was what the drama department was. In other words, if the student council was not willing to provide funds, the faculty sponsoring the non-partisan union could recommend a money bill amendment in the Assembly to enforce the change in the budget. Of course, this was the case only if the faculty agreed to intervene, and that was what Anne was asking for.


    ¡°No, not yet. I just asked Ariel last Friday, so it¡¯s only been two days¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Hmph. I know you¡¯re friends with Madam Secretary, but I¡¯ve told you many times before. If they don¡¯t get anything done within two days, use Mr Verne¡¯s position to get things done. Like Mr Verne said, we have just seven weeks to get a stage performance out the door, and neither the setup nor the casting are even close to wrapped up. We don¡¯t have spare days to waste, do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Um, but we¡¯re not supposed to use Mr Verne as much as possible¡­¡±


    Of course not. Using faculty intervention was controversial because it violated the ¡°students governing student life¡± principle. For non-partisan unions, it obviously happened more often, but usually only with good reason, and the only non-partisan union that regularly warranted this intervention was the student newspaper club. Anne rolled her eyes.


    ¡°And I have a stage performance to bring together. The Assembly¡¯s convention is tomorrow, so let¡¯s use what we have to get this done, all right?¡±


    Anne closed on the topic just like that, leaving her in a sticky situation. As Cecilia was a Member of the Assembly for the Class C constituency, thanks to Donovan¡¯s grace, she would have to propose a money bill in the Assembly¡¯s convention tomorrow with Mr Verne¡¯s signature, which should expedite the passage of the bill within the session. Anne basically told her to take the brunt of the blame if the Assembly, especially the Mona faction, took offence to faculty intervention.


    In the years that the AC¡¯s faction controlled the student council, every faculty intervention went to the courts; essentially filibustering by delaying that bill¡¯s passage by a week since the court almost always returned in favour of the faculty, and the Assembly convened only once a week. The judicial review would not accomplish anything substantial, but it obviously frustrated the efforts of the PSC and the non-partisan unions that backed the PSC. This was a major reason why the contest over the student council was important to these two factions.


    ¡°All right.¡±


    Cecilia could only feebly agree with Anne¡¯s patronizing suggestion. Anne responded with another impatient roll of her eyes, and without wasting a second she switched to the next item of business.


    ¡°On the topic of procuring new stuff, I believe the fashion team too had a list of items that they need purchased. Go ahead and make them from our purse, and get it to them by next week when they meet. Check with Mabel to make sure you¡¯re getting the right things for her.¡±


    She handed a paper list to Cecilia, who also had access to the drama department¡¯s purse, and again thanks to Donovan. It was a liquid pool of cash for the department carried by the faculty advisors, and it was a subset of the overall budget. The remaining balance was inside student council.


    ¡°Okay, understood.¡±


    ¡°For now, please go to Mr Verne anyway. He needs your help with recasting Tommy¡¯s role. Go on.¡±


    Casually and honestly quite abruptly, Anne dismissed Cecilia with a wave of her hand and moved on without a second thought to the next group of students to berate; at least that was Cecilia¡¯s imagination. Thinking rationally though, Anne had always been like this to her, and she didn¡¯t expect Anne¡¯s attitude to change.


    ¡°Ah, Cecilia, you¡¯re here.¡±


    At the corner of the chalkboard were the three faculty advisors and Donovan, surrounded by some of the remaining cast; the departing cast, of course, didn¡¯t need to be there. Donovan graciously came up to Cecilia first.


    ¡°Sounded like you got an earful from Anne over there. Don¡¯t take it too personally. She¡¯s trying to get things done by a deadline.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, I didn¡¯t take that personally, Don. Don¡¯t worry ¡®bout it.¡±


    ¡°Cool. Good to hear.¡±


    Cecilia, of course, didn¡¯t mention the part where Anne was like this to her on a regular basis, though Donovan already had an idea that that was happening. Plus, she was sure Anne was using Cecilia¡¯s personal connection to Ariel and therefore the student council to try to expedite some of these money requests, and when things weren¡¯t working out, Anne immediately threw it away and proceeded to go with a method that utterly disrespected Ariel¡¯s position; all while Cecilia did the dirty work.


    ¡°Cecilia¡¯s here? Great, then most of the main cast¡¯s here. Then let¡¯s start.¡±


    Mr Verne noticed that Cecilia joined them, and got the attention of the cast. Cecilia guessed that Anne volunteered to Mr Verne to call her over because Anne had housekeeping items to push on her.


    ¡°As we all know, we¡¯re in a bit of a pinch because we need to recast a bunch of roles. Most importantly, we¡¯re recasting Tommy¡¯s and St. Timmy¡¯s roles. Quite honestly, we¡¯ve lost too many star talents both on and off the current cast to Don¡¯s new job, and I don¡¯t think any of you left in the secondary roles would want to upgrade to a main role when we¡¯re already three weeks into practice.¡±


    The students looked around to each other in curiosity, but also in expected silence. Mr Verne¡¯s appraisal was accurate. There was already a drought of star talents in the drama department after the seniors from last year had graduated, and on top of losing the students moving out with Donovan, the pool of talent left was even drier.


    ¡°Normally, I¡¯d suggest bringing up first- or second-year students in this case, but that¡¯s not fair to them on this short of a timeline; using them to fill in the vacant secondary and backup roles is already challenging enough.


    ¡°So we¡¯re open to multiple avenues of filling these roles; if anyone is willing to volunteer for an upgrade, let me know by the end of the day after tomorrow, because we¡¯ll need to find a replacement for the role you¡¯re vacating. Afterwards, we¡¯ll go back to the tryout list from before and ask those on it to quickly re-audition. Sounds good?¡±


    Surprisingly there were no complaints about the arrangement. Probably because it was an emergency situation, they were more willing to let the teacher handle everything.


    ¡°Cecilia, you will need to choose somebody to pair up for Tommy¡¯s role. Please show up for club every day this week to do the re-casting with us.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Cecilia looked away from Mr Verne to Donovan expectantly, and he shrugged with an expression that read ¡°it isn¡¯t my problem anymore¡±. There was no doubt that Donovan was excited for this golden opportunity in the PSC, basically being handed a free pass upwards. From the utilitarian perspective, she felt a bit uneasy with Donovan¡¯s departure as he was her get-out-of-jail-free card for years, but at the same time she was emotionally relieved to not have to implicitly reject his advances over and over again.


    ¡°Or, if you think otherwise, you can also settle for a downgrade by the end of the day after. You¡¯re welcome to do that, and so is anyone else.¡±


    Although the offer sounded great in the ears of the others, it was not really acceptable given the little time they had left. Despite that reality, she could still feel the smirks and snarky eyes on her; though it was a logical fallacy that this decision affected her at all, the optics seemed cynical enough.


    They were dismissed early because of the need to wait for the recasting, with the drama department only doing housekeeping work. While there were hardworking members staying behind, knowing they would need all the time that they would get, the performers couldn¡¯t make much progress without the main roles filled out. Donovan waved to Cecilia as she was about to leave.


    ¡°Hey, Cecilia. Sorry again, eh? I wished I could have casted in the play together with you. I have no doubt that it would have been a great show.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Don. You¡¯re moving up in the world, so just take it as you should.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to move to the PSC with me? You don¡¯t have to put much effort into it. You can just coast alongside me, and relax and get some benefits. Anne¡¯s too much of a chore for you, no?¡±


    Suddenly, Donovan took her by the hand, and quite elegantly too; as expected from a star talent. He seemed truly sincere in his words, and perhaps too conspicuously attached to her. She let him hold her hand, as she did many times before, and amicably declined whatever he suggested, as she also did many times before.


    ¡°I¡¯m very sure. I¡¯m not interested in the PSC. Like you said, if Anne¡¯s really too much of a chore for me, I would¡¯ve agreed with you the first time.¡±


    ¡°Then, can you at least tell me why? Is it because of your cousin?¡±


    Cecilia let out a forced laugh and almost rolled her eyes, but luckily her general lethargy prevented her from doing so.


    ¡°No, no, no, Stephen has nothing to do with it. Our families might not be close, but we¡¯re not enemies either.¡±


    She extricated her hand from his grasp and turned away to the side with a harsh look on her face, unwilling to say any further. Donovan, of course, saw the discrepancy between her expression and her words in plain sight but agreed with her nonetheless.


    ¡°I see. If you say so, then I¡¯ll take your word for it. I wished you could have joined me, but if you insist, then please make Auxirian Idiot successful. It¡¯ll be in your hands, Cecilia.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be in Anne¡¯s hands?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the star, after all. You¡¯ll end up choosing the next Tommy, now that my role in the drama department¡¯s been relegated.¡±


    ¡°You mean that¡¯s your doing? Why?¡±


    ¡°Well, for this particular instance, I really think you have the talent to make the show a success, so at the very least I want to keep you in a primary role to put at ease Mr Verne¡¯s headaches. Of course, I¡¯ll still be around here to help out, just less often than I would¡¯ve liked.¡±


    She nodded slowly with a twinge of cynicism. It was another way of saying ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave behind a mess of a student organization because it¡¯ll hurt my reputation down the road¡±.


    ¡°Whatever, dude. Then exactly how often are you gonna be sticking around to help out? Not enough to be here every day I assume. That¡¯s why you had to give up your role.¡±


    ¡°It seems at most I can join only a few times a week, probably less. Sadly, there¡¯s much to do on the PSC side, but at least with me in charge, the rest of the drama department will continue to be in good standing. The PSC is our patron, after all.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s unfortunate that you don¡¯t want to come with me. You¡¯re welcome to change your mind at any time, if you so choose to.¡±


    He left behind a wink, to which she promptly shrugged and turned again to leave the drama classroom. She let out a breath of relief as her tedious day finally ended.


    If Donovan mentioned Stephen, then she didn¡¯t expect him to have any trouble moving into the PSC. They had a good friendship to start with already, and while Gilbert resigned, Stephen decided to, controversially, stay on the PSC. This was the source of the narrative that Donovan would just become a puppet of the Gilbert faction, which had many grains of truth in it, knowing their friendship quite well. She sighed at the thought of Stephen, with whom she had a neutral yet rocky relationship with, and as her thoughts drifted from Stephen to her family, she sighed again and shook her head furiously to try to get rid of it from her thoughts. No need to think any deeper than it was necessary, she told herself.


    Instead, she forced her thoughts to wander back to her encounter earlier in the day with the rebel from Class F. She remembered the siege of the 3-F classroom not too long ago and how Stephen was on one side while Caius was on the other. It was almost surreal to think that people like these actually existed, personifying two opposing positions and ideals not just from their actions but from their very personalities as well. Even more interesting was how a plain person like her had some kind of connection to these two extraordinary individuals, not unlike how Tommy first went into the city and was at the same time awed and disappointed by the city lights; awed by its romanticism, disappointed by its reality. As she exited the school through the big front doors and skipped off the grand steps, she snickered to herself at the realization that she looked forward to having Caius rejoin her at some point to discuss Auxirian Idiot again.

 3.4 Dreams of Another Place and Time

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s cleaner than when I was a kid, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    The hurricane known as the Elites arrived at the old playground, at about six in the afternoon. It was not the shortest way home for Kato and his entourage, or for the members of middle class families that were Franco, Caius and the Jupiter sisters, but it was only a short detour, so they didn¡¯t mind the extra couple of minutes.


    From school, they had to climb up a pavement path on the side of the hill that the urban playground was atop of. Overlooking the inner city, the hill faced west and they could see the sun making its way down to the short peaks in the distance that surrounded the valley. A picturesque scenery for sunset sightseers.


    ¡°But it didn¡¯t change much. They changed out the rubber mulch a couple of years ago but that¡¯s it. That¡¯s probably why it looks clean.¡±


    ¡°The slides, the monkey bars, the jungle gym, the swings are all still here.¡±


    Mayumi climbed to the top of one of the slides and sat there to watch the sunset, feeling just a bit of nostalgia as she took in deep breaths of her old home neighbourhood¡¯s air. The rest of the Elites, however, were still in heated discussion about the result of the Class War from lunchtime.


    ¡°The match was too close to call. Is it because Class C doesn¡¯t have enough smart people, or is Class D especially strong this year?¡±


    ¡°Class D is stronger this year. They definitely didn¡¯t expect Class D to do this well. Remember it was Mr Rigel doing all that literature quizzing. Now we know that at least in literature, Class D is comparable to Class C.¡±


    ¡°Even on the whole, Class C and Class D are on par with each other.¡±


    ¡°Ariel, how do you know that?¡±


    ¡°The Records Office has data.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Scary.¡±


    Their large gathering from lunchtime had increased by one. Bianca joined them when doing the student council work that they all had some part in after school. For some of the Elites, it was a part-time job when they needed to align together items and strategies for the weekly conventions of the Assembly, while the rest were there to just hang out. But for the Jupiter sisters it was nonstop work to get student government running smoothly with their Class B classmates, and that work needed to also be done at lunchtime.


    ¡°Anyway, Class C narrowly won the war, but they imposed a really strict peace treaty onto Class D. They played for keeps, so whether it was narrow or not, it was still an all-or-nothing game. I feel sorry for Class D because they almost made it.¡±


    ¡°Three seats in the Assembly, taking the prime time slot for Class C in the talent show, and unrestricted requisitioning of resources from the clubs headed by Class D students for the purposes of that talent show. That last thing is like a kick in the nuts for the AC.¡±


    ¡°A kick in the nuts for the AC while asserting Donovan¡¯s authority in the newly re-formed PSC. Re-formed with the hyphen. Unrestricted requisitioning means money and capital, so both funds and physical equipment can be confiscated from those clubs by Class C until the end of the talent show.¡±


    ¡°Off the top of my head, I believe the presidents of the Alchemy Society, a couple of the science clubs, literature, photography, and chess clubs are in Class D. Did I miss any?¡±


    ¡°Likely doesn¡¯t matter if you can¡¯t remember them. They probably wanted the photography club¡¯s massive studio setup to do their own photo-shoots for the yearbook or something.¡±


    ¡°And they used a Class War to nick their stuff? They¡¯ve got balls.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a you-eat-them or they-eat-you world out there, brother. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem if the drama department didn¡¯t have beef with those clubs from Class D, but then again it¡¯s normal for a PSC-affiliated group to be at odds with the AC-affiliated ones.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d think that Gilbert and Mona are on good enough terms personally that they wouldn¡¯t fist-fight like this, but I guess not.¡±


    ¡°Well, mommy and daddy being on good terms doesn¡¯t mean that their children won¡¯t fight each other to the death. It¡¯s a zero-sum game for them, to be honest. Like the talent show, that¡¯s the first major school-wide event, and obviously everybody wants the prime time slot.¡±


    ¡°Because Class A is still suffering from the fallout of the PSC, and my class is one-half too busy on SLO duties and the other half in music doesn¡¯t need the prime time, the spotlight was on Class C and Class D.¡±


    ¡°Class C is basically the whole drama department, but what was Class D gonna do with the prime time?¡±


    ¡°They were going to do some kind of a skit or performance too, using resources from outside of the drama department. They¡¯re definitely gonna put on a crappier show, but it¡¯s about sending a signal. It¡¯s like a big ¡®fuck you¡¯ to the drama department, both the students and teachers.¡±


    ¡°They were just gonna wing something? Now that¡¯s ballsy. And they almost did it too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. That narrow win is gonna cast a long shadow on Class C and the PSC, but for now, they¡¯re safe.¡±


    Bianca¡¯s presence was a strong one too. As the chancellor, also known as the student council treasurer, she was also the de facto vice-president, a role and title that unfortunately was not explicitly defined in the constitution. In Mirabelle¡¯s continued absence from school, all of the president¡¯s responsibilities fell on this unofficial VP.


    Unlike her twin, however, Bianca didn¡¯t have the same enchanting, almost possessive charisma¡ªthough she had the physical attractiveness¡ªthat led them to victory in the student council election last school year, so it was taking all she could to keep the machine together. What she lacked in natural charm she compensated with her talkativeness, diligence and fiery spirit, and thus she almost always took control of the conversation, especially against the Elites.


    Despite the gaping differences in personality, appearance-wise Bianca was a mirror image of Mirabelle. They and their family were pure-blooded Yue, characterized by their narrow eyes and rounded noses. Usually, Bianca tied up her silky black hair in a loose bun, and her front still had really impressive fringes. If Kato had to say something, her most attractive feature was her bright rosy lips, thin but also had the width at just the right points and undeniably kissable. Of course, it meant the same for Mirabelle, but he was not going to say any of that to either of them.


    Kato was quiet the whole time, merely observing the tropical storm immersed in their school politics. He stepped away from the group to look up at Mayumi, perched up high at the top of the slide.


    ¡°Mayumi, how¡¯s your right eye been? Is it manageable?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just about. It¡¯s been the same since I¡¯ve left. Nothing¡¯s wrong with it.¡±


    ¡°Do you still have depth perception problems?¡±


    ¡°From time to time. You get used to it in your daily life. It¡¯s only a problem when I see new or disorienting things.¡±


    He continued to stare at Mayumi, who noticed and peeled away from the sunset to stare back, still smiling. The orange sunlight bathed her figure in a golden aura, though against her navy blue uniform it blended in poorly. He wasn¡¯t fazed by the staring contest. He never was about a physical exchange.


    ¡°What about the power in your eye? Can you still use it?¡±


    ¡°It took you long enough to mention it.¡±


    Though the smile disappeared, it didn¡¯t turn into a frown. It was a matter of fact, after all. She stuck out her bottom lip, shrugging indifferently.


    ¡°It¡¯s the same old story. It¡¯s not as strong as it was before, though. I still can¡¯t defeat automatic tables, and I still get super exhausted after using it.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least you can now use it without dying anymore. And you can control when to use it.¡±


    ¡°I know, right? Clairvoyance sounds really cool, until you realize it wrecks your body entirely.¡±


    ¡°How much does it wreck you when you use it now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s reduced to just fatigue now. It was thanks to you that I¡¯m still alive and wasn¡¯t killed by the clairvoyance in my right eye.¡±


    She smiled again, putting her hand to the bandage patch on her right eye to uncover it just enough so that Kato could see it.


    He wasn¡¯t surprised. It was the same as it was the last time he saw it. The iris was rainbow-coloured and it blended completely and malignantly with the sclera, but more importantly, her right eye was lame. The pupil only stared forward without purpose, in contrast to her left that was aimed squarely at Kato.


    ¡°There¡¯s still no vision in your right eye?¡±


    ¡°Nope. It¡¯s permanently gone. Though we knew that would be the case anyway. It¡¯s only good for clairvoyance now.¡±


    ¡°So then what¡¯s the eye patch for? Are the rest of the dead eye¡¯s biological functions working properly? I can see its motor functions are gone already, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true, but also, I still can¡¯t actually control my clairvoyance per se, because it¡¯ll automatically start reacting to light. That¡¯s why I have to wear the eye patch all the time. At least there¡¯s an on-off switch compared to before when it randomly activates and kills me in the process.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see. So you¡¯re peering into the future right now?¡±


    ¡°Only a few seconds ahead. I have to constantly reel it in mentally to not get too far and completely tire myself out. Sadly my body¡¯s still pretty weak compared to a normal person¡¯s, so I can¡¯t exert myself. I still cough up blood from time to time.¡±


    Kato gave her a sour face as she let go of the bandage, letting it snap back in place over her eye. Her face suddenly softened, turning the reliable grin of a gang boss into something gentler and becoming of her age.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I always feel like I owe you something all the time. I¡¯ve said it many times before I moved away, but I can¡¯t help but feel the need to say thank you to you again and again. So now that I¡¯m back, I¡¯m gonna say it again and again, for as long as I can. Thanks for saving my life.¡±


    It was the most relaxed expression that Mayumi had made since she arrived this morning. Her overbearing presence in the crew was like a taut wire, never failing nor faltering, but in this moment her heart was made of glass.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t save your life. What can a primary school kid do to prevent a terminal condition from claiming somebody¡¯s life? In the end, if it weren¡¯t for Lady Eterna healing your eye, everything else would have been meaningless.¡±


    Her right eye was born with the latent power of clairvoyance. She could see into the future, though with varying degrees of uncertainty. Peeking into the future caused great distress, pain, exhaustion and even internal injuries, enough usually to prevent her from breaking causal relationships of the physical universe with information from the future.


    However, her eye was defective and the burdens of the clairvoyant eye laid heavily on her body, leaving her naturally weak, prone to injury and requiring long recoveries. It almost reached a point of no return when the corrosive defect threatened to spread to her brain via the optic nerve, at which time she was hospitalized and in constant agony.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, but it was you who asked for that favour from Lady Eterna. If you weren¡¯t there to do that, surely I would have perished in that hospital.¡±


    ¡°I can only do what¡¯s within the limits of my ability, and even today, if something similar were to happen again, I can still only beg for help from somebody else.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t play down your role like that. It takes a lot to get on your knees to beg. Especially for you guys.¡±


    ¡°Hey, those circumstances were dire. There is no way I¡¯m going to let our egos get in the way of that.¡±


    Mayumi chuckled just a tad smugly, but it disappeared just as quickly.


    ¡°What I¡¯m saying is, your efforts weren¡¯t just as simple as convincing Lady Eterna to save my life. At the same time, my heart, too, was saved by you, Kato.¡±


    In the past, Kato often wondered why this version of Mayumi sometimes showed up in front of him, but today he had enough experience to be able to recognize the underlying motivations of this Mayumi. Yet, he preferred to pretend to not see it so that he could preserve the status quo.


    ¡°If I could fix your heart, then I must be the most under-qualified heart surgeon in the history of mankind. Who¡¯s heard of one who hasn¡¯t got a high school diploma yet?¡±


    ¡°Apparently, you¡¯re the only one. And the only one who can heal mine.¡±


    Kato broke off from their staring contest and rubbed his forehead, suddenly exhausted. Seeing him sighing, Mayumi let out her usual squawking laugh at his expense.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave it at that. How¡¯s Caius been?¡±


    She abruptly changed the subject, perhaps a little too quickly. He looked up again to see deep rosy cheeks, kind of like Alice¡¯s, and he secretly thought it was endearing. He couldn¡¯t help but feel an aura similar to Mirabelle¡¯s emanating from her, but the difference was that Mayumi was like a brother to him and nothing more, and she seemed to be well aware of that.


    ¡°He¡¯s been good. Nothing¡¯s changed much, still as loose a guy as he was back then.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, he just happens to end up being interested in trashy girls. It doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s trashy.¡±


    ¡°Being interested already implicates you in the crime, sister. Besides, I wasn¡¯t referring to that. His mouth can say some dangerous things, and inappropriately in front of guys and girls.¡±


    ¡°If he really stopped doing that, I¡¯d be surprised. And he didn¡¯t disappoint today. His attitude hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡±


    ¡°See, he¡¯s exactly as I advertised. No exchanges or refunds.¡±


    She looked away from him for the first time, back towards the glowing sunset and the city draped in orange.


    ¡°Then it seems like he¡¯s doing very well. Do you think I still need to talk to him?¡±


    ¡°About what?¡±


    ¡°You know, if he¡¯s still hung over by that.¡±


    Kato sighed. Though there were seven missing years between them, he still knew what she was talking about. But it was also something that wasn¡¯t his to solve, or rather, something that wasn¡¯t solvable by him. Because of that, he decided to give her a blunt answer.


    ¡°Of course, he has plenty to say to you. You definitely do too, by the looks of things. It¡¯s all on you, sister.¡±


    ¡°He does?¡±


    ¡°If you believed it didn¡¯t mean anything to him, you wouldn¡¯t ask me that question, would you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    Kato sighed again. He softened up and threw her a bone.


    ¡°That¡¯s my guess. It just depends on if there¡¯s an opportunity for you and for him to be willing to talk about it.¡±


    Mayumi obviously noticed and smiled again.


    ¡°You¡¯re not good at this kind of talk, are you?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t think I¡¯m the right person to talk to, now, am I? Look at it from my perspective. What would Caius think of it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about what he thinks of it. I just wanna talk to you about it.¡±


    ¡°Then this is whatchu gonna get.¡±


    Mayumi laughed out loud again. She slid down the slide, comically slowly because she barely fit inside the inclined plane. Upon reaching the bottom, she jumped off and onto the rubber mulch, showing a nimbleness which Kato was surprised that she had now. She was a loud but sickly girl when they were children, so it was reassuring to see her able to move around like that. With a wink, it seemed like she returned to her usual, pompous self.


    ¡°Just kidding. I get whatchu mean. You can leave everything to me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I definitely will. There¡¯s no way I wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Kato said, somewhat strenuously at Mayumi¡¯s ambiguity. Then again, he wasn¡¯t sure if he would have done anything differently were their positions reversed. At the very least, she was aware of her own place here and all the strings attached to it, and he could only patiently observe what was yet to come.


    <hr>


    After Mayumi left the playground, heading back down the slopes along the way they came from towards the school, the rest of them gathered at the east end of the playground where the chain-link fences separated it from the wide street that ran north-south. This was where the two groups normally separated, Franco, Caius and the Jupiter sisters in one direction towards the gentrified suburbs, the rest in the opposite direction for another inner city-like district. Though the former might be called a suburb, it was still dominated by high-rises, albeit with luxurious flats and not-as-cramped urban planning as the latter, Kato¡¯s busy home neighbourhood of Sancheung.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Today, however, Caius joined the Eternian children¡¯s group instead. They made their way north along Jordan Street, which eventually turned east into Kato and Eon¡¯s neighbourhood of apartment buildings. Peculiarly in this sector, some of the flats were not right on the main street, but rather there were sections with standalone shops before giving way to the apartment buildings immediately behind it, separated by a narrow pedestrian road that could barely fit two vehicles side by side. Needless to say, at the sections with the flats on the main street, there were more flats behind them too; the city was a dense concentration of mortar and steel.


    Eon lived in one of those, the relatively newer flats that were built on the main street after the land was bought off from the standalone shops in a wave of gentrification, while Kato lived in those ones behind the shops that resisted and remained. At the base of Kato¡¯s flat were small shop spaces that could also be used as garages. Since Kato¡¯s family lived with an Eternian nomenklatura, Karl, and now an Eternian Heart too, Sisi, it wasn¡¯t out of the ordinary for them to own a shop space directly below their flat on the second floor.


    While the girls, Yui and Alice, went up first, the three men remaining hung out at Kato¡¯s¡ªKarl¡¯s garage, taking out Caius¡¯ bicycle that he kept here on occasion because his own garage was tight on space. Eon and Kato each had their own bikes too, and stored in this garage too in fact. They didn¡¯t find much use for them except to get to school quickly when short on time.


    ¡°If I¡¯m gonna practice saxophone at home, I¡¯ll have to carry it on my bike in the morning. It¡¯s gonna be a hassle otherwise to bring it back and forth on foot.¡±


    Unlike Eon and Kato¡¯s situation, Caius¡¯ saxophone was his own so he could take it in and out of school on his own will. Not only that, but Caius lived in a detached house, meaning he could reasonably practice at home without complaints from neighbours. Affixing his saxophone¡¯s case to the multi-purpose rear seat with its fastener belts, Caius shepherded his black bicycle along the shallow ramp that extended from the one-and-a-half vehicles wide garage onto the pedestrian road, to where he halted.


    ¡°So we¡¯re gonna play band instruments for the talent show?¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, we can. Because at this rate we¡¯re definitely not going to make it in time with a rock band setup. Either way Alice really wanted to do the talent show thing, and it¡¯ll be the best opportunity for our debut, so why not?¡±


    ¡°Kato and being servile to women, name a more iconic duo.¡±


    ¡°Only a few specific ones. I don¡¯t want to hear that from a man who¡¯s also bullied by his sisters.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re also weak-willed against my older sister Katia too, so you can¡¯t count them against me.¡±


    ¡°Eon, Kato, please. Be grateful you have wonderful sisters. Being an only child here is a sad existence.¡±


    ¡°Then you have no idea how painful siblings are.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want siblings if you¡¯ve ever had them.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t want to live without siblings if your parents can¡¯t be your playmates and your time¡¯s spent alone with the radio or the television.¡±


    Caius shrugged amusedly at their simultaneous response.


    ¡°Anyway, when¡¯re auditions again?¡±


    ¡°Auditions are gonna keep going for the next four, five weeks. The talent show¡¯s on the first Saturday of November, so we still have lots of time.¡±


    ¡°We need to learn how to play these instruments from scratch, audition with them a month later, and then perform two weeks after? Sign me up on this death train.¡±


    They chuckled at Eon¡¯s reality check, putting into perspective how high and lofty their goal was. However, they were not discouraged one bit; they were confident, perhaps not in their ability but in their ego, to pull through this with hard work and dedication. This was the modus operandi of the old men of the Elites.


    ¡°If I know ourselves well enough, we¡¯ll probably get in by the skin of our teeth at the very last possible moment. In any case, I can always carry you guys when it comes to music.¡±


    Caius agreed with Eon¡¯s assessment as he mounted his bicycle, already ready to leave. Quick business was Caius¡¯ style, but perhaps that principle was a little lax today as he still had not yet moved.


    ¡°What do you guys think of Mayumi?¡±


    Caius calmly opened the can of worms, and Eon obliged to open it up with him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing on her. She¡¯s returned to us out of the blue, and personally, I¡¯m wary at what her motivation is, but I know it¡¯s got nothing to do with me, just as it was the case when she first left us. That¡¯s why I¡¯m fine either way. A blood brother returned. Nothing more, nothing less.¡±


    After putting everything on the table, Eon looked to Kato expectantly.


    ¡°You both already know exactly what happened back then. My opinion of her hasn¡¯t changed from that time, and it seems like her opinions haven¡¯t changed either. I¡¯ve never had a stake in any of this, and I¡¯ve even reminded her so, just earlier. Got it, Caius?¡±


    Caius nodded slowly, his serene face unflinching as usual, giving no indication of what was going through his head. Even in his voice, he showed nothing.


    ¡°Yeah, Kato, don¡¯t worry. I understand what you mean. It¡¯s not your fault to begin with.¡±


    ¡°See, there¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary here. Kato¡¯s probably sad now that he¡¯s going back to getting wrecked by us.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah, I¡¯m so looking forward to that, bro.¡±


    Even though this was supposed to be a serious conversation, their tendency to derail anything and everything arrived soon enough. Alice had a hard time reining them in because the only people who could rein them in were the men themselves.


    ¡°Did she say anything else, Kato?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t say much about herself. She¡¯s only asked me about you, which I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s worried about how you took it back then.¡±


    ¡°How did you respond?¡±


    ¡°I just told her it¡¯s an issue between the two of you. She should clean up after herself.¡±


    Caius nodded calmly again, accepting his answer. Seeing that, Kato felt as if he didn¡¯t say enough to reassure one of his best friends of his position. Though it appeared a black box while it was operating, still Kato was around Caius long enough to know how he actually operated, and so he knew no amount of words could relieve Caius¡¯ doubts. Despite that, he continued on.


    ¡°If you still have doubts about the past, then this is the time to ask her about it. I¡¯ve already given you my side of the story a long time ago, so it¡¯s up to you whether you want to believe it or confirm it or neither.¡±


    They stood together for a good thirty seconds of silence. They stared at one another, Eon and Kato on one side, Caius on the other. The noise of the city was loud in their ears without the sounds of their voices. Random shouts, car tires grinding on the road, ticking pedestrian lights, spinning bicycle chains, idling trucks and accompanying snaps of metal on concrete ground, were all common sounds of their familiar city.


    ¡°I get it, Kato. I believe you. It¡¯s not about that anymore. Truth to be told, I¡¯ve already given up on it. Now, it¡¯s more like I wanna see how I should treat our relationship from here on out, and hopefully nothing needs to be done about the past.¡±


    Though his words were steady, neither Eon nor Kato bought it at face value. What Kato said was not a supposition, but an assertion that Caius had misgivings about the past. If that half a minute of silence wasn¡¯t the evidence, then what else could it have meant?


    However, Caius didn¡¯t lie either. They could believe that his wound healed over time, but there were definitely parts of the story he kept to himself and out of sight of his best friends. Eon could only walk up to Caius to put a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°If that¡¯s all, then we¡¯ll leave it to you. Does that sound good?¡±


    Caius retracted his bike stand and put his feet on the pedals, already pedalling forward and away from them, and waved back with a content smile. Not once did the expression on his face crack.


    ¡°Sounds good, peeps.¡±


    And just like that, he turned and disappeared between the shops and back onto the main street. Eon shook his head, grieving already in front of Kato, who was bemused the whole time.


    Eon took a seat on the step to the side of Kato¡¯s garage, which was raised above the pedestrian road by a couple of steps, hence the concrete ramp from the garage opening. He put his hands to his forehead, the strain from their stare-down finally receding from his face.


    ¡°Aaughhhhhhh. This sounds like a pain in the ass, dammit. Why did Mayumi have to come back?¡±


    ¡°What? You didn¡¯t forgive her either?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not about if I forgive her or not. It¡¯s about if Caius can forgive her. That¡¯s what I mean by pain in the ass. You know Caius holds onto these grudges, even if he outright denies it. And you. You¡¯re actually directly involved too, even though you try to portray yourself not as such.¡±


    Kato sighed overdramatically, crouching down to Eon¡¯s level.


    ¡°Technically, yes, but you know I¡¯ve already done everything I could to make this situation not about me, even if it was by pure chance that I didn¡¯t give in to her wishes.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know, but either way this¡¯ll never end. But hey, at least it¡¯s not my fault.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind Mayumi returning to us?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. It¡¯s nice to have that kind of a spirit from back when we were kids, y¡¯know, the nostalgia. It¡¯s only really after her operation to fix her eye that things fell apart completely. How about you?¡±


    ¡°Same reasoning as yours. She¡¯s one of us, an original Elite, so why wouldn¡¯t I be happy that she¡¯s back?¡±


    Kato shrugged helplessly as Eon gave another sigh. It was extra depressing for Eon because he was also an original Elite but felt powerless to change its course. Kato and his sisters joined them at the start of primary school, but incredibly the original three had been together since kindergarten.


    ¡°So, what is this all exactly?¡±


    Suddenly, Alice appeared from around the corner together with her high-pitched, sharp, almost naggy voice. Crossing her arms, she came here for the explanation she wanted from Kato earlier in the day. Trailing behind her was Yui, still carrying their schoolbags in her arms.


    ¡°Were you hiding just behind the corner?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Yui¡¯s here too. Nobody¡¯s gone home yet.¡±


    She pointed up at the big steel cage that encased the opening in the concrete building that was a four-metre wide window, just above them on the second floor. No one could call their apartment building ¡°modern¡± as it was built with a brutalist architectural style, underlining its origins as social housing within the sprawling city. The building itself was really plain and nondescript, but the inhabitants decorated their metal cages with plant pots, minor household shrines, and clothes hanging off wooden bars for air drying. For social housing, this apartment was one of the better ones, excellent even.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised. But I think Yui remembered what happened, did you?¡±


    ¡°Only as a memory from long ago, but yes, I do remember the sequences of events. at least from an outsider¡¯s perspective. It was surprising for the rest of the class too, but most of them quickly forgot about it after Mayumi moved away.¡±


    Beside the space that was normally occupied by Karl¡¯s small car was something like a miniature living room, with a tiny desk, a cabinet and several chairs. There was even a cramped Oriental-style washroom that was a source of hot water. Alice entered the garage to sit down in one of the lawn chairs, crossing her bare voluptuous legs that were her speciality in lieu of any significant assets on her chest.


    ¡°Then, tell me what happened.¡±


    The boys and Yui looked at each other, and after a moment Eon motioned his head at Kato, who nodded in agreement.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it then. Let¡¯s start with the initial problem¡ªher clairvoyant eye.¡±


    <hr>


    Clank. Click.


    The lock to the folding metal grill barrier in front of the door deconstructed itself loudly as it always did. Thirty floors above the ground, Cecilia finally returned home with a Yue takeout meal inside the plastic bag she was holding onto.


    She lived in an inner city district not unlike Kato and Eon¡¯s, but the difference was that it truly was an inner city district which occupied the lowlands of the valley, which allowed for the construction of high-rises from early on in the city¡¯s development. It would be years before high-rises as tall as hers would occupy all of the hillsides, and lots of progress had already been made. The hustle and bustle here, though already enough for most people, was still nothing compared to central downtown or the ghetto.


    The entrance was quite dark, and she saw four pairs of shoes before the entryway. There were more on the rack to the side, but those were there for the alternating seasons and occasions. The bleached tiles extended further along the narrow passage that led to the well-lit living room and kitchen at its end, blindingly bright now that she closed the door behind her. There was a mixture of mumbles and rambles of male voices in Old Yue from that direction. Familiar clicks of stone on stone echoed throughout the apartment, but then suddenly these pebbles made a deafening waterfall and prompted her to move forward.


    She cautiously made her way towards the light, and the walls close enough for her both her raised elbows to touch. But before she was able to take a sharp turn to the left into another narrow corridor, a truly repugnant call for her stopped her in her tracks.


    ¡°Cecilia! Why d¡¯you come home late?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, Dad. I had club activities. They always make it long.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t be an ungrateful runt and call Steven¡¯s for takeout. We¡¯re all waiting for dinner here.¡±


    She was met with sneers from the other three middle-aged men of varying sizes sitting at the mahjong table that her father had been hosting probably for the entire afternoon. She could see the recently disposed styrofoam boxes in the overflowing trash bin in the farther corner that, most likely, her mother had ordered and paid for. Their ashtrays were filled with soot and although the window behind them was open, the scent of tobacco was still strong.


    ¡°And how many times do I have to tell you? Fix yourself up. You look awful.¡±


    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll call Steven¡¯s right now. The usual is fine?¡±


    Her hair was all over the place and it fell in front of her to obscure her face, giving off a roughed up impression. She did this on purpose, however, precisely because of the predatory stares of the other three men here in her home, to which her father was completely oblivious to. In fact, she regularly used the school¡¯s girls¡¯ dormitory facilities to shower before she returned home, changing from her uniform and miniskirt into the current jersey and sweatpants; the classic shut-in appearance. She normally carried a duffel bag around instead of a schoolbag for this reason. It was a little difficult to do in the summer because of the humidity immediately invalidating the shower, but there was no other convenient choice.


    ¡°Nng.¡±


    A strange grunt for affirmative, she stepped just inside the living room¡¯s boundaries to reach for the corded telephone perched atop a short wooden stand. While the living room was not as grimy as Cecilia expected it to be after the wear and tear of being a gambling site, it was nonetheless somewhat dusty and dirty, with smears of pigment or otherwise from chairs and other things scraping the white walls. The small couch was worn down enough for the plastic-like top layer to fracture into chips and pieces, revealing the woven lines of the fabric right underneath. The radio and television sat unused while they played, and they were just as run-down with the cracks and worn-out buttons and gears.


    She could already feel the lecherous stares from behind her, and unfortunately for her it was inevitable. There was bound to be a day where she couldn¡¯t avoid returning home in a tempting form, and since she was naturally on the attractive side, it undoubtedly caught the attention of these wretched middle-aged unemployed men who wouldn¡¯t have this kind of a chance to ogle otherwise.


    Cecilia immediately retreated after the telephone call was done with, hurriedly down the corridor and into her room. She made sure to lock and double lock the door behind her before she could let herself relax. Luckily, they never drink alcohol because it actually interfered with their game, so the chances of anything happening to her was relatively low, but the pressure and fear of this unknown still weighed heavily in the smoke-filled air. It was against all of her instincts to place any trust in those men, including her father.


    Unfortunately, her trips to the washroom were when she was exposed to risk, and there wasn¡¯t much she could do about it. This had been the state of affairs since she was young so she learned to live with it, but as a result she couldn¡¯t wait for graduation and get out of this godforsaken house.


    Sometimes, she lamented the loss of her father¡¯s sanity. About twenty years ago, a massive economic depression swept Auxiria as a result of a collapse in the financial system in the neighbouring continent of Eiria, first with the great Hellenic West Yunia Company going bankrupt. Businesses closed and companies disappeared, and it continued for years to come. Her father was swept up in one of the successive waves of foreclosing businesses, around when Cecilia was just a toddler. The image of a not depressed and miserable father was just a distant memory.


    She noticed a small grocery bag on the top of her crowded desk and promptly opened it up. It was a sizeable collection of packages of candy from a local confectionery, and Cecilia smiled wryly at it. She put it away in the topmost drawer underneath her desktop where she kept all the other packages because she wanted to control her sugar intake.


    It was something her mother left behind for her from daytime. Unlike her father who had lost his way to gambling, her mother worked many jobs day in, day out to keep Cecilia in school and the household fed. Possibly due to a combination of these influences, from very young she was taught to take care of her health because seeing the doctor meant exorbitant costs for her mother.


    As she weaved her chopsticks through her takeout dinner with her right hand, in her left she ran her fingers through the reading material from the classes she skipped. Instead of earphones, her compact disc player was connected with a bulky headset for use at home. She was sure she had the innate ability to make good use of her polytechnic education, and if she didn¡¯t have to take care of her mom and dad in the places they lacked, she would have made it into Class A by now. At least that was her hubris. It was only past seven-thirty, but in a couple of hours she would fall asleep on her bed, completely exhausted, and no amount of motivation could get her to focus well enough on her studies living in a household like this one.


    After paying the delivery boy with her mother¡¯s money and leaving the packaged meals behind in the living room, she threw away her own dinner¡¯s packaging and the rest of her room¡¯s trash into the garbage chute at the end of the apartment floor¡¯s main corridor. She occasionally saw a neighbouring boy, likely only approaching middle school age, shyly waiting around the corner to have a chance to talk to the fair, tall, older girl. She appreciated the company, but unfortunately he was a bit too young for her.


    However, today was rather unlucky as the one who waited round the corner was not the infatuated neighbourhood boy but her erstwhile family and cousin.


    ¡°What is it, Stephen? If you¡¯re looking for Dad, he¡¯s playing mahjong as usual.¡±


    ¡°Your tone hasn¡¯t changed, I see. Is it too difficult for you to behave civilized for once?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you noticed that I don¡¯t want to see you, then.¡±


    There was nothing but contempt in both of their stares, more animated so on Stephen¡¯s face than Cecilia¡¯s. Stephen almost physically flinched from holding back his tongue, but he managed to swallow it whole.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here for Marcel today. I need to speak with Aunt Nellie about the Yaumatei dance hall management gig she was offered a while back. Is she in right now?¡±


    ¡°Mom¡¯s busy. Come back later, and she might be here. Can¡¯t guarantee it though.¡±


    ¡°You do realize I¡¯m sent here as a gesture of friendship, right?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if Mom doesn¡¯t want to do anything for the old family. It¡¯s been like this for years and years now, and I¡¯m surprised that you all still haven¡¯t given up yet.¡±


    ¡°Father doesn¡¯t want to give up on his only younger sister, so I too have the same responsibility to Aunt Nellie. But if you insist, then I¡¯ll tell Father the same to drop this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. And tell Uncle Vincent that he¡¯s not going to convince Mom otherwise anytime soon. Just like every other time.¡±


    It was hard for anybody to figure out with Stephen¡¯s messy black hair and permanently rigid frown that this man was Cecilia¡¯s direct cousin. He was still in his school uniform, although somehow loosely clung to his big frame as if his shirt didn¡¯t deserve to be worn by his enormous ego.


    The old family was the Liguro family, from which Cecilia¡¯s mother had been estranged from, which operated a prominent property management business in Livia and Lien. They were in charge of the day-to-day running of property and naturally could perform consultant and other middle-man work between the renters and property owners. While the tycoons owned the land and property, it was the Liguro family that managed the buildings on it for the lay-people who came to rent, whether they were for private residences, commercial shop spaces or even factories.


    Of course, this naturally meant that the Liguro family business was dependent on the patronage of the real estate tycoons, especially their relationship with Mona¡¯s family, the Mackenzies. Being Gilbert¡¯s right hand man, the Gilbert faction and the Mona faction were in reality one and the same, no matter how different their politics in school were.


    Giving him a pout, this was what irked Cecilia in her childish idealistic dream-world. She could see first-hand the hypocrisy of supposedly diametrically opposed political factions being tied at the hip underneath their shirts. Just as in the real-world, powerful and seemingly opposed interests could be intricately tied together under the table.


    This was the fucked up world that Stephen represented for Cecilia, and perhaps because her mother also had this childish idealistic view, the ego to reject the corporate mob world and run away from home, that Cecilia turned out this way too. Because both these sentiments were part of Tommy¡¯s rejection of suburbia, Auxirian Idiot appealed to Cecilia so well.


    ¡°My concern is why Aunt Nellie insists on taking it on herself to do everything, including continuing to cling herself to some doofus like Marcel for all these years. She can return to the family at any moment because Father¡¯s generous enough to let her, but yet she doesn¡¯t. Why?¡±


    ¡°Your concern? It doesn¡¯t need to be your concern because neither you nor Uncle Vincent understand any of the principles that Mom lives by. Even if she¡¯s living in hell on earth, she will never look back at the old family and say she regretted leaving them.¡±


    ¡°Suit yourself. It¡¯s Father¡¯s wish to support Aunt Nellie, but you¡¯re free to continue to turn us down. Similarly, I wish for you to be in good shape.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t need your fake charity either. Whether it¡¯s the nomenklatura or the aristocracy, it¡¯s all the same bullshit to me.¡±


    Stephen¡¯s fuse was much shorter than Gilbert¡¯s, but at least it was only a snarl at the end.


    ¡°I won¡¯t argue principles right now. But the fact remains that you and I live in this reality, so grow up and deal with it.¡±


    ¡°Coming from you, it¡¯s gotta be a joke, right? Speak for yourself. But you¡¯re right in that let¡¯s just leave each other alone and not argue principles. Goodbye.¡±


    Though Cecilia¡¯s appearance wasn¡¯t as disturbed as Stephen¡¯s, whenever she spoke to him she felt an inexplicable urge to talk back and deny every one of his ideas. Stephen scowled as she attempted to turn around for home.


    ¡°And another thing. Watch your morning class¡¯ tardiness. You¡¯re gonna be put on probation if you keep this up.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a life lesson every time I speak to you. And don¡¯t be a creep. It¡¯s kinda fucked up for you to be able to look up my grades and attendance, so don¡¯t do it to other girls. I¡¯ll be the first to testify in a pedophilia case for you.¡±


    ¡°The PSC and the student council have all of that data. If you have a problem with it, then don¡¯t attend Korolev Senior.¡±


    ¡°Psh. It¡¯s more convenient for you to not have me attend the same school as you, eh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. No one can tell we¡¯re related anyway, even if you put Aunt Nellie and Father next to us.¡±


    Stephen pointed to his jet-black hair, on top aplenty but shaved short on the sides and back, and obviously different from Cecilia¡¯s dirty blonde hair; a colour that Cecilia inherited solely from her father. She sighed. It was enough, and she already talked back too much today. The day¡¯s fatigue made her especially inhospitable.


    ¡°Of course. Business as usual, then. Nothing has changed.¡±


    Stephen sighed as well. Perhaps because Cecilia was still family, it was easier to throw in the towel at this stage. He turned away without missing a step.


    ¡°Understood. Then let¡¯s keep it that way.¡±

 3.5 Horseshoes and Handgrenades

    ¡°Here.¡±


    ¡°Oof. Got it.¡±


    Caius caught the rice ball that Eon tossed at him from across the table, neatly in the palm of his hand. The ball wrapped tightly in plastic, Caius leaned back in his chair and casually peeled a part off to take a bite from it.


    ¡°Do you do this in your own classroom too, or are you only doing this because it isn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Nah, Bia, we do it when it¡¯s needed, whether it¡¯s here or there.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t throw food around here, please. It¡¯s me who¡¯ll have to clean up after you guys.¡±


    Bianca gave a blanket ban from the other end of the long conference table, where to her side were Ariel and Scarlett, considerably busy trawling through paperwork as they had already finished lunch before the Elites even joined them.


    The student council room was a double-classroom-sized labyrinth of desks, chairs and file cabinets, and they all sat at the large table in the inner depths of the room; there was another nearer to the main doors. At a glance it was a jam-packed office, but there was actually a good amount of manoeuvrable space upon closer inspection. Very luckily, there were wide windows that allowed natural sunlight and wind to assuage the cramped feel of the room.


    ¡°Is there a lot of student council work to do? How does it work?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s people and resource management. The school and the Assembly green-lights a budget for certain purposes, and we try to align our resources with the people who execute on it around school. For example, organizing the talent show takes a bunch of things. Booking and maintaining the facilities we¡¯re using, approving and auditing budget for resources requested by performers, publicity campaigns, etc. It¡¯s a lot more involved than you¡¯d think.¡±


    ¡°Most of that¡¯s done by the SLO and the AC. As the chancellor, I¡¯m supposed to be doing the budget auditing, but I also have to do the president¡¯s job while Mira¡¯s away.¡±


    ¡°What do you do as acting student council president?¡±


    ¡°It depends on the makeup of the administration¡¯s executives. Usually I help around wherever I can, but for the most part I¡¯m negotiating with a lot of different parties and managing their interests against others. For example, if an independent choir under the AC wants to use one of the music department¡¯s recording studios for their work, and the music department refused, then they come to the student council to get that issue resolved.¡±


    Bianca held up a file folder.


    ¡°If you remember, there are mailboxes outside in the hallway. They compile their requests and dump it in there, where we look through and follow up on it. Usually, they go to the SLO first, and then they file a request if they can¡¯t settle it easily.¡±


    ¡°To be more precise, the SLO and AC together can resolve their own internal problems, but anything that the AC itself can¡¯t touch will be escalated to the Department of the Administration, hence the mailboxes. Supposedly, Ariel should handle all of it, but a good chunk of it is either budget-related or requiring a student council president-level intervention.¡±


    Scarlett chimed in at Mayumi¡¯s continued confusion as she dumped another package of papers into some other file folder. The mailboxes outside looked like wooden filing cabinets, but of course like a mailbox had slits to hand in papers, originally used by teachers for students to hand in assignments.


    ¡°Huh, all that sounds like a pain in the ass.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a thankless job. You¡¯ll understand once you get here.¡±


    ¡°Then what do these asses here do?¡±


    ¡°Physical work. Like collecting docs or fetching us drinks.¡±


    A sinister grin appeared on Bianca¡¯s face, pulling out a warped and difficult expression from Mayumi. She held her eyepatch open in the disbelief that her henchmen were being manhandled by their rival.


    ¡°Is this true?¡±


    She spooked some of the others at the table with her malignant eye; the ones who weren¡¯t used to seeing it, at least.


    ¡°Sort of true, but rest assured, mon capitaine, we only do the most menial of labours here¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªhow is that supposed to be a good thing??¡±


    Mayumi let her palm flop loudly on the table to cut off Eon¡¯s ass of a response, but the rest of them heeded it no attention.


    ¡°Also, we only do this sometimes, since we¡¯re not welcome here on all days of the week¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªand how does that help??¡±


    Caius continued, but she remained just as upset.


    ¡°And most importantly, we do the absolute minimum required to ascertain that our efforts cannot be complained about¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªwhat¡¯s this, procrastinating in real life??¡±


    Sadly, Kato¡¯s punch line didn¡¯t help one iota to relieve her of her melodrama.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mayumi. Ever since you¡¯ve left, the rest of us made peace with the Jupiter sisters just as you had, and for good reason. We¡¯ve had bigger, more menacing enemies since.¡±


    Evie¡¯s matter-of-factly statement casually dowsed the fire with cold water, which was abnormal since it was usually oil instead. Mayumi accepted it gracefully as the rage in her body evaporated in almost an instant. She sat up and let her eyepatch snap back in place.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I understand that.¡±


    Alice, however, was unimpressed.


    ¡°Why so upset? I thought Kato was supposed to be the straight man.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes you have to put up a hard stance against insolence, don¡¯t you both think?¡±


    She pointed her finger at the duo who sat together, and they didn¡¯t deny her point, tacitly agreeing. Of course Alice and Evie would agree with that.


    ¡°Anyway, after school today I need to wait for the delivery truck to get to school and have them move it into our recording studio. We¡¯re getting our guitars and drum set and everything tonight.¡±


    ¡°Finally, we¡¯re starting the real thing!¡±


    ¡°Awesome!¡±


    ¡°I thought you said it¡¯ll be weeks before they come in!¡±


    ¡°If I don¡¯t manage your expectations, all of you would be jumping up and down like this and not focus on playing wind instruments properly.¡±


    Alice shrugged it off arrogantly, casually putting her tea to her mouth. Mayumi, though, was instantly animated.


    ¡°It¡¯s finally time for the Elites to become a rock band. I¡¯ll bring my own guitar tomorrow, and just in time, too.¡±


    Showing off her imaginary bling with double horn signs¡ªpinky and index fingers out while the others curled up¡ªthe men on their feet reciprocated with the same gang sign.


    ¡°Wait, are you actually joining us?¡±


    ¡°Of course I am, Alice. Even though today I only sat in for your practice session, I have every intent on playing with you. Now that we have three real music students, it¡¯ll actually work out.¡±


    Alice was slightly apprehensive as Mayumi seemed poised to hijack her operation, but at the same time she also needed as many real music students as she could get if she wanted them to participate in the talent show; and if Mayumi could already play guitar, then all the better.


    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s do this, then.¡±


    ¡°Yay~¡±


    ¡°And now the circle is complete. The original Elites are finally reunited for their reunion tour.¡±


    ¡°A reunion tour that we didn¡¯t need nor deserve. Good luck with it, Alice.¡±


    From across the table Bianca wiped at her eyebrows upon hearing the chortles from Eon¡¯s remark, amply aware of Mayumi¡¯s destructive tendencies. Alice could only sigh at her home econ classmate¡¯s warning.


    ¡°Hey, that reminds me of that old skit. Remember? Remember that one-shot ¡®Jack¡¯ parody sequence?¡±


    Mayumi shook Eon¡¯s and Caius¡¯ shoulders next to her as she got up from her seat, already positioning herself for re-enacting the skit. She bowed elegantly before she began with a crystal clear voice and an accent, almost completely different from her regular voice.


    ¡°Jack, we need to talk.¡±


    Caius cleared his throat as the other older Elites began snickering, knowing how the sequence played out.


    ¡°I mostly just like to yell!¡±


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll talk, and you can yell.¡±


    ¡°Yaaay!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about the band.¡±


    ¡°Which one?!¡±


    ¡°The one that you used to be in.¡±


    ¡°I was in a band¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°¡ªyes.¡±


    ¡°Were we good¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°¡ªno, but you were popular.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that good?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very good, Jack¡ª¡±


    While the boys were figuratively rolling on the floor laughing, Alice was quite impressed at Mayumi¡¯s mini-performance. With her wide, natural range of emotions put into action, it was especially remarkable. Also surprisingly, Caius¡¯ abilities weren¡¯t something to scoff at either, who was playing the role of a loud, dumb one-note character, and compared to his everyday disposition the contrast was impressive.


    ¡°Are those two actually this good at skits?¡±


    ¡°Very good, in fact. Eon and Kato, sadly, aren¡¯t as good.¡±


    ¡°Hey! At least I give it a try. I just trip up a lot when I¡¯m on stage.¡±


    ¡°And I know I suck at it.¡±


    Eon and Kato immediately fired back (but not really) at Evie¡¯s characterization, and the two girls merely smirked at their expense.


    ¡°Well, in that situation, I chose to do something that we in the music business like to call: ¡®lying through our teeth¡¯. But don¡¯t lose hope, Jack. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here; to lose hope for you~


    ¡°It¡¯s time we rebranded your catchphrase.¡±


    ¡°Rebranded?!¡±


    ¡°Rebranding is where you take a property that the general public is sick to death of seeing, change it slightly and promote it as something completely different.¡±


    ¡°That sounds both insulting and manipulative!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to call it: ¡®good marketing¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Well, now I think it sounds great¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Take a catchphrase for example¡ª¡±


    ¡°CARD GAMES ON MOTORCY¡ª!¡±


    ¡°¡ªJack, I will double your paycheque right now if you never say those words again.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s two times one billion¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°¡ªtwo-billion-jack.¡±


    Even the Jupiter sisters put down their pens to admire the exchange between Mayumi and Caius, though Ariel actually had to go to the door to greet the two newly arrived visitors waiting for someone to take care of them. Not surprisingly, the visitors also took a pause to watch.


    Eon filled in as the insignificant extra with a regional South Candoran dialect.


    ¡°S¨ª, Se?or Goodwin.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Godwin! Damn clowns and their clown language.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s racist!¡±


    ¡°Never mind my inherent hatred for other cultures, Jack, we have more important things to do. Like reunite Team Satisfaction.¡±


    ¡°Who?!¡±


    ¡°The band¡ªthe one that you were in.¡±


    ¡°I was in a band¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°¡ªyes, Jack.¡±


    ¡°Were they good¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°¡ªabsolutely! And that¡¯s why it¡¯s very important you talk to the other members about a reunion. It¡¯ll be good for you, Jack, but more importantly, it¡¯ll be good for the company.¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°But I haven¡¯t spoken to¡ªYUUSEI¡ª¡ªin years!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Jack. Yuusei¡¯s a smart kid. He¡¯ll come around real easy.¡±


    Using the space around her comfortably, she put it to good use expressing the Godwin character¡¯s emotions, especially at the ¡®absolutely!¡¯ where she put her arms in the air with such exaggerated joy that that was what she also wanted the audience to think; clearly cajoling the Jack character to agree with the business plan.


    ¡°But you guys are old friends, compadres, blood brothers, hetero life partners, slightly homo life partners¡ª¡±


    ¡°What¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªI¡¯m sure once you guys get together, it¡¯ll be like old times.¡±


    Mayumi grinned at the sitting Kato, signalling to him to start enacting the next segment casting as the Yuusei character. Kato rolled his eyes, though he got up from his seat anyway. However, the skit was interrupted suddenly by the visitors¡¯ arrival at their area.


    ¡°Perfect! Bravo! That was excellent! And Caius too I guess, that was very well done!¡±


    Eon snickered at the lame attempt, at least to the receiving end, of Mr Verne to include Caius in his praises when it was clearly Mayumi who was the star of the show.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. They¡¯ve always been good at these types of segments.¡±


    Surprisingly it was Ariel who complimented the two, standing next to Mr Verne and his companion visitor. The companion with the dirty blonde hair waved sheepishly at the crowd and struggled to smile as she was a little embarrassed.


    ¡°Celia! And Mr Verne too I guess. What¡¯s up?¡±


    Genuinely surprised, Caius immediately straightened up and got out of his act, though he subconsciously reused Mr Verne¡¯s quip against him.


    ¡°No assignments for you yet, Caius, don¡¯t worry. Although now that I¡¯m here, I have a great idea for you and the miss here. As you¡¯ve heard, I¡¯m Mr Verne, Class 3-C homeroom teacher and advisor for the drama department. What¡¯s your name and class?¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s eye sparkled, spirited as always. She bowed elegantly and politely, surprising Alice and Franco who only saw her silliness up until now.


    ¡°I¡¯m Mayumi Hanamiya, Class 3-F! I just transferred to this school yesterday from Regia Miriam. Pleased to make your acquaintance!¡±


    ¡°Mmm, good. Very good! I like that smile of yours! You¡¯re a very energetic one, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! And I can do this here all day!¡±


    She pointed to the smile on her face with both hands as an idol would, and even the Jupiter sisters had to gag when indirectly forced to bask in such radiance.


    ¡°Ahahahaha! Perfect! Then we¡¯ve solved our casting issue, now, have we?¡±


    He motioned emphatically to his student next to him, and she was just as surprised as Caius was on the other side.


    ¡°Uh, I suppose? You want them to be cast in the musical?¡±


    ¡°Musical? You mean what the drama department is doing for the talent show? Auxirian Idiot?¡±


    ¡°Exactly that, Caius. We need to do some emergency recasting because a number of the drama department are moving out to the Public Safety Committee. What do you think, Cecilia? Just by that skit alone, they¡¯re obviously really good, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Um, I mean, I¡¯m not sure, really. I don¡¯t have an eye for this kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t think we¡¯re good enough?¡±


    Mayumi interjected, smirking as she leaned forwards into Cecilia¡¯s face. She was taken aback by the aggression, thoroughly confused. The words that came out of her mouth were hurried and jumbled.


    ¡°No, no, no. I just don¡¯t know how to evaluate this sort of thing. On the surface, I guess, both of you look really talented, yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Mhm. I knew Caius had the skills already, but with both of you we can fill up exactly the two roles that we are missing: Tommy and his alter ego St. Timmy. What do you say? The drama department convenes in either the drama classroom or the Assembly Hall almost every day after school for rehearsing. We don¡¯t rehearse together at other times, but you¡¯re still welcome to do so. I understand it might be hard because they¡¯re both primary roles and the talent show is only six weeks away, but this kind of an opportunity comes only once in a lifetime, y¡¯know?¡±


    ¡°Uh, um¡­¡±


    In his receding hairline Mr Verne smiled widely as Cecilia stuttered, unsure of how to add to Mr Verne¡¯s pitch. The fact that Cecilia and Caius were staring at each other in a mixture of surprise, disbelief and a pinch of shyness, didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Mayumi. Like a shark, she smelled blood in the water. Though she was aware that she was on the impulsive side, she was still surprised at how fast she decided in her head.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be happy to be cast in the musical! I have two conditions, and the first one is that Caius must also be cast. We¡¯re a package deal, and if anything happens to one of us, we both go.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem with that. I wanted Caius to be cast in the first place.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a say in this?!¡±


    Mayumi easily agreed, and agreed for Caius as well, which shocked the rest of the Elites. Unlike Caius¡¯ weak-willed retort, Alice was the first to stand up in fiery defiance.


    ¡°Wait a minute! Mayumi, didn¡¯t you just say you¡¯re going to play for us? What¡¯re you doing, taking on another gig now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Alice. The Elites will practice in the mornings, and the musical¡¯s after school. A good balance of extracurriculars, dontchu think?¡±


    ¡°I mean, are you going to be able to balance that kind of a schedule?¡±


    ¡°Of course I can! It doesn¡¯t seem unbalanced to me!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yep!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to give my opinion on this either?!¡±


    Alice was extremely skeptical, but she sat back down tentatively at Mayumi¡¯s unwavering grin. If it were Alice, she wouldn¡¯t voluntarily throw herself into a situation as difficult as Mayumi¡¯s.


    ¡°Then what¡¯s your second condition?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re performing Auxirian Idiot, right? Before I give my other condition, there are some other things I want to know first. This is Cecilia here, right? What¡¯s her role in the musical?¡±


    ¡°My role? I¡¯m playing as Whatzshecalled.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. That¡¯s what I feared. This is my second condition. I want to play the role of Whatzshecalled. In turn, Caius will play Tommy and Cecilia will play St. Timmy. How about it?¡±


    ¡°Wait, Mayumi, you¡¯re familiar with Auxirian Idiot?¡±


    ¡°Well, of course, Caius. I wouldn¡¯t have agreed if I didn¡¯t know what we¡¯re performing.¡±


    Caius was doubly surprised, but perhaps it shouldn¡¯t be as surprising since this musical theatre was in general quite renowned.


    ¡°That¡¯s an odd condition, or maybe not, since everyone argues over their roles. What do you think, Cecilia? Entirely up to you.¡±


    ¡°What?! Um, oh, yes, the casting. I don¡¯t mind giving my role to Mayumi. It was just given to me at the start anyway¡ª¡±


    Before anyone else could say anything, Mayumi already interjected.


    ¡°Perfect! Then we have a deal! We¡¯ll be in your care!¡±


    Mayumi shook both Mr Verne¡¯s and Cecilia¡¯s hands simultaneously as Mr Verne returned her ecstatic expression while Cecilia continued to be flummoxed. Next to her, Caius was incredulous as she signed him onto such a major responsibility for the next six weeks.


    ¡°What is this even¡­?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose hope, Caius. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. To lose hope for you.¡±


    Not unlike the Cheshire cat, Mayumi greeted him with a grin along with the same line from before. He sighed in exasperation, and remembered how Mayumi dragged them on in her adventures when they were children. He couldn¡¯t do anything except to accept it begrudgingly, but in this instance, it might turn out better than expected. He looked over to Cecilia across from him, and felt a strange but comfortable anticipation well up inside him. Like Mr Verne said, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, no?


    <hr>


    ¡°So, what¡¯s with this extraordinarily high number of lookers among the girls in this gathering, hmm?¡±


    More of an accusation for the men, they had to admit that on some level they were surrounded by not only quality girls, but also the fact that all of the Three Heroines were in their circle.


    ¡°Uh¡­ what¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    However, Mayumi said that as she was scrutinizing Cecilia, and like before she was also doing it right in her face, so her reaction was more than warranted.


    ¡°That¡¯s just Mayumi being a dumbass as usual. Just ignore her.¡±


    ¡°Caius?! This is a serious question! Look around you and tell me you see a girl that isn¡¯t pretty, excluding me.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, you¡¯re not even being serious now. If you ask any of us that question, of course we¡¯d say everyone here is pretty. There¡¯s no other answer we can give¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªand Mayumi, you¡¯d be included in that category anyway, so we can¡¯t even name you. Just drop it, chief, it ain¡¯t worth discussing.¡±


    Regardless of what Eon and Caius said, the rest of the girls stared them down with suspicion and contempt. Eon welcomed it with a sneer while Caius shrugged.


    ¡°Okay, fine. Even if I put that aside, you can¡¯t say that Cecilia here isn¡¯t a looker. It seems like the Elites only associate with the prettiest girls in the school.¡±


    ¡°That narrative is completely fictitious, and any resemblance of that is purely coincidental. Well, we do associate with incredible people from or in incredible places, so I¡¯ll give you that much. The only normal people here are us here.¡±


    Eon pointed to himself, Caius and Franco, who gave him a double thumbs-up for saying something reasonable for once. Remarkably, one of the main reasons for their solidarity with Franco was because of their status as people from the ¡°normal¡± world, as in, people not associated with Eternia or the hierarchy in some way.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m just pointing this out, but anyways. Welcome to our humble abode, Cecilia. Don¡¯t listen to the drivel they spew out. It¡¯s bad for your liver.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make this more awkward than it already is, when I¡¯m trying very hard to damage control exactly that.¡±


    She winked at Cecilia, but was met with Eon¡¯s disapproval immediately.


    ¡°Eh, um, thanks. Pleased to meet you too.¡±


    Caius shook his head dramatically, following up Eon.


    ¡°C¡¯mon, don¡¯t be so brash towards a guest. Look at her. She¡¯s kinda like, unsure of how to respond to your drivel, Mayumi.¡±


    ¡°What drivel? I¡¯m being¡ªvery¡ªpolite and civilized here, you fuck; isn¡¯t that right, Cecilia?¡±


    As Mayumi¡¯s sentence broke down into a fit of giggles, it prompted chortles from everyone else, including the Jupiter sisters and even Cecilia, who finally let go of the tension in her nerves.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve received nothing but courtesy from Mayumi so far. And also, you all can just call me Celia. It¡¯s easier that way.¡±


    ¡°Celia! Perfect! Whenever it¡¯s convenient for you, you¡¯re free to join us here or in the 3-F classroom for lunch. We¡¯re gonna be working together for the next month and a half anyways!¡±


    She clasped her hands together with Cecilia¡¯s, no doubt excited for the Elites¡¯ newfound friend. Cecilia returned the hospitality with a warm smile, something she did rarely if not at all.


    After Mr Verne and Cecilia finished with their business with student council about the drama department¡¯s budget, Cecilia was invited to stay behind on Ariel¡¯s insistence. True to Cecilia¡¯s pessimism, she was intimidated by this congregation of elite students that she hadn¡¯t met before and would have attempted to leave immediately, but the presence of Ariel and Caius convinced her to stay around. Thankfully, as capricious as Mayumi could be, she was by nature friendly with anyone and everyone.


    ¡°And about that, Mayumi, that¡¯s a lot of work you got yourself into. Are you actually gonna be able to handle all that?¡±


    ¡°Of course I can. I¡¯ve been casted in plays back in Regia Miriam, so I know a thing or two about show biz.¡±


    ¡°All right, yep, you¡¯ve got this.¡±


    Kato raised both of his open palms at Mayumi¡¯s answer, already conceding. Alice, however, was not impressed.


    ¡°I, too, know a thing or two about show biz and it¡¯s not easy. I just hope you¡¯re up to the task, Mayumi.¡±


    ¡°Oho? Ms Alice questions my abilities? I¡¯ll have you know that I graduated top of my class in the Navy¡ª¡±


    Mayumi made her way back to her seat across from Kato and Alice to make sure her retorts were heard as the chortles around her continued.


    ¡°Celia, just sit down here. It¡¯s usually Mayumi¡¯s show here, and it¡¯s also usually this whack, so just leave her be.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say. So this is Class F and Class B¡¯s alliance.¡±


    ¡°Alliance by coincidence. We¡¯re just a big group of old friends plus some, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, the other classes don¡¯t see it that way, I¡¯d imagine. Even for Class B itself.¡±


    ¡°Oh, for sure. However, it¡¯s probably more accurate to say that in practice, Class F is a puppet of Class B, and a puppet that¡¯s hard to remove from because the relationship is not built upon mutual political interests; a fact which I appreciate.¡±


    He pointed at the rowdy group of hooligans, and Cecilia at first felt a little disappointed at the scene. She realized that her mind was spinning because was a bit jealous of Caius¡¯ circle of friends. Compared to herself, Caius seemed to have much more than she did, but that wasn¡¯t the main problem. She met plenty of others who had much more than she did, so why would Caius¡¯ situation irk her so? Ariel too was right over there, wholly part of this grand circus, and Cecilia never felt this kind of indignation before.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. The Elites are open to having like-minded allies. You¡¯ll get used to it in no time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It seems like Mayumi took a liking to you, so rest assured that you¡¯ll be treated well here.¡±


    Like a ninja, Ariel suddenly made aware of her presence in the seat next to the two of them, who reflexively jumped at her apparition.


    ¡°Ariel. Is that even a good thing?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a good thing. There¡¯s a time and place for everything, and it¡¯s time to stop being a permanent bookworm at school.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Ariel! That¡¯s not true at all!¡±


    Cecilia shook Ariel by her arm frantically, to which she only grinned lightly and amusedly. Caius didn¡¯t help.


    ¡°And you don¡¯t look like one to start with, so she¡¯s right, there¡¯s no need to be a bookworm.¡±


    ¡°What?! No, no, no, I¡¯m not, I told you! Of course no bookworm would look like this! I hang out with the girls from the other classes too!¡±


    That was true. She did have a so-called ¡°night¡± life (really only after school) hanging out with girls from the other classes singing at karaoke bars, loitering at local convenience stores and eating out for dinner. She was a part-time tag-along member and not truly in the core as Risa and Flora were, due to obligations at home and at the drama department, but at least she was welcomed there.


    ¡°In any case, I¡¯m glad that Mayumi took a liking to you, because I want you to join us this Sunday for the Equinox celebration. I say celebrating, but it¡¯s us doing our rounds around the annual street festival on Jordan Street.¡±


    ¡°¡°What?¡±¡±


    Double whats came from Caius and Cecilia.


    ¡°Celia, you said you wanted to hang out with me more often, right?¡±


    ¡°Ariel!¡±


    Flustered, she shook Ariel frantically once more, but a tinge of smugness remained in Ariel¡¯s rigid expression. Caius rubbed his chin both in arrogance and in thought.


    ¡°Ha. I forgot that the Equinox is soon, though it¡¯s like weeks after the real equinox. It¡¯ll be fun. Like she said, we¡¯ll just be walking around holding lanterns and eating cakes. Or do you have other plans for the Equinox?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t have any real plans for that day.¡±


    ¡°Then, perfect. You can hang with us.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°What is it, what is it? Celia¡¯s coming with us to the Equinox?¡±


    Suddenly Mayumi returned, again eye sparkling with anticipation and aimed at Cecilia, who was also again visibly startled in return.


    ¡°Wait, I haven¡¯t said anything yet!¡±


    ¡°If you need to think about it some more, you know where we are. We¡¯re here all day.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re gonna be over there with her in the drama classroom too.¡±


    Mayumi added to Caius as he sat back with his hands behind his head, content with Mayumi taking the spotlight.


    ¡°No, no, no, it¡¯s not that. Uh, I think I can go with you guys, It¡¯s just, uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it. I know you¡¯re feeling a little hesitant, but you¡¯ll get to know Mayumi and the rest of the Elites. I¡¯ll be right here with you.¡±


    ¡°Ariel?!¡±


    Her cheeks flushed red again at Ariel blurting out her inner thoughts that she couldn¡¯t say out loud, but at the same time she was relieved that she didn¡¯t need to do the talking. Yet, it made her feel a little upset that she wasn¡¯t able to do it herself.


    ¡°You said the rest of Class F here is going to the festival too, right? Are they okay with me coming?¡±


    ¡°You mean these guys? Don¡¯t worry. We don¡¯t need to care about their opinions.¡±


    Ariel said coolly, completely ignoring Caius¡¯ peeved expression. Mayumi was still all smiles as she weaved her fingers through Cecilia¡¯s in a tightly knit handhold.


    ¡°Hahahahaha! Good, good, good. I¡¯ve only returned to this district just yesterday, so we¡¯re in the same boat. Well, not exactly, but there¡¯ll be lots of things I missed over seven years¡¯ time, right? You¡¯re the senior here, Celia.¡±


    ¡°Ahahaha¡­¡±


    A touch embarrassed, she still returned the hold and smile in earnest. Caius merely shrugged nonchalantly at Mayumi¡¯s usual cavalier enthusiasm.


    ¡°This is not the first time you¡¯ve put yourself in a difficult situation, mate. Then again, Mayumi¡¯s actually an expert at turning everything into horseshoes and hand grenades, so go figure.¡±


    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s probably not entirely false¡­¡±


    Mayumi already let go of Cecilia to point a finger at him, who shrugged again condescendingly, obviously not yielding.


    ¡°What? What does he mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Mayumi¡¯s a lucky star who has a few screws loose, that¡¯s what he means.¡±


    Ariel explained to Cecilia as they watched Caius point a finger back, alarmed at something trivial Mayumi had said to him.


    ¡°Eh¡­ so she¡¯s just really lucky?¡±


    ¡°Because she¡¯s made of that much luck, she tends to push it a little too far, too often. A little dangerous, kind of like a hand grenade, and it¡¯s why Caius is always a little worried. After all, he¡¯s the most conservative of the Elites, compared to Eon and Kato who learned a bit too much from Mayumi¡¯s maverick streak.¡±


    ¡°A little worried¡­ about Mayumi?¡±


    ¡°He always was, for as long as they¡¯ve known each other.¡±


    ¡°¡­that¡¯s their relationship?¡±


    Cecilia suspected half out loud, which brought a sinking feeling in her chest. Is that why Mayumi wanted the role of Whatzshecalled? She was Tommy¡¯s main love interest in the play. Does that have anything to do with the two of them?


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a lot more complicated than that. On a certain level, their relationship¡¯s past the point of no return, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What?¡±


    Then she was suddenly reminded of Caius¡¯ reference to the final song in Auxirian Idiot. Was he describing exactly his relationship with Mayumi? Even without knowing for sure at the moment, it made her feel uneasy nonetheless. It would be utterly unreal that if Caius viewed the relationship this way, that Mayumi would agree to that interpretation.


    ¡°What you see right now is probably the best it¡¯ll ever be; is my assessment, given what I know.¡±


    Slightly buoyed at first, Cecilia reprocessed what Ariel just said and asked another pertinent question.


    ¡°Right now? You mean you think it¡¯ll get worse in the future?¡±


    ¡°Undoubtedly. But at the same time I also think that, somehow, she¡¯ll make everything work out in the end. A miracle worker, if you must. ¡®Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades¡¯ doesn¡¯t seem to exist in her vocabulary when she gets every job that needs to be done, done. Or maybe it does, and like Caius said, just turn everything into horseshoes and hand grenades. So there¡¯s no need to worry about her in her role in the musical. She¡¯ll deliver on it like a pro.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡±


    Ariel¡¯s expression turned surprisingly jovial as she segued away from the question at the end there, leaving behind a cryptic impression. Then again, it wasn¡¯t abnormal for mysterious words to come out of Ariel, and Cecilia was definitely aware of it. She took her answer at face value and returned to watch the implosion blossoming in front of her, with Mayumi in the centre and surrounded by awkwardly positioned Elites, like some sort of strange ritual to appease the gods who were angry at their insolence. It was like watching a movie with the silver screen right in her face, and it wasn¡¯t bad, she thought.

 3.6 Choir of the Damned

    ¡°Welcome aboard, and welcome back!¡±


    Mayumi and Caius were greeted with applause after Mr Verne introduced them and their new roles to the rest of the drama department. Some eyebrows rose when they announced that Cecilia¡¯s casting was side-graded or downgraded, depending on whom you ask, but most were in silent approval since it was mostly seen as a downgrade.


    As popular as she ever was, Mayumi quickly found good graces with her role¡¯s immediate cast members, shaking their hands and striking up animated conversation. Caius might have stood beside her, but he needed not to speak too much to the cast, which were filled with third-years.


    ¡°We¡¯re here together again, Anne.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it either, but let¡¯s make the next six weeks work, Caius.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Who do you think I am? Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always had faith in you to do so. Now, let¡¯s go over what we need you to do.¡±


    Though their words didn¡¯t show it, there was an obvious air of malice between them. Donovan was the first to break the icy veil with a corporate smile.


    ¡°The two of you know each other?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Remember in our first year, the drama department was split between the Johnny and Victor factions and we did different works. I was in Johnny¡¯s with Caius while you were in Victor¡¯s with Cecilia. Sadly, Caius decided to leave after finishing the first show. Mr Verne valued his abilities very highly.¡±


    ¡°I had a fairly minor role in that Macbeth, but for whatever reason Mr Verne really liked my style I guess.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s why I can¡¯t recall immediately. But in any case, welcome back to the drama department, even if only for this one show. We need every talent we can have.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that with your new job, a lot of the drama boys are moving out with you to the PSC, which is why the drama department is looking for more people to replace them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, and you¡¯re actually perfect for the job, eh? For someone from Class F to join a PSC-affiliated club is a good thing for the peace and order of the school. I appreciate your co-operation.¡±


    ¡°It just so happens that that¡¯s the case, Donovan. A convenient coincidence for everyone, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Well, while I¡¯m still part of the drama club, the one running the show now is Anne, so you¡¯re right that it¡¯s just a convenient coincidence, nothing more.¡±


    While the two were all smiles the atmosphere was still oddly tense, not unlike the exchange with Anne. After all, Caius was the maverick on the front line of the anti-neutrality protests and Donovan represented exactly his enemy, though Donovan was not actually involved in the PSC until now.


    ¡°If I¡¯m the one running the show, then let me run the show, all right?¡±


    ¡°Be my guest.¡±


    Donovan waved the group goodbye, apparently in good spirits despite Cecilia giving up her role easily to an outsider, a role that he personally secured for her. And so, Cecilia was a bit confused at his jubilation.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that mysterious, Cecilia. It makes total sense from his new position. Why would he spare Caius the trouble if not for the political gains from Caius¡¯ co-operation with us?¡±


    Surprised, Anne answered her question from her inner thoughts. Maybe her face was too obvious, but Anne was right. She already forgot about that angle because for some reason she was too nervous with Caius next to her. In contrast, Caius seemed at home in comfort, which was his usual state of being.


    ¡°I¡¯m not wrong. And I didn¡¯t choose this if I had a say in it. It¡¯s all because of that devil over there.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s an old friend of yours? And willing to play Whatzshecalled for you? That¡¯s one close friend.¡±


    Anne snickered, but Caius just shrugged.


    ¡°She¡¯s more like our boss than anything else. I just happened to get caught up in this because I¡¯m the only one in our group who has the ability to do this job alongside her. That¡¯s what I mean by a convenient coincidence.¡±


    ¡°Say what you like, but my gut feeling tells me that this all isn¡¯t a mere coincidence. That¡¯s the one thing you¡¯ll get out of me.¡±


    Ominously, she unilaterally closed off the conversation with a slam shut of her notebook on her clipboard. She motioned for them to follow her, and simultaneously snapped her fingers furiously at Mayumi¡¯s direction to get her attention. Her twintails bounced in the air menacingly alongside her harsh expression.


    ¡°Mayumi!¡±


    ¡°Yes, coming!¡±


    They gathered at a familiar corner of the drama classroom with the eternally important chalkboard and its notes and schedules. Needless to say, it was almost all in Anne¡¯s handwriting besides the occasional teachers¡¯ intervention. She slapped her hand on the porcelain board with her open palm, almost like an upset teacher would.


    ¡°This here should have everything you need to know on any given day. The schedule is a two-week planner that shows who¡¯s doing what on a given day, and of course whether it¡¯s in here or the Assembly Hall.¡±


    Anne pointed to the half of the chalkboard that was sectioned into two calendar rows with masking tape, occupying a large amount of space. Inside each box there was a day of the week were acronyms and shorthand text that listed the agenda of the day and the groups involved. It was quite detailed for a chalkboard agenda.


    ¡°Of course, we cycle between the two rows as the weeks go by, so the current week will alternate between the top and bottom rows. The big red button magnet here shows the current week.¡±


    At the start of the bottom row was the aforementioned magnet, so it meant that the top row was the plan for the next week.


    ¡°The lists at the side are just general agenda items that we need to get done or want to focus on. Unless it¡¯s something you know about, usually you don¡¯t need to concern yourself with it.¡±


    It did look like a jumble of random items, almost like a shopping list of things needed to be bought.


    ¡°For the most part, I¡¯m in charge of this whole board that we call the agenda. The process hasn¡¯t changed since you were last here, Caius.¡±


    ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t want it any other way. Nor can it be, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Good. The teachers help out a lot on organizing stuff, but we¡¯re still a student-focused club so they let us take charge. As you¡¯ve heard, Donovan was the president of the drama department until recently. While he¡¯s still a general member, most of his duties now are either mine or the teachers¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Donovan¡¯s still a general member.¡±


    ¡°Make of that what you will. It¡¯s not my problem; it¡¯s probably more of a problem for you. I already have enough to do as the general operations manager.¡±


    She briskly tapped one of the items on the board with one hand as she pointed to Cecilia with the other hand.


    ¡°Anyway, usually Tuesdays are our days off because the Assembly convenes on Tuesdays, but today¡¯s a little exceptional. Fortunately, the Assembly amended the budget today just in time to meet some of these items, thanks to Cecilia and Mr Verne, so let¡¯s get these things done.¡±


    ¡°¡®Kay.¡±


    Anne again tapped her clipboard furiously.


    ¡°Everyone here is divided into functional teams, including the cast. Even if you¡¯re part of the main cast, you¡¯re still expected to help out with the logistics in some capacity. I understand that Mr Verne only wanted the two of you for this time only, so let¡¯s make it easier for you. You don¡¯t need to sign up for a team, but please help out Cecilia where she needs it. She¡¯s a senior member after all, and the unofficial treasurer.¡±


    ¡°Then who¡¯s the official treasurer?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re asking her right now, Mayumi. I remember the hierarchy here is very flat. The entire thing is run by the president and the manager.¡±


    Caius was used to answering Mayumi¡¯s smart-aleck questions.


    ¡°Exactly. Any other questions so far?¡±


    Mayumi shook her head and Anne nodded, no-nonsense and straight to the next point.


    ¡°Then onto your roles. I assume you both are well-versed in the story of Auxirian Idiot. We¡¯ll be producing the musical theatre rendition of it, Auxirian Idiot: The Musical here, as true to the original script as possible. It¡¯s quite a radical departure from what we usually do because there is much more music and dance involved and not much screenplay, but we chose to do it out of necessity.


    ¡°As you may remember, Caius, the golden generation of our seniors have just graduated, and our year is particularly lacking in ability, so we can¡¯t produce something like The Phantom of the Opera or Richard III. Even when you were casted in Macbeth, it was already extremely challenging. This year, we have to lean more into our strengths instead.


    ¡°For example, our in-house music crew is very good, and even with the extra brain drain due to the PSC migration, most everyone here can still hold their own in a musical. As for the future, our first- and second-years have enough talent to re-attempt the difficult traditional works when our year graduates, but that shouldn¡¯t concern the two of you.


    ¡°Tommy and Whatzshecalled used to be casted by Don and Cecilia, but now they¡¯re replaced by the two of you. I¡¯ve already put on the schedule what parts to have ready for which rehearsal, so just drop by here if you don¡¯t remember. You can see that we¡¯re alternating days between vocal training and dance rehearsals for different cast groups, but the groups and schedule are subject to change according to the situation, so please do check often. Again, today is a little extraordinary, so just take the time today to observe and get used to the process. If anything in the process is unclear, always come to me.¡±


    They were led to the mini-stage as Anne rambled on, where a group of students was practicing their dance routine against a boom box led by a tall female student with short brown hair, tanned skin and a tropics-inspiring face. She seemed just as lively and cheerful as Mayumi.


    ¡°This is Trisha, our choreography director, Class C.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up, newbies?¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you, Trisha!¡±


    ¡°Good to see you again.¡±


    She spared a moment to wave to them emphatically before turning her attention back at the backup dancers. Anne returned the wave gracefully as did the others, and she led them away and towards the other end of the classroom.


    The ¡®other end¡¯ was kind of a misnomer, as the classroom was currently split apart in two by a massive folding divider that spanned its length, entirely covered in sound-absorbent foam that had the texture of papier-mach¨¦. They passed through a door in the foam to the other side.


    ¡°Trisha¡¯ll lead most of the dance rehearsals. On the other side is Mr Nigel, who¡¯s also a vocal teacher. He¡¯ll be leading most of the music training.¡±


    As Anne explained, Mr Nigel was surrounded by a group of students singing along to his baton, almost like a choir. Then again, they were producing a musical theatre so that shouldn¡¯t be out of the ordinary.


    ¡°Obviously, there¡¯s a lot of overlap so we can¡¯t always separate out into two distinct groups to practice, but we have to have people practicing wherever and whenever they can. There are tiny rooms further in the back for smaller groups or individual practice, if you want a separate practice space.


    ¡°We also have our auxiliary crew members appear here once in a while when we have work for them to do, like our fashion team and dedicated stage crews, and they have their own workspaces here and there.¡±


    She pointed to different corners of the room where stacks and rows of cabinets and other miscellaneous equipment were. The most obviously imposing was the huge stash of various props to one side of the room, piling up to double their heights so that stepladders were placed in its vicinity.


    Wrapping up, Anne folded her arms together, rather menacingly. Mayumi and Caius didn¡¯t blink, both reacting to her animosity quite cordially for their own reasons.


    ¡°And as you already know, Mr Verne is the head director of the drama department. He, the other advisors and I will take on the creative direction together. That¡¯s the gist of things here. Any objections?¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°I haven¡¯t given my opinion on it, but Alice and Kato did, and after seeing the amount of effort I need to put in to make this work, I feel like their concerns are valid.¡±


    Caius said to Mayumi as he sat back down next to them. Around them, the drama classroom wound down its activities as the room¡¯s foam divider was folded back into place and students began to flow out.


    After Anne left to participate in today¡¯s rehearsal, Cecilia brought the two around the block, introducing them to the different groups in detail. Eventually, they got Trisha to show them the ropes on the choreography practice side, who graciously left the main practice to her prot¨¦g¨¦s. Fortunately, Trisha was just as outgoing a child as Mayumi was, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to accommodate each other. Mayumi and Cecilia were well-versed enough already, but for Caius it would be a challenge, which was what prompted his complaint.


    ¡°This is child¡¯s play, my dude. C¡¯mon, you¡¯re better than this.¡±


    Mayumi chided playfully, but elicited no better response from him.


    ¡°You overestimate my abilities as always, Mayumi.¡±


    Just in time, Cecilia returned with her duffel bag from the gym¡¯s change room where she took a shower. Her school uniform was replaced with a track jersey and sweatpants made of soft, expensive cotton. She was not an international-level athlete, but that was the quality level her clothes would be attributed with.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the get-up?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re heading home after this, so I have to change.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not convenient for me to return home in my school uniform.¡±


    She managed a half-explanation with an awkward smile so Caius left it there, but whatever the real reason was, it didn¡¯t seem trivial to him. Mayumi continued.


    ¡°I thought it was pretty instructive today. That Anne person didn¡¯t seem very nice, but I guess you have to be like that when you¡¯re in charge of like sixty people.¡±


    ¡°The day¡¯s not finished for me yet. I have to finish off one of those agenda items you saw on the blackboard back there.¡±


    She took out a shiny plastic card and a shopping flyer from her duffel bag, waving it at the two new main characters. The school chop was printed on the shiny card, along with a sixteen-digit number and an expiry date.


    ¡°Whoa, you¡¯re cleared to use this? That¡¯s sick.¡±


    ¡°Only a teacher can clear a student to use a school credit card. Normally, minor purchases would just be reimbursed after the fact in cash, but larger buys can call for this baby.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making a really big buy for the drama club tonight?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna replace the central spotlight with a way better autolight, a Matsushita branded one, with a lot more options when it comes to colours, motion and programmability. Our current lights are all unpowered, and this one¡¯ll be the first powered one.¡±


    Powered here meant the device was alchemically powered in some way, shape or form. Alternatively, if a device¡¯s power source was in some way mechanical or electric or both, then it would be termed as motorized. As such, a hybrid device would be both powered and motorized.


    ¡°You want to be able to use transmutation circles to manage the lighting timings and sequences in this play because it¡¯s way harder to do it right manually.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. There are sequences in this play that can give us epileptic seizures. Unlike the classics, even the staging details are part of the script.¡±


    ¡°In any case, I¡¯m gonna go get it done today; buy the thing, and maybe even bring it back here.¡±


    Cecilia already began to make her way away from them, but Mayumi jumped up to follow her.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m going with you!¡±


    ¡°What? No! You don¡¯t have to! Do you not have to go home?¡±


    ¡°Nope! We¡¯re gonna go to the city, right? Are we taking a bus?¡±


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°What the hell¡­¡±


    Caius sighed in place of Cecilia at the end. He wasn¡¯t planning on getting left behind, so he got up as well.


    ¡°No, no, no. I have to go with the crewmaster from the lights team. Student purchases need witnesses to sign off on it, and it¡¯ll be the lights team who¡¯ll be using the new autolight¡ªLiam!¡±


    She called out to a student who also gave off the same cool-kid vibes that Cecilia did, but unlike her, Liam actually had a worn out shirt from rough times and smelled of engine and petrol, which was even more apparent with his short, greasy hair. From his aura to the motorcycle gloves in his hand, it was obvious he lived his life on the asphalt.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    His voice, though, was clear and refined enough that it also made sense he was in Class C. He wasn¡¯t particularly tall, and he had a long-ish but well-formed face, cleanly shaved.


    ¡°I had our budget amended by the Assembly today, so we can go to the store to put down the order for the new autolight.¡±


    Strangely, Liam only snickered and sneered at Cecilia¡¯s request.


    ¡°You can do that yourself, can¡¯t you, li¡¯l miss? I have to get to the racetrack soon.¡±


    ¡°¡­but you have to come too, because the school will ask for two signatures on the receipt at the time of its print, especially for a purchase this expensive¡ªah!¡±


    ¡°¡°Celia!¡±¡±


    As he turned to leave she tried to put herself between him and the door, but he walked straight into her and pushed her backwards onto the steel, almost as if he did it on purpose. Mayumi and Caius exclaimed loudly as they rushed to help her, but Liam was unrepentant.


    ¡°Look. I had no say in this new buy, so in my opinion, this is something for you to get done. Ask someone else to co-sign it for you.¡±


    ¡°But, at least one of the signatures has to come directly from someone who¡¯ll be using it. That¡¯s why I need you to come with me to the store.¡±


    ¡°An executive can also take that place to sign off on treasury receipts, so just ask Anne or Don to do it for you. You¡¯re their pet, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Cecilia¡¯s insistence was met with another sneer, but amazingly she did not falter. She only gave him a helpless shrug and smile, as his characterization was not completely inaccurate. On the other hand, she did not feel she ever shared a true friendship with either Anne or Donovan, so she never thought of it much, if at all.


    ¡°Anne and Don can¡¯t come with me to the store. They¡¯re too busy to do it¡­¡±


    ¡°Look. I¡¯m also a busy person too, and today¡¯s not a good day for me to entertain you. The drama department wasn¡¯t supposed to have meetings on the day of the Assembly¡¯s convention in the first place, so I already have commitments elsewhere that I¡¯m already late for.¡±


    ¡°But if nobody else related to the purchase is coming to the store with me, then we¡¯ll definitely get audited by the student council if we only have one signature on the receipt.¡±


    Liam gave a long and exaggerated sigh.


    ¡°If you really need me to come with you, then can we do it on another day? Probably the next time the light team has to come in.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s a week from now, and we¡¯re short on time as we are already. The rehearsal schedule is already behind because it took a while for the Assembly to approve it, and you¡¯ll only have at most five weeks left to learn how to use it.¡±


    He started to tap his foot angrily, clearly frustrated.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you get one of these guys to go with you and sign the receipt? Nobody outside the drama department¡¯s gonna know who¡¯s the direct user and who¡¯s not, as long as the equipment is being used.¡±


    ¡°You mean them?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The Senate isn¡¯t gonna investigate that deep into it, y¡¯know? It¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Dude, are you actually for real? Can¡¯t you just do it?¡±


    A shadow had fallen over Mayumi¡¯s face, and her usual wild goose voice was unabashedly bellicose as she cut into their conversation. Suddenly, Liam shrugged and smirked at the three as he made a one-eighty in his tone. The speed in which he turned around in his voice startled even Cecilia and Caius.


    ¡°Well, I really do have other, more concerning matters to take care of first. If I didn¡¯t, I would have agreed to it at the very start. How about this? Just bring the receipt to me tomorrow and I¡¯ll sign it off. If the two of you also go, then you¡¯ll have two backup signatories if you really can¡¯t get it to me before you need to hand it off to the treasury. Sounds good?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ we¡¯re still gonna be in trouble if somebody ever decides to audit this¡­¡±


    ¡°Then get the receipt to me in class tomorrow, okay? No one¡¯s gonna investigate, don¡¯t worry about it. If you really need to have a second witness, these two can do it in my place, right? I just have to sign off on it.¡±


    ¡°But then¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªit¡¯s okay, don¡¯t fret it. It¡¯s a big buy, but it¡¯s still a plain and simple buy at the end of the day. Right now, I have to have faith in you to make the purchase correctly, ain¡¯t that right? That¡¯s the whole point of having two students signing off a receipt.¡±


    ¡°I guess you can say that¡­¡±


    ¡°See? It¡¯s fine. I trust you to make the buy smoothly; after all, you proposed it in the first place, so you have to know what to buy, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it at that, okay? I have to get to the racetrack real fast, so if you¡¯ll excuse me, I have to take my leave right away. Thanks for taking care of the new autolight, Cecilia.¡±


    And with a quick grin, he squeezed himself between the three and made his way out the door. Caius made a fake worried face, but Mayumi pushed his face away with her palm.


    ¡°That guy seems like a handful, doesn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen worse. I went to an all-girls school, after all.¡±


    ¡°Does the fact that it¡¯s an all-girls school even have anything to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Of course. In this day and age, stuffing a lot of the same sex in one place is asking for trouble.¡±


    ¡°Is it that bad?¡±


    ¡°Nine times out of ten, a trivial nuisance gets warped to hyperbolic proportions. I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s the case, but it¡¯s just a phenomenon I¡¯ve observed.¡±


    In the moment, Mayumi was a sage, but the grin at the end exposed to Caius the very probable involvement she had in said trivial nuisances, and therefore her bias.


    ¡°Whatever, you digress. Celia, is Liam always this kind of person?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I think so? That¡¯s the vibe he gives off, for sure.¡±


    Cecilia was hesitant to give an assessment when she didn¡¯t know much about him. It was a stark difference between her and Mayumi¡¯s quick-firing mouth.


    ¡°Well then, what are you going to do about the autolight? What¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°Um, I¡¯m probably just going to do exactly what he said: get the receipt to him tomorrow morning. I can¡¯t make him come with me, but I need to get this job done.¡±


    ¡°Is it really okay to let him off without signing the receipt at the store? I mean, I don¡¯t really understand the procedures with a budget either, but it sounded like a big deal for you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s sort of important, but only because I¡¯m going to be responsible for it if it goes awry. For big buys, at least one person with authority and one end user have to sign it because the student council, well, the Assembly, doesn¡¯t want to be liable for bad loans. By double signing, it¡¯s basically agreeing to no exchanges or refunds from the Assembly. If we end up buying something not useful, we¡¯re not gonna get collateral in our budget to correct the bad buy.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I sort of get it. That¡¯s part of the bureaucratic shit that Bianca¡¯s handling. How are you so involved with this in the first place? You¡¯re an actual authority here in the drama club?¡±


    ¡°In some senses. Anne put me on the list of executives. I technically have the power to make decisions with regards to the school-related items, but as you can see, Anne, Don and the faculty are the ones in charge.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why are you even on that list?¡±


    Cecilia forced a chuckle.


    ¡°Not sure. Besides being a senior, probably because it¡¯s easier for her to put someone who¡¯s not part of a clique to handle these things.¡±


    But Mayumi pointed a finger at her.


    ¡°Then the next question is, why aren¡¯t you part of a clique? Is the factionalism in the drama department really bad?¡±


    Cecilia forced another chuckle, but with less force because this time it was actually somewhat amusing.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a long story, but if I¡¯m part of any clique, I¡¯d probably be viewed as in Anne¡¯s or Don¡¯s. Anne more so, since I¡¯m really only on talking terms with Don and not his men. Or maybe the non-Class C clique, but they don¡¯t really form a real faction.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not that friendly with your classmates, eh?¡±


    Cecilia spared a glance at Caius as she answered Mayumi¡¯s implication.


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t have a good relationship with my classmates.¡±


    She shrugged, as if the situation was always meant to be, and Caius followed suit. He had been shrugging a lot lately and he wondered if it was Cecilia¡¯s lethargic influence, though within the Elites he was lethargic enough already.


    ¡°Anyway, I hope whatever you¡¯re buying, the man of the hour will be pleased with it.¡±


    ¡°Like he mentioned, the idea to, uh, change to use a powered autolight in the centre was me, since I happen to know that that¡¯s what the original musical used in their stage setup. It really does make it easier to time all the movements and transitions when compared to making those light effects with manpower.¡±


    ¡°You knew what stage equipment the original musical used? And the brand too?¡±


    Caius raised an eyebrow at the depth of Cecilia¡¯s love for her hobby, to which she realized and flushed pink for a moment, but the conversation was quickly taken over by Mayumi again.


    ¡°But Liam doesn¡¯t seem appreciative at all when you¡¯re trying to make life easier for him.¡±


    ¡°I hope he¡¯ll appreciate it when he gets to use it. Probably, he thinks it¡¯ll be too much of a hassle to program the circles, but it¡¯s obvious that if he gets it right, it¡¯ll save him the stress of manhandling the current set of lights during a live performance.¡±


    Circles here meant transmutation circles. They were alchemical instructions engraved on material made from catalysts that an alchemical engine could read from and perform those instructions. In contrast, in this day and age, there were massive, clunky, inefficient but purely motorized equivalents to alchemical engines called ¡°computers¡± that had pre-programmed cathode ray tubes and transistors, and could also host a capacity for variable instruction inputs, which involved reading punch cards.


    ¡°And he¡¯s not much of an alchemy guy, I suspect? Is he an old-timer already? God bless him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d guess not. It¡¯s also the one centre autolight, so it¡¯s not like he has to program a set of lights. It¡¯s just one.¡±


    ¡°Man, I hope he¡¯s up for the job. The little bit I¡¯ve seen from him so far is raising red flags left, right and centre.¡±


    ¡°Me too. Well, at least I know his team hasn¡¯t had problems running the lights in the past.¡±


    Mayumi began moving out ahead of the other two.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go and get this job over with. Where is it and how¡¯re we getting there?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re actually coming with me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust that Liam guy. In any case, if he¡¯s gonna weasel his way out of signing the receipt, at least you have the two of us as alibis for his behaviour, and potentially co-signing the receipt in his place.¡±


    Mayumi said brightly, holding the door open for the other two. Caius was the first to move.


    ¡°Exactly. Let¡¯s hit the road.¡±


    Pausing for only a moment, Cecilia stumbled after him awkwardly and duly surprised that they were willing to entertain her this late in the day. In hindsight, it was probably just as, if not more, annoying for Liam to do the same, so perhaps his complaint was a little justifiable. If it wasn¡¯t today, then with how rehearsals would go for her, it would have to be done at this time of the day anyway, or on a Sunday, so there was little wiggle room in the first place. She tightened the strap of her duffel bag around her torso as she went out and ahead of their little group.


    ¡°Okay, okay, let¡¯s go. It¡¯s just a wholesale retailer in Sharpsand Cape, not too far a bus ride away.¡±


    Behind her, the two Elites followed tightly, one crossed his arms and sneered while the other had her arm in the air.


    ¡°Finally, an adventure! We¡¯re gonna sit on the second floor of the bus with an open window if we can.¡±


    Mayumi laughed noisily and caught up to Cecilia quickly to grab and lift her arm into the air too. She let Mayumi take the lead and uncharacteristically beamed back at the sunny one-eyed pirate girl. She realized that Mayumi made this mundane logistical task into something fun and exciting, and this was what Class F¡¯s elite students were made of.


    Or rather, this was what friendship was, and she immediately recalled Risa and Flora. She smiled wistfully. If only she could bum it out with those two girls without a care for the world, but alas, Risa and Flora were a little too far away from her in spirit and principles. Maybe she could do it with Mayumi and Caius instead, she thought.


    <hr>


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re good here, yes.¡±


    Alice¡¯s voice was loud and clear in the mini-recording studio that was now the secret base for the Elites at school. Nearing the start of first period, the Elites began closing up shop for class. Eon and Caius were, of course, optimistic about their prospects as the former put away his bass guitar and the latter pulled the linen cover over his keyboard.


    ¡°Man, that was more successful than I first thought. It¡¯s only been a few days and we¡¯re almost live-worthy.¡±


    ¡°Well, it does make a difference to have three of the six who already played these instruments.¡±


    Yui and Evie were on the other side of the glass pane in the outer room, and entered the inner to applaud their last bit of their rehearsal.


    ¡°That was super nice! You all sounded amazing!¡±


    ¡°Mhm. It¡¯s nowhere near recording quality yet, but definitely commendable for a group of amateurs.¡±


    Evie, as usual, nodded as she pinned impossibly high expectations on the Elites, who just smirked at each other since praise from Evie was rare, and it was rare precisely because of exactly that.


    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll get enough practice in to be able to make it into the talent show?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a good chance. Just keep it up, and we¡¯ll make it there. With us two and Alice rotating on guitars, Eon on bass, Caius on keyboard, and Franco on drums, the lineup looks solid.¡±


    Mayumi answered Kato cheerily as they put their guitars back into their cases and stored them away at a corner. In relation to the school, this room was essentially theirs to keep now that Alice had occupied it with expensive musical instruments. It would be very hard for the faculty or the student council to enforce their authority on the issue unless they were willing to reimburse Alice for any potential losses they might incur from messing with the room¡¯s occupancy, if they ever had any ulterior motive to.


    Actually, there was one more audience member who was observing together with Kato¡¯s two stepsisters, and she knocked on the glass to remind them that the bell was about to go off. Alice was the first to leave the inner room and receive the third guest.


    ¡°Bia, how did we do? I thought it was all right.¡±


    ¡°Not bad for beginners, but Kato sounds like he¡¯s quite experienced already. I¡¯ve seen it many times before, but it still surprises me when it happens.¡±


    ¡°What happens?¡±


    ¡°He and Evie are physically superior. They can imitate any physical activity to a very high level if they want to.¡±


    ¡°Really? Is that how that works?¡±


    ¡°With their dexterity, they can replicate any physical technique they want, just as long as their brains understand the technique.¡±


    ¡°If I understand you correctly, then our years of training are like peanuts for them.¡±


    ¡°To be fair, they spend all their time and spare time training those exact physical abilities, so it¡¯s more like they have ten or twenty or a hundred times the intensity of our music practice.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. I keep forgetting that part. They¡¯re hardcore for a reason. Well, if it¡¯s that easy for them, then I should get Evie to play something too.¡±


    ¡°She can, but she probably needs something less complex. The brain part still depends on the person¡¯s intelligence.¡±


    Alice got a hearty chuckle out of Bianca¡¯s sneer, and they were the first to leave the studio, leaving the Elites behind.


    ¡°I have a proposition for you.¡±


    ¡°A proposition?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s the perfect job for the Elites to do, and even the rest of Class F can help. It¡¯s about the ongoing anti-neutrality protests.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s about that. What is it? I¡¯ve only made a couple of speeches for my class and that¡¯s about it.¡±


    Bianca grinned again, striking a little bit of fear in Alice¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°You like your new class a lot, right? That¡¯s why you¡¯re actually going out of your way to help them out here and there.¡±


    True to her suspicions, Alice¡¯s wariness was warranted. She turned her head away in defiance as her cheeks tickled pink.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true, but then what about it? I still didn¡¯t make much contribution to their cause, I don¡¯t think.¡±


    ¡°Actually, it does make a great deal, not for your classmates but for the rest of the school receiving their message. Just think about where you came from, and what position you¡¯re now endorsing. It¡¯s just too strong of a message, even if you¡¯ve only done it a couple of times.¡±


    ¡°I get that, but is it really that effective in swaying public opinion away from and turn against the Class A establishment?¡±


    ¡°Way more effective than you¡¯d imagine. Ariel¡¯s got the eyes and ears on the general public. Now, while Chantal and her group are consistently running these protests on the ground, it¡¯s not enough to turn any of the tables yet. Therefore, I have an idea to make an even better impression on the general public.¡±


    ¡°Hold on a second. Before we get to that, I need to know what¡¯s in it for you and Class B. I wanted to ask a long time ago, but shouldn¡¯t Class B be naturally aligned to Class A? Especially to the PSC because Class B are the music students, as you in fact were until Mira was elected president. There has to be some in your class whose interests align more with Class A than the new Class B faction.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but luckily the great majority ended up not being tied down to Class A. You can see that in how my class votes in the Assembly. Those who still owed some kind of allegiance to Class A, we eventually neutralized.¡±


    Bianca gave her a sinister smile, which would have been unimaginable on Mirabelle¡¯s face. It was very shocking for Alice to see for that exact reason, but obviously not all identical twins were born with the same personality.


    ¡°Do I want to know what you did?¡±


    ¡°To skip over the details, we basically gave them an ultimatum. Either pledge allegiance to us, or be stripped of their positions in Class B. They¡¯ll be forced to keep their cleanse tags fully saturated for the remainder of their time here.¡±


    ¡°And how many did you successfully prosecute?¡±


    ¡°All of them caved in. It¡¯s a lot easier to keep your own party in line than manage another party, like Class F, which is why I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fair to say. So you¡¯re using Class F in your power play against Class A, or one of the Gilbert or Mona factions?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more Class A in general, but the Gilbert faction had and will be taking the brunt of the flak, with the way we¡¯re organizing this resistance in the present and the foreseeable future. We haven¡¯t done much to shake up Mona and the Activity Council, nor do we have the means to do so yet.¡±


    ¡°I get what you mean. How would you oppose a student organization that¡¯s responsible for managing everyday student life if they adequately meet their mandate, and their only crime is their authoritarian monopoly on power? It¡¯s not oppressive enough against the general public, so it¡¯s hard to sell.¡±


    ¡°I have another idea for that, but it¡¯ll take time to plan out and execute on, so hear me out then as you¡¯re hearing me out now.¡±


    Still grinning, Bianca stopped before the Class 3-F doors. The music continued to play out of the P.A. system, but it had been playing for a while now and students were clearly in a hurry to sort themselves into their own homerooms.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hear what you¡¯re coming up with right now, then.¡±


    ¡°Whenever your band is ready, I can authorize an area in the atrium for y¡¯all to play music. More precisely, I want you to play songs with anti-establishment sentiment.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. An opportunity for a live show already? And of course, there were the political considerations surrounding it. It wasn¡¯t that she cared for it itself, but the consequences were what was important.


    ¡°And seeing as Mayumi and Caius are starring in Auxirian Idiot, there shouldn¡¯t be any problem with playing some songs from there, right?¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ that sounds doable, I think.¡±


    Alice had a good opinion on MJA¡¯s works, but she certainly didn¡¯t expect herself to be asked to play songs from The Outlaws. They were definitely critical works of music, some would even say revolutionary, and would fit in nicely with the theme of resistance against the old order.


    ¡°What do you think? A good idea?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can see what you¡¯re trying to set up.¡±


    Civil disobedience by itself was not a great method for publicity and getting the word out. There had to be some kind of rallying cry or emotional basis for the cause, since rational arguments and destructive actions tend to be inefficient for those purposes.


    ¡°From what I saw today the Elites seem almost ready, surprisingly, so the sooner we get this going the better. Chantal and the anti-neutrality protests need something fresh to start again with, if we¡¯re committed to going down the path of revolution.


    ¡°The first step is to find a common rallying point for the movement to sustain itself. With the senatorial trials finished and a few PSC big shots convicted, some of the populist flames were put out. Transforming the anti-neutrality protests into a general, long term movement against the existing order just got harder.¡±


    The rest of the Elites arrived not too soon to get back to their classroom. At the front of the pack was an animated Mayumi with the tagalong Kato, the former no doubt excited about their musical prospects. Kato was the first to notice the two of them just outside the door, and as soon as he made eye contact with Bianca, he averted his gaze and was suddenly in a hurry, quickly shoving Mayumi along into the classroom.


    Alice didn¡¯t give it much thought until she turned back to face the student council treasurer. She felt her heart tighten up as Bianca¡¯s eyes floated somewhere between listless and upset, staring at the open door where Kato passed through.


    ¡°...¡±


    Before Alice was able to pipe up and ask what happened between her and Kato, as it was abundantly obvious, suddenly Ariel appeared in between the two of them and startled Alice who was still not used to her apparitions.


    ¡°This is my idea. It¡¯s definitely worth a try, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°How come you guys can¡¯t do something like this? Aren¡¯t all of Class B music students?¡±


    ¡°You have your answer right in your question. Class B can¡¯t be the one¡¯s on the ground inciting it. We¡¯re still part of the establishment that we¡¯re trying to dismantle from within, so we need people like you to do the same from the outside.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡±


    The bell finally rang for the start of first period. The two Jupiter sisters were definitely late for their homeroom class now, but they seemed to heed no attention to that. Then, Alice remembered that they were student council executives so they were exempt from tardiness penalties. As Bianca waved to Alice, her heart tightened again as she saw the distant eyes that remained on Bianca.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s talk about it later. We need to get to class.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re counting on you to help us.¡±


    While Bianca left, Ariel leaned in towards Alice to whisper to her, covered over by her tiny hand.


    ¡°If you can also see it, this is also a way to indirectly use Mayumi¡¯s talent for Class B¡¯s benefit. For as long as we¡¯ve known her, she would never agree to do something that we suggest, so we¡¯re really lucky to have you and Chantal to cover for us.¡±


    Ariel made a cheeky grin as Bianca slipped away from Alice¡¯s thoughts and Alice began snickering at the pettiness of their historical rivalry. Ariel finally peeled and skipped away from Alice and Class F, catching up to Bianca down the hall. In the moment, Alice wondered what made Ariel the way she was and what kind of things turned and churned inside her brain of enormous capacity. Eon and Caius really weren¡¯t exaggerating when they said that she was the most dangerous of the Jupiter sisters.


    But even then, Alice had already made up her mind to accept their proposition. Their assessment of the current anti-neutrality protests was entirely accurate. Chantal would definitely appreciate the help with this new direction. A satisfied grin materialized on her face with anticipation.


    Alice was not an ideological crusader; far from it in fact. Her only motivation was to preserve the freedom and peace of mind that Class F and the Elites were able to give her, and that was enough for her to stand in front of the crowd to denounce Class A¡¯s hegemony over the school. She sat down in her seat next to a sleeping Evie face-down in her arms on the desk, continuing to ponder the future political direction of their school.

 3.7 Revolution Studio

    The week¡¯s end arrived quickly, and so did the pace of Mayumi and Caius¡¯ commitment to the musical. Less than a few days in, they were already sweating buckets out practicing the play¡¯s dance sequences under Trisha. Once their choreography was satisfactory for the day, they would join in the choir under Mr Nigel.


    As Anne warned and Caius remembered, the drama department¡¯s operation was tight as they were under a very narrow timeline, which called into question Donovan¡¯s need to start a war against Class D for the talent show¡¯s golden time slot. Needless to say, there wasn¡¯t much dissent when their operation was tight.


    In the library¡¯s upper floor were Caius and Cecilia, studying together for the next part of their assignment from their literature class, as they did before at the beginning of the week. They sat in the same positions too, facing each other from across the table. There was a wide, large window nearby, covered by water droplets and let in a meagre amount of light, which prompted the library custodians to turn on all the lights.


    ¡°In isolation, in the album, the reality of Tommy¡¯s journey to the city finally catches up to him in Are We The Waiting. While he ditched everything and nothing in his old town, he realizes that he also has everything and nothing here in the city. He sees everything the city advertised with its starry nights of city lights, but at the same time there¡¯s nowhere for him to start over. He eventually makes up his mind that it¡¯s time to discard his old life in the suburbs, and that¡¯s when St. Timmy shows up.¡±


    Caius summarized the start of the next act in the album, but not necessarily the musical. He continued.


    ¡°The musical is a little different, using songs from their other albums to elucidate on the story. So, in Favourite Son that plays before it, it details Mark¡¯s descent into depression that made him join the Navy. He didn¡¯t like home, but he also didn¡¯t want to slum it out in the city ghettos with Tommy. It¡¯s just too much for a kid raised in the suburbs to accept. Are We The Waiting in the musical, instead of being Tommy¡¯s story, was rebranded into Mark¡¯s, and shares a similar sentiment. The decision to enlist was also a turning point; leaving everything he¡¯s known behind in exchange for an unknown future.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, yup. That¡¯s Mark¡¯s subplot to contrast with the route Tommy¡¯s chosen. It¡¯s one of many options of what disaffected teenagers chose to do to escape their dreadful lives.¡±


    ¡°Mark¡¯s really gonna have it hard, though, since he¡¯s going to be sent to fight in a foreign land. In reality, it¡¯s supposed to be an allusion to our own foreign mission in Eiria, after all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually a manifestation of their desire for escape from the reality they¡¯re born into. They physically have to go to a foreign land to mentally leave behind what bitterness they had for their home.¡±


    Caius spun the pencil in his hand as his other hand¡¯s fingers tapped on the assignment paper on the table. He was an Elite, all right, fidgeting with both hands at the same time.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad angle, actually, viewing Mark¡¯s substory as an alternative choice to the dilemma of the Prince of Suburbia. Disenchantment with the status quo can manifest in different ways.¡±


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s why in the musical, they expanded the story to include a couple more characters. The original album only talks about Tommy, but to adapt it into a dramatic performance, there has to be a few more devices to make the main story stronger.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Then as for the main story, St. Timmy is introduced next as the choice that Tommy makes in contrast to Mark¡¯s. St. Timmy is supposedly a drug dealer from the ghetto who¡¯s responsible for the inner city¡¯s liveliness. To join the gangs swindling and shoplifting by day and partying in the hood at night, he needs to be initiated into this society in some form. So, through the use of psychoactive drugs, he forcibly changes his behaviour from something more befitting of a disgruntled suburban kid, to a headstrong, dangerous and confident underground gangster.¡±


    Cecilia laughed at the very sober characterization of Tommy.


    ¡°I mean, that¡¯s normally how people join the hood anyway. MJA refers to it as the ¡®underbelly¡¯, where all sorts of legally questionable things happen. We in civilized society call them ¡®grey zones¡¯, but it¡¯s just another day in the ghetto.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also a great place to have fun, I¡¯ve heard. I¡¯ve actually never seen what happens inside of it, since I¡¯m strictly from civilization. A Prince of Suburbia, if you will. Have you?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t think so. I spend time with some who are loosely associated with them, but I always refuse to join them when they suggest something way too far out of line for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Like what, specifically?¡±


    ¡°Like going to nightclubs and making dosh by serving the VIP guests there. I mean, I think they have a great time there, but as much fun as we have doing karaoke, I can¡¯t get involved with anything more than that. I don¡¯t think I have the guts to make the leap that Tommy did.¡±


    ¡°Is that really what happens?¡±


    ¡°Kind of. There¡¯s a process of escalation. First, it¡¯s going to a karaoke mixer with the local scum. Then, you get invited to dates or double dates to underground bars and clubs. Finally, after you make a decent name for yourself in those places, you get the big gig with the bosses. Something like that.¡±


    Caius whistled.


    ¡°Then as someone with the experience, are the portrayals in the movies accurate?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no. I didn¡¯t do nearly enough of that. I got to do the second thing once and I never went back. It just wasn¡¯t the kind of thing for me.


    ¡°Secondly, the romanticization of it is kinda sus because it appeals to ideals or morals that can sell to the general audience, like the idea of a kind-hearted mafia boss. I think that kind of thing happens very rarely, and in most situations, it¡¯s a lot more cutthroat with their interests and egos. Certainly, the way the underbelly is portrayed in Auxirian Idiot is way closer to reality than one would expect.¡±


    ¡°I must say, then, as someone connected to Eternia in some way, I can see your point. Directors pick out the most sensational story to perform, after all. From the little I see of Kato and his people, I certainly understand how cutthroat that kind of a world is.¡±


    ¡°I think on Kato¡¯s level in Eternia, that¡¯s much higher than what Tommy gets to see, and it kinda applies to us and the top of Korolev too. To give an analogy, Class A owns the levers of control to the kinds of businesses that flourish in the ghettos like Shamshuipo, while Class G are the on-the-ground gangsters, or to Class A, are either the customers or the manual labourers who are needed for those businesses to serve or operate. I don¡¯t know why, but Kato and Evie should have been in Class A.¡±


    ¡°Then St. Timmy is someone in between those two groups of people, making the money off of selling drugs to the underbelly as an agent of the mafia bosses above him.¡±


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s how the underground economy has to run. Where exactly do these goods come from? Nobody in the ghetto knows except for the criminal bosses running those drug businesses, and maybe the middle men like St. Timmy. If they do get a handle on that kind of information, they¡¯ll be more than just a petty drug dealer, they¡¯ll be considered a big shot who not just sells drugs but can also sell that info as an informant. Sounds familiar to our movies?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that does sound like it. It¡¯s the runner working between the crime families who seems to know the ins and outs of the street feuds while also able to procure anything and everything for a client who can pay the price.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just the nature of the business, and that¡¯s also kind of how the families of the students of the higher classes are too in the real world. I would know, because I¡¯m from Stephen¡¯s family.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re from Stephen¡¯s family? How?¡±


    Genuinely surprised, he stopped both hands¡¯ fidgeting at Cecilia¡¯s assertion. Cecilia, in turn, hastily held up both her hands in reaction.


    ¡°I¡¯m his cousin through my mom and his dad, but we lived away from each other and my mom broke ties with the family a long time ago. Today, we¡¯re just strangers who happen to be related by blood, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Though Cecilia was quite callous at the mention of her family, Caius was a lot more than just apprehensive, but even then, she can only shrug at it. It was a natural reaction from someone who was actively resisting the PSC.


    ¡°If I¡¯m on his side in any capacity, I wouldn¡¯t be here, would I?¡±


    Caius ruminated for a split second.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you¡¯re in Alice¡¯s previous position?¡±


    Cecilia laughed in earnest.


    ¡°More like Alice¡¯s current position, and for as long as I can remember, too. If you¡¯re still suspicious, Ariel would have told you by now, no?¡±


    ¡°No, but I¡¯m still gonna ask Ariel to look at your file. For safe measures.¡±


    ¡°For the sake of Class F? I didn¡¯t expect you to be the most loyal of the Elites.¡±


    She laughed again, another one of honest merriment with a touch of edge. Caius was less serious as he said that jokingly.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the most loyal, not by a long shot. If I had to name somebody, Kato probably fits the bill.¡±


    ¡°Well, whatever your alignment is, I get it, I get it. It¡¯s almost like fraternizing with the enemy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but it¡¯s okay. If I get to punch Stephen in the face like Kato did with Gilbert, you¡¯d be fine with it, right?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely. I¡¯d welcome that, in fact.¡±


    Caius turned the page in his textbook.


    ¡°But, your affinity for rock and punk music is related to your family¡¯s situation, right? If your mother broke ties with the family, I¡¯m guessing that you¡¯re not the one who¡¯s left with the family fortune.¡±


    Cecilia was surprised at his hypothesis, both at its accuracy and his audacity to speculate on someone else¡¯s life. She always forgot that she was talking to an Elite, a being from a different dimension, but curiously also from the same one as Ariel¡¯s.


    ¡°Your guess is right on the money that¡¯s not mine; I¡¯m sort of poor, on some level of that word¡¯s meaning. Without the family¡¯s support, my mom works many jobs in a day to get me into this school on her own.¡±


    Caius felt that she didn¡¯t want to elaborate any further on her family, so he let that be. That was enough of an explanation.


    ¡°Then how come you¡¯re not in Class A? I think you have the abilities, and if you had just pulled a few strings, you would¡¯ve gotten there.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be in the same class as Stephen. On the other hand, I do want to stay low, and move along at my own pace without others trying to get in my way. Staying out of politics here is how to accomplish that.¡±


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s what you mean by neither blue nor yellow. But associating with me and Mayumi will mean you¡¯ll be associating with the yellow camp, or the anti-neutrality camp. Will that be forgivable?¡±


    ¡°Depends. It¡¯s not the end of the world for me in either direction. For good or for ill, I¡¯m known for being Anne¡¯s bitch in the drama department, and she together with Donovan are definitely in the pro-establishment blue camp.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Then, let¡¯s get back to St. Timmy. We¡¯ll learn later on that St. Timmy is just a figment of Tommy¡¯s ego charged with drugs, but that¡¯s for later. For now, St. Timmy allowed Tommy to become a charismatic rebel leader of the ghetto, and as a consequence, was able to capture the heart of Whatzshecalled, a real rebel from the underbelly.


    ¡°But there were major differences between them. For one, Whatzshecalled was never the druggie that Tommy was. The other difference is that she was truly born and raised in the city ghetto, having a deep understanding of the underbelly¡¯s functions and therefore the real reasons to agitate for change. But again, this is a backdrop for what happens later. Right now, Tommy¡¯s enjoying his new life of crime and drugs.¡±


    Cecilia also flipped to the next page of her textbook.


    ¡°While that¡¯s happening, Mark and Susan are having their own problems with their lives in Give Me Novacaine. Mark needs anaesthesia for the wounds he sustained during his military deployment, while back in Sunnyville, Susan is recovering from the birth of her son with melatonin, pot and alcohol.


    ¡°Both met huge roadblocks in their lives. Mark is suffering from actual physical injuries while overseas in search of finding peace with his ¡®going nowhere¡¯ suburban heritage. At home, Susan can¡¯t cope with the responsibility of raising a child at her young age, so she drowns herself in a mixture of substances to run away from those responsibilities, and let the father handle all of it. A really big contrast with Tommy¡¯s apparent success at this point in the story.¡±


    ¡°You could say they¡¯re doubling as foils to Tommy, or the attempt to be. They¡¯re contrasts that¡¯ll continue throughout the story, and eventually we get to watch them converge. They realize they¡¯re still suburban kids at the end of their journeys.¡±


    Cecilia nodded.


    ¡°And this song marks the start of that contrast. We get back to Tommy and St. Timmy, and how he¡¯s enamoured by the rebellion that¡¯s led by Whatzshecalled. He openly professes his love for her in the performance of Last of the Auxirian Girls and She¡¯s a Rebel, done with the verses from each respective song in a call-and-response. We get a few of these call-and-responses for other songs later on too, but anyways. This is the high point of Tommy¡¯s life in the city, directly coming off contrasting with the misery of his friends.¡±


    ¡°The grass couldn¡¯t look greener on his own pasture. While we don¡¯t know exactly what Whatzshecalled actually does as a so-called ¡®true¡¯ rebel because the story is seen through Tommy¡¯s eyes, we can surmise it¡¯s likely something more substantial than Tommy¡¯s immature rage; that¡¯s why Tommy idolizes her in the first place. It¡¯s about getting things done on the ground like leading rallies, spraying graffiti, establishing connections in and out of the underbelly, and bailing out comrades from their unquestionable stupidity. Things that Tommy also want to do if he¡¯s aspiring to become a true rebel like Whatzshecalled.¡±


    As Caius finished, Cecilia gave a dry chuckle.


    ¡°And she¡¯s naive enough, or rather optimistic or idealistic enough, to accept Tommy¡¯s desire to become one, and it¡¯s exemplified in the next song. In Last Night on Earth, Tommy, under the influence of St. Timmy, persuades Whatzshecalled to take the same drugs he is, heroin in the original script. And in their dangerous combination of love, crime and drugs, Whatzshecalled expresses her trust in Tommy and takes the drug.¡±


    ¡°This part is particularly interesting, because Susan¡¯s boyfriend, or husband, or whatever he is, sings this song with Whatzshecalled. It¡¯s a love song, but they¡¯re singing it to different people; he¡¯s singing it to his kid, while Whatzshecalled¡¯s singing it to Tommy.¡±


    ¡°Yup. That¡¯s actually really cool that it fits both situations. Although Susan¡¯s boyfriend isn¡¯t that much better than Susan, at least his head was clear enough to actually take care of the kid properly.¡±


    ¡°And it turns out this is where the story starts to turn towards the climax, though it¡¯s not apparent to the audience yet. That¡¯s what¡¯s amazing about this sequence, because where things start to fall apart has to be in the slowest and most subtle song. A lull in the battle that gives a false sense of security.¡±


    Cecilia leaned back into her chair comfortably and began singing the first verse of the song, which was St. Timmy¡¯s part.


    ¡°I text a postcard sent to you, did it go through¡ªsending all my love to you. You are the moonlight of my life, every night¡ªgiving all my love to you.¡±


    After the verse, Caius followed up with the pre-chorus.


    ¡°My beating heart belongs to you. I walked for miles ¡®til I found you.¡±


    ¡°¡°I¡¯m here to honour you. If I lose everything in the fire; I¡¯m sending all my love to you.¡±¡°


    They finished with the chorus together. Caius grinned, both finished with the segment of the story that they needed for the next part of their assignment. Cecilia turned in her chair idly, head resting on top of and over the headrest with eyes on the ceiling. She was undoubtedly comfortable.


    ¡°Things here look pretty swell at the moment, too, don¡¯t they? It¡¯s less than a week and the two of you are already neck-deep in rehearsing.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even remind me. Mayumi might have had past experience, but I was just an extra. I¡¯m not nearly as good as the others.¡±


    ¡°I dunno, you seem to have just as much talent, not gonna lie.¡±


    Caius was smug, pointing his finger at her.


    ¡°If I¡¯m talented, then you must be a star. You can do stage acting, singing and dancing all at once and better than literally everyone else. You become a completely different person when on stage, y¡¯know? I still don¡¯t understand why the drama department wasn¡¯t willing to do a regular play and put you in a star role. They¡¯re literally wasting their talent.¡±


    She struggled to keep her wide smile at bay and felt elated at his praise, so she covered it up with a cough into her clenched hand.


    ¡°Ahem. That¡¯s just a day on the job, nothing more. And even if I¡¯m that good, no one except for Don wants to put me in a star role, and even when he did, someone with real clout had to take an even higher profile star role for it to be acceptable to the rest of the department.¡±


    It was Caius¡¯ turn to turn in his chair.


    ¡°All that political BS for their bruised egos. A sad way for the drama department to fall.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you get when you put any group of people together. Even among friend circles, there¡¯ll be this kind of tribalistic drama when egos clash.¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    He put his feet up on the chair next to him lazily, giving it a little thought.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s right. I can totally imagine that happening. Squabbling is just human nature, even between the closest of friends.¡±


    ¡°Are you speaking from experience? With the Elites?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡±


    Caius laughed gleefully at the presumption, precisely because she was right. For a group as large as theirs it was relatively peaceful, but there was inevitably friction in some way or another.


    ¡°Are we done with our classwork here?¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡±


    He closed his text with a loud flap of the pages, which reminded Cecilia.


    ¡°Wait a minute, isn¡¯t the class going through the story kinda quick? It¡¯s only the first week of introducing this work, right? It¡¯s five weeks per work of literature to study, and this is only the fifth week of school. That means we finished with Les Mis¨¦rables a week early.¡±


    ¡°True. We¡¯re speed-running this like a mofo, but that¡¯s okay. It means the later weeks in the semester will be easier.¡±


    He maintained his grin and added a shrug to it, and while the words don¡¯t seem to suggest it, Cecilia couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes at his naked confidence. Caius laughed at her reaction. He leaned forward to rest his chin in his hands, supported by the elbows on the desk.


    ¡°Now, that¡¯s what a response to an Elite should look like.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even remind me. Both Eon and Kato are just as annoying as you are.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, give me a little credit. I¡¯m the least annoying of the three.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll need a rain check on that one, and even then I¡¯d still press ¡®x¡¯ to doubt.¡±


    Cecilia had been joining the Elites at lunchtime, at the surprising insistence of Mayumi. While Mayumi was well-behaved towards Cecilia, the other two Elites Eon and Kato certainly didn¡¯t hold any quarter.


    ¡°Are you still upset about the equinox festival being postponed to next next week? As amazing as we are, we can¡¯t do anything about that. We can¡¯t do much if the weather forecast is continuous rain for the next week or so.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, it¡¯s not about that. It only moved a little further away, not cancelled.¡±


    She was a little upset.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be great. If we get clear skies, we¡¯ll be able to see fireworks and have events on the river. The one year that it happened right after rainfall, it was still damp and cloudy so everything was sticky and we couldn¡¯t see any fireworks. Sad days.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine! I¡¯m not upset about it!¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes?!¡±


    She was quite upset now, comically so with her agitated frown, and Caius merely smirked. There was not a fine line between friends and insulting the intelligence of an enemy, it seemed. On the other hand, there was no doubt he was only this outrageous with Mayumi, so it was sort of reassuring at the same time that Caius treated her like a friend, if she could call it that. A little odd and with the truth impossible to grasp, she continued to carry that displeasure in her face, inadvertently making it known to Caius and his hidden amusement.


    <hr>


    Monday, September 26, 1887. Korolev Senior, central atrium.


    Rrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnng!


    ¡°Gimme cherry bombs and gasoline! Debutantes in surgery! And the headline: LEGALIZE¡ª!¡±


    ¡°¡°¡ªthe truth!¡±¡°


    Posing in front of a small crowd of students, Mayumi closed it off with a solid final riff of her guitar.


    ¡°Thank you, everybody! Thanks for coming to our first live!¡±


    ¡°That was sick!¡± ¡°It was awesome, sister!¡± ¡°Woooooo!¡±


    Even the rest of the Elites were surprised at Mayumi¡¯s popularity among the other classes, though her bubbly personality would be welcomed anywhere.


    The atrium was a busy place at lunchtime as usual. Not only did students loiter along the lockers and hallways, but they also flocked to the different landmarks in the atrium like the mobile billboards, under the spiral staircase, and the few indoor trees that saw sunlight only from the transparent glass ceiling several floors up.


    Carrying with them folding tables and lawn chairs that they took from nearby storage rooms, it solved the problem of class confrontation in the cafeteria by essentially expanding into the atrium to make space. As such, it was occupied by mostly of the lower classes and therefore, they appreciated the show that the Elites of Class F put on. There were even observers on the second and third floor balconies.


    Their first performance was awfully successful, to Kato¡¯s surprise. The sound setup was clean, thanks to Alice; their form was sharp; and the audience reacted well to about thirty minutes of MJA¡¯s music. He was sure that the PSC would come and break up the party, but then again after that senatorial debacle they seemed to be laying low for the time being.


    ¡°Kato! Was that great, or was that great?¡±


    ¡°It was fantastic, all right? Just as I expected from you, Mayumi.¡±


    Like from the very start, the first name that came out of her mouth was the Eternian boy¡¯s as they began to pack up. Mayumi posed in front of Kato with the Gibson Les Paul Jr. in her hands, to which he nonchalantly turned away and bent down to put away his own.


    ¡°Hey! You think you can diss me like that? Who d¡¯ya think taught ye how to play this here, boy?¡±


    ¡°What the¡ªstop!¡±


    Instantly, he was ruffled up by her arm around his neck that pulled his face against her flat chest, followed by her knuckles of her other hand drilling circles into the side of his head. The smile on her face stretched across the plains and hills of her face unrelentingly, and chortled uncontrollably for no other reason but the unsolicited post-performance euphoria.


    And of course, he was instantly annoyed at the physical assault and he carefully extricated himself out of her still-feeble clutches. He held her wrists at arm¡¯s length, preventing her from attempting it again.


    ¡°Control yourself, sister. That wasn¡¯t a diss.¡±


    ¡°Nuh-uh. You know I¡¯m always right, and I know a diss when I hear one.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, sis, don¡¯t be like this. We¡¯re closing shop, it¡¯s enough!¡±


    ¡°But I just got started?¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s already enough with you!¡±


    ¡°Heh, and you thought you wouldn¡¯t be the straight man again.¡±


    She ended with a haughty and amused snicker, which drove Kato¡¯s nerves up the wall. Before he acted on that impulse, he quickly decided to drop this at once and go back to unplugging his setup. He let go of her wrists, but then he noticed she already wrapped her hands around his own wrists, tugging at it tenderly.


    ¡°...what is it?¡±


    ¡°Remember, I¡¯m always right. You can¡¯t fight me on any terms.¡±


    This time, she beamed in earnest and without any trace of the pompous attitude she wore a moment ago. It was a simple, pure-hearted smile that captivated Kato within it, who inadvertently allowed her hands to find its way to holding onto his.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever want to fight you...¡±


    ¡°Perfect. Then you¡¯ll do everything as I say, right?¡±


    ¡°Now, that, I can¡¯t do either¡­¡±


    It had already been a few moments too many that Mayumi wouldn¡¯t let go and Kato could feel the heat from the stares around him, especially from the other Elites.


    ¡°Hah. Of course you wouldn¡¯t. An Elite bends to no-one, not even their own. Although I would recommend that you still submit to me, the boss of this particular realm.¡±


    And just as quickly, the serenity disappeared and the sneer returned with its arrogance and condescension, which was the natural state of affairs apparently. Finally, Mayumi reached for her case as she pulled apart the guitar¡¯s strap around her torso, and Kato let out a breath of relief that he didn¡¯t realize he was holding onto.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re all under your suzerainty for as long as we can remember. Isn¡¯t that already it?¡±


    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk. What I¡¯m looking for is your undying fealty to the crown, sir Kato the knight.¡±


    ¡°On the topic of the crown, this is what you and the drama department are going to do for the musical, right? We are not gonna do the same stuff for the talent show, sadly.¡±


    ¡°Nah, this is for fun. For the talent show, you¡¯re probably going to have to go all-in with the original jazz ensemble. I know that we thought we could do a rock band arrangement, but after a week I think Caius is too overwhelmed by all that practice, and if we¡¯re going to be only playing MJA songs for this setup, I think you¡¯ll have a better chance at getting a nomination for playing jazz without me and Caius instead.¡±


    ¡°Cool. I¡¯m glad that you think of dragging all of us into the anti-neutrality protest as ¡®for fun¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Are you even listening to me?! Anyway, this was Alice¡¯s idea, and by extension, it was the Jupiters¡¯ idea. Not that it was, like, a bad idea. It makes total sense and Chantal was completely on board with it. I¡¯m just along for the ride, bro.¡±


    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re right, it¡¯s their idea, but you still agreed to be the new face of the protests.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a dick, dick.¡±


    ¡°Who did you think I learned that skill from?¡±


    Kato had the last snicker as they slung their cases on their backs and got to dismantle the amps. Nearby, the crew helped Franco with the drum set, which would need to be taken back and forth multiple times in sections to the music room if it weren¡¯t for Evie, Yui and Cecilia here to help. They didn¡¯t use the drums on the fourth floor; it remained there.


    On approach was a familiar grouchy member of the PSC followed by his two peons from Class A. His chronically messy hair was glistening in the midday sunlight, something that also got a little in the way of the Elites, but it was only when Stephen stopped in front of Mayumi that the striking similarity of their hair was noticed by Kato. Sparing Kato only a glance, Stephen held up his cleanse tag, and attached to it was the red ribbon of the PSC.


    ¡°If I may, papers, please.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got papers. I always do.¡±


    Both were noticeably well-mannered, but Kato and Cecilia, who also took notice of her cousin¡¯s intrusion, could feel something awkwardly off between the two. It wasn¡¯t the usual animosity between the laypeople and the PSC; it felt like something that could be deeply cutting.


    Mayumi pulled out the permit that Scarlett signed in her own name. It only took a moment for Stephen to hand it back to her.¡±


    ¡°The SLO¡¯s permit looks good. Remember to keep to your permit¡¯s boundaries.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, chief.¡±


    Sparing another, final glance at Kato, Stephen and his men retreated as quickly as they had arrived, which left the Elites a little bit bamboozled by the interaction.


    Cecilia went up to Kato and Mayumi, worried about her cousin¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°W-what was that about?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know too, Kato. How does your school¡¯s disciplinary police body work here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just as confused as you are. I was expecting some hardcore questioning, but it turned out not to be. They¡¯ll ask for your permit for atrium activities, which are given out by the SLO, and then ask why you needed it. A routine check.¡±


    ¡°Then everybody else here in the atrium also has a permit?¡±


    ¡°For the organizer in charge of taking out all these tables and chairs. You¡¯re the liable party if something out of line happens.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m being thrown under the bus?! Not that it matters that much if the PSC gets me, I guess.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of suspension or expulsion? Okay, sis.¡±


    ¡°Eheheheh, well, at least he didn¡¯t make a scene just now. I was expecting more from him too, given the stage you have here.¡±


    Cecilia pointed to the drapery behind their setup, which was a large black blossom flag held up by two mobile light posts on each side. It was a flagrant display of a specific contemporary political position. But though the connotation was in opposition to the PSC, the link was not direct because the establishment was technically not in the wider pan-blue camp. If they ever made that direct endorsement, it would be the end of the PSC and the current order in Korolev Senior, as it would be a naked act of treason against Eternia.


    The pan-blue camp was a collective term for supporters of the current status quo between Eternia, which was the Yue underground mob, and Auxiria, the state that, now, was the sole sovereign over the continent of Candor. They were pro-collaboration with the legal ruling party, the imperial government of Auxiria, and therefore they most likely had vested interests, economic or otherwise, on the Auxirian side that motivated them to support the maintenance of the status quo.


    On the other side, the pan-yellow camp demanded that the Eternians take over from Auxirian rule in order to oversee the process of political self-determination for the various groups under their aegis, primarily for the Yue people. In recent years, the two factions became more and more polarized as the blue camp veered deep into treasonous territory, being accused of slowly turning into an arm of the Auxirian imperial government rather than Eternia. In reaction, the yellow camp¡¯s attitude on self-determination turned just as hardline, and the result of it was the still-developing political unrest in Lien.


    ¡°The Act of Neutrality hadn¡¯t passed yet, so it¡¯s still fine to do it here in the atrium. They can¡¯t touch us yet. Of course, if you¡¯re doing what Chantal¡¯s doing and deliberately waving this flag outside the atrium, then you¡¯ll get beaned.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it, Celia. We¡¯re not gonna treat you or him differently just because he¡¯s your cousin, y¡¯know? He¡¯ll be smited with the force of a first-class Elite, just as we planned it.¡±


    Mayumi winked as she showed off her nonexistent biceps to a now-smiling Cecilia. Kato shrugged, also just as unrepentant.


    Suddenly, Caius clapped his hands at them to signal the others¡¯ readiness for departure.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go already, we¡¯ll meet you guys back at the studio. Celia, come here.¡±


    ¡°¡°Okay!¡±¡°


    Caius handed over his keyboard, its stands and the sheet music to her as he moved together with Franco together in moving out the biggest of the percussion. With the rest of the Elites laughing at their struggle, as they expected they would, Mayumi and Kato went to carry their amps and other peripherals back to the fourth floor. With whichever free hands they had, the Elites waved at each other as they parted.


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that nice? Celia¡¯s been a good sport. I always have confidence in my judgment of other people¡¯s character.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and yes, you do. I don¡¯t expect anything less from you.¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯re a li¡¯l too happy there, bootlicker.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, Mayumi. It¡¯s been the same this whole time. Imagine how upset you¡¯d be if everyone had something annoying to say at every single opportunity. We can find that kind of trouble elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Implyin¡¯ you¡¯re not doing that at this very moment.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re being very generous with our patience, sister.¡±


    Mayumi grinned and said nothing further. Not only her judgment but her self-awareness too were her strengths.


    ¡°About Celia though, I didn¡¯t know that Caius was in the same class as her. She¡¯s also Ariel¡¯s friend, so that helps.¡±


    ¡°I heard that now, they get together in the library during fifth period to skip it.¡±


    Another, more mischievous grin appeared on Mayumi¡¯s face. Again, Kato only sneered.


    ¡°Good for them, ain¡¯t it? Good for Caius, to be honest. Celia¡¯s totally in Caius¡¯ strike zone, in my humble opinion.¡±


    ¡°Heheheh. I¡¯m just happy that it¡¯s happening. How much time do you give them before they officially get together?¡±


    ¡°Laying it out straight, eh? I don¡¯t know, sister. It could be days, it could be years. One factor is what Celia¡¯s thoughts are and how receptive she is to the idea; that¡¯s an unknown as of right now. The other is if Caius thinks he¡¯s ready for that idea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a long-winded way of saying you have no idea. Just give me a number, bro.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly it. I¡¯ll give you a random number and you¡¯ll ask why, so I preemptively answered the ¡®why¡¯ question first.¡±


    Mayumi snickered. Maybe she trained the Elites a little too well.


    ¡°Then I hope it can be very soon. I can expedite the process, and I have the resources. There have to be opportunities during these weeks before the talent show when we¡¯re with the drama department. I can feel it.¡±


    She puffed out her tiny chest in the affirmative.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s some ulterior motivation you got there. He¡¯s one of your lackeys too, are you sure you want to sell him off to another woman?¡±


    ¡°Why does it sound like you¡¯re attacking my character somehow? Anyway, I¡¯m just glad that that¡¯s a possible pairing. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±


    ¡°More power to you to get those two together, then. I have enough girls around me to take care of, and Caius doesn¡¯t have enough.¡±


    ¡°Ooo, look at you, pimpin¡¯!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not pimping! I have, like, five other girls living with me, two of which are my sisters. And then at school, I have you here too. There are plenty to go around to give me a headache.¡±


    ¡°One man with six wives, is a harem still a thing that¡¯s allowed?¡±


    ¡°No, but again, two of them are my sisters, and one of them can be my grandmother. That¡¯s not a harem, that¡¯s an extended family.¡±


    ¡°So the other three are bride candidates, including myself, right?¡±


    ¡°Technically one of them was already a bride, and no, there¡¯s no open position for this job. It¡¯s closed until further notice.¡±


    ¡°Aww¡­¡±


    Mayumi wailed without any trace of gloom, and in fact she was still grinning brightly at Kato. He had dodged the question with a shrug of his shoulders like it was nothing. Momentarily, he wondered how angry Mayumi would be if he were to answer the question truthfully, but it was a useless contemplation as he had zero intentions of answering it anyway.


    They had made it to their studio on the fourth floor and dumped their cargo inside the sound room for practice tomorrow morning, since after school Mayumi and Caius would be absent due to the musical¡¯s rehearsal.


    ¡°With all this practice, are you gonna be able to pass those advanced classes¡¯ exams in a couple of weeks? Remember, Sisi mentioned that on your first day.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Exams? You don¡¯t need to worry about that. My marks are way better than yours.¡±


    Bemused, Kato put a hand to his hip, unconvinced.


    ¡°Are you using your eye again? Y¡¯know, as a kid it never mattered if you got caught cheating, even if it¡¯s impossible for the teachers to catch you specifically cheating. But cheating in high school is kinda cringe.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t cheat with my eye anyway. Schools know to set up Teller sonographs to detect mana fields that my eye¡¯s powers will distort.¡±


    ¡°And when did they start doing that?¡±


    ¡°How rude. For your information, it has been the case since the start of junior high school. I haven¡¯t cheated in years.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like someone stupidly proud of having quit smoking when they could have not done that thing in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Fuck you, leather man!¡±


    ¡°What, do they just let a Teller sonograph run in the back while you write an exam? That¡¯s a lot of electricity wasted.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that I¡¯m a waste of electricity?¡±


    ¡°Listen to me. It¡¯s the exam that you¡¯re writing that¡¯s a waste of time.¡±


    Teller sonographs were alchemical measurement devices, found in most science wings, that printed out raw field data of the mana fields in its sensor¡¯s vicinity. In the past, Teller sonographs could take up whole rooms, and were only fitting for laboratories. And before the invention of Teller sonographs were a variety of archaic and analog methods of mana field measurement, including manual human-written methods. But even in today¡¯s economy, with cheaper, portable desktop-ready typewriter-sized Teller sonographs, they were still prohibitively expensive, in the upwards of tens of thousands of dollars per machine.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re right. Exams are a waste of time.¡±


    Almost instantly, Mayumi closed the distance between the two of them, wrapping her arms around his neck and perching on it once more.


    ¡°...Mayumi?¡±


    She buried her face in his chest, not letting him see her face, but her eyepatch was flipped up, meaning her right eye was open.


    ¡°Do you remember back then, the final day I was here in Korolev, that I confessed to you?¡±


    Kato curled his lips. It took a moment for him to reply.


    ¡°...of course, I do.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t able to give me an answer that day, and that happened to be the final day as well.¡±


    Another pause. He chose his words carefully, hyper-conscious of the warm body clinging to him. The furnace that was his forehead was turned on to maximum, and he could feel the sweat drops forming on it.


    ¡°I had no idea what to say, to be perfectly honest. If I remember correctly, I think I panicked and told you to get back to me for an answer some time later.¡±


    ¡°You said to give you a couple of weeks to sort things out, and you¡¯ll get back to me.¡±


    ¡°Was that what I said?¡±


    ¡°Meanie. How can you forget?¡±


    He could feel her grip tighten around him by just a little bit.


    ¡°If a certain someone didn¡¯t just up and leave without a trace the next day, then I might have remembered those little details.¡±


    ¡°Now you know why I had to confess to you that day, right? It wasn¡¯t my choice to leave, and it was my very last day. But then, after what had happened following that, how could I not leave?¡±


    ¡°You could have sat through the shitstorm together with us. Did you know how we fixed everything in the end? We waited for Caius to come back to his senses. That was our only option. If he didn¡¯t, you would have come back to a very different Class F.¡±


    ¡°Figures. There wasn¡¯t another option, after all.¡±


    ¡°And conversely, now you know why I remember only the events following that. It was painful for everyone, even the Jupiter sisters, Mayumi.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    She pressed her face hard into his chest as her ears registered the words she didn¡¯t want to hear; she already heard it in a vision from her eye¡¯s precognitive powers, but it hurt all the same.


    She could admit, it was a very disastrous situation that she had left behind. She had already lost count of how many times she replayed the day in her mind and thought of what she should have done instead. And because of issues in her home, she had no choice but to leave them behind the very next day.


    It tormented her for a long time afterwards. Arriving at a new place, she couldn¡¯t explain to anyone what was going through her head, because even if she did, no one would understand; at least that was what she thought. It was a lot later that she laid down the conviction to act further in order to justify to herself, to absolve herself, and to accept the guilt of the collateral consequences of her actions. And so, she would ask the following, in total disregard for Kato¡¯s and the Elites¡¯ woes.


    ¡°Do you have an answer for me yet? I¡¯ve already waited for more than just a few weeks.¡±


    ¡°No. Give me a rain check on that one. I¡¯ll get back to you in a couple of weeks.¡±


    Mysteriously, Mayumi began to chuckle as Kato ignored her real question.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be expecting a satisfying answer at the equinox festival. Can I do that?¡±


    ¡°What makes you think I¡¯ll be giving you a satisfying answer? Don¡¯t put words in my mouth, eh?¡±


    ¡°What a jerk. How could you so coldly cast aside a girl¡¯s hopes and dreams? I¡¯ve waited for you for years.¡±


    ¡°You think you can call this situation for a normal response? You¡¯re lucky everyone¡¯s still together after those years you¡¯ve waited for.¡±


    Her shoulders were still bouncing from her laughter, obviously aware of Kato¡¯s thinly-veiled accusation. She didn¡¯t need to hear any further. It was this confession that almost shattered the Elites as a group of friends, seven years ago.


    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re the one lucky guy who can choose between a number of women.¡±


    A vein figuratively popped somewhere on his head.


    ¡°Mayumi, what¡¯s the real reason you¡¯ve come back to Korolev?¡±


    ¡°I just want to come back to the Elites and have one last dance. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°A last dance?¡±


    ¡°Yes, because if not now, when will we be able to be all together again?¡±


    ¡°But what¡¯s in it for you? What exactly is this last dance? Chasing after where we left off seven years ago? Or are you going to leave it in the past and just be satisfied with a plain-old band reunion?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Mayumi let go of him, taking a few slow steps backward. Her lame eye was visible and the hesitation on her face was apparent. Kato gritted his teeth.


    ¡°If you¡¯re using your eye, then I suppose you already know how I¡¯m going to respond.¡±


    She shook her head, and forced a wry smile.


    ¡°No. I can¡¯t see beyond the event horizon anymore. It¡¯s all a blur. I can only see the immediate future.¡±


    ¡°Then whatever blur you see, it still doesn¡¯t look very good.¡±


    ¡°Heh. That¡¯s right.¡±


    In the momentary calm, he finally felt the ambience in the room had chilled to a frost. It was Mayumi¡¯s undying flame that had warmed the studio, but with it extinguished, Kato realized he had let himself go a little too far. Normally, Mirabelle was one to push his buttons, but Mayumi was on another level. He had forgotten about that.


    ¡°Then, tell me, what would you want out of our reunion?¡±


    Kato didn¡¯t hesitate in his reply. He put his hands behind his head nonchalantly, trying to go for a lighthearted anwer.


    ¡°Nothing special in particular. Your presence is already enough for everyone.¡±


    Without thought, Mayumi nodded. The rigid smile melted into a soft one, and a little bit of warmth returned. Only moments after, did she realize she wanted to take the easy way out. She didn¡¯t want to answer that question Kato had asked, to him or even to herself. She hated herself for doing that, but the timing had passed. She could ruminate all about it on her own later.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that everyone still prostrates to me.¡±


    ¡°What the hell, the way you just put that, sounded disgusting.¡±


    A cackle from her restored the scene to its original colour. She twirled the ring of keys in her hand, ready to leave the studio and rejoin the Elites downstairs.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way. You know that already.¡±


    Kato was relieved, yet perplexed. However, he put his thoughts away for the time being and turned around to head for the door.


    ¡°And I know it more than I¡¯d like to. Let¡¯s go, Mayumi.¡±

 3.8 Know My Enemy

    ¡°That¡¯s a wrap! Great job, everyone! We can close the books on We the Waiting of Broken Sons. Very well done!¡±


    ¡°All that¡¯s left for this segment is to use real props and effects. Good. We¡¯re still on schedule.¡±


    Trisha applauded the crew as Anne tapped away at her clipboard with a pen. Just like any production, they practiced segments of the musical that were organized into blocks separated by major transitions. Especially for musicals, it was common for segments to be labelled by a mash-up of the names of the songs in it.


    Caius and Mayumi were sweating at the centre of the stage, clearly working up a storm playing their roles. A grinning Trisha brought the stars their towels and water bottles as the rest of the crew wound down.


    ¡°Trisha, you really do run a tight shift here, eh?¡±


    ¡°Of course I have to. How can we deliver an incomplete show to our audience?¡±


    ¡°Caius is just not used to doing so many retakes in a row. I, for one, have experienced this many times before. Trisha, you¡¯re doing exactly what¡¯s needed.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, Mayumi, thanks for the encouragement.¡±


    Their grins were even wider and laughter followed, lighting up the saintly aura around them. Caius had to squint his eyes in the face of this blinding brightness. He let out a breath of relief.


    While the students involved in that segment were rehearsing at the Assembly Hall¡¯s main stage, on the upper floor of the backstage were a couple of folks from the lights team and Cecilia, who was teaching those two first-years how to use the newly-purchased autolight.


    ¡°This is the instruction set reference here for this autolight. It¡¯s pretty standard and straightforward, so you just have to print the correct circle sequence on catalyzed paper from the alchemy lab¡¯s typewriter and put it in here.¡±


    She pointed to a slot in the machine that accepted printed transmutation circles, like how a motorized computing machine would accept punch cards.


    ¡°You can prepare all the circles beforehand. Insert them during each of the transitions, and it¡¯ll execute on it for you. All the parameters like directions, colours, light intensity, etc. will be defined in the circles.¡±


    Cecilia put into the autolight the cardboard in her hand that had a circle on it. Immediately, the autolight turned on and flickered between different colours and brightness.


    ¡°If you take out the cata-paper in the middle of it running, it¡¯ll just stop and reset itself, like so. If you want to pause it, fast-forward or backtrack, there are simple play controls here. If you want to make it so that it starts executing from the middle of the sequence rather than the start, remember how circles work normally. You just need to use a pen to scratch off everything up to the point you need it to start. That¡¯ll mean you should print out several copies of each circle you make, for backup measures.¡±


    Cata-paper, or catalyst paper, were manufactured with impurities made from alchemical catalysts, which allowed it to be used as a medium for transmutation circles to work. Its invention many centuries ago permitted low-level alchemy to be disseminated to the general public, just as the invention of the printing press had allowed the dissemination of information to the general public. In the past, one would need a whole, complete catalyst for circles to work, which were generally stones. Needless to say, designing circles on stones was much more of a laborious effort than on paper.


    ¡°That¡¯s about it. Besides operating it on cue during the performance, you just need to prepare the correct sequences for this autolight, which is supposed to be the main centre light. Does that make sense? Kenny? Joshua?¡±


    The two men looked at each other with cluelessness evident in their expressions. Cecilia sighed.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Liam, by the way? Isn¡¯t the whole light team supposed to be here today? It¡¯s Tuesday.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Liam said he¡¯s going to the racetrack today, and he told us two to just show up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He said there isn¡¯t anything we need to do except show up, because he said there¡¯s only work to do for the light team in the final two weeks when everyone is doing full rehearsals here in the Assembly Hall.¡±


    Cecilia grimaced. By the looks of things, Liam¡¯s light team would drag their feet as always, and these two newbies did not look like they understood what she just taught them to do. She shook her head in disappointment.


    ¡°Then, did he say when he¡¯ll show up?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he said he¡¯ll come in those last two weeks. In the meantime, he¡¯ll just send people like us to Tuesday¡¯s all-hands-on-deck meeting.¡±


    She rubbed her eyebrows in fatigue. She would have to do this every Tuesday to make sure the light team understood how to operate the new autolight in Liam¡¯s absence.


    ¡°Okay. Tell me which parts of the autolight configuration you don¡¯t understand, and I¡¯ll go over it again with you.¡±


    They nodded timidly, still wearing their clueless expressions.


    ¡°Then¡ª¡±


    Suddenly, a very loud noise interrupted the entire drama department. It was the familiar sound of a prop falling over onto the wooden stage floor, but it was immediately followed by a just-as-familiar shrill shriek of shock and pain.


    ¡°Mayumi!¡±


    Caius was the first to react, rushing over to flip over the fallen wood that was a part of the two-storey skeletal platform used by Tommy to address the mob crowd. He was able to clear the debris quickly and Mayumi seemed to be in good spirits, yet he was more flustered and agitated than the victim herself.


    ¡°Are you okay, Mayumi? Does it hurt anywhere?¡±


    ¡°Caius, I¡¯m okay. It¡¯ll only be bruises. Nothing feels out of the ordinary.¡±


    Mayumi had leaned into one of its many support poles that gave way a little too easily, causing her to fall inwards and under the platform. The splinters caused a few more support pieces to fall on top of her right after. She was fortunate that the platform itself didn¡¯t collapse entirely on top of her, though with this many support poles it shouldn¡¯t collapse with just the few now missing. And because she was short, she avoided falling into the support poles on the other side.


    ¡°Are you sure? What about the fall? Does your head hurt? Can you get up? Do you think you can walk? Let¡¯s go to the infirmary to get you looked at. Here, let me carry you.¡±


    ¡°Caius! I¡¯m perfectly fine, thank you very much! You¡¯re overreacting! Stop! I don¡¯t need to be carried!¡±


    She resisted against the panicking Caius, trying to prove to him that she was really okay by stepping out of the incident¡¯s point zero by herself and in emphatic manner. Caius froze along with his worried panic on his face as Mayumi stood proudly before him.


    ¡°See? Fit as a fiddle.¡±


    When she finally got a good look, Mayumi could see the blank fear and worry in his eyes, and the light smile faded from her face. She recognized the familiar expression, and just as she did, Caius hurriedly caught her in his embrace.


    ¡°What an idiot. Dontchu ever learn to not worry me?¡±


    ¡°You guys are too overprotective. I¡¯m a strong lass now.¡±


    Caius¡¯ voice was raspy and she could hear the aching pain in it, but while she answered flippantly, she also wrapped her arms around him, reassuring him with her hand on his head.


    ¡°Hey, stop crying, man. It¡¯s embarrassing for me, too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not crying. My eyes are just a li¡¯l moist.¡±


    ¡°You should be the one who needs to get checked by the doctor, not me.¡±


    Many of the crew were already surrounding the two and the impact zone, examining the site and taking care of the broken prop. Trisha was the first to arrive after Caius had.


    ¡°Glad you¡¯re feeling okay, Mayumi. We¡¯ll take care of things around here. You and your man can take a breather.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not my man, Trisha. He¡¯s just a crybaby.¡±


    Despite the denial, Trisha winked, unconvinced. She gave Mayumi a quick head pat as she passed by to help move the broken platform off the stage.


    ¡°Okay, folks! Mayumi¡¯s okay, so let¡¯s get this cleaned up. We¡¯ll need to fix this as soon as possible if we want to continue practicing.¡±


    As others too passed by to check in with Mayumi, who graciously returned their blessings, Caius still had not let go of her yet, so Mayumi continued to caress his head until he was ready to do so.


    ¡°Really. I have the strength of a normal person now, mostly. I don¡¯t get completely wrecked anymore.¡±


    ¡°Easy for you to say. How many days did you have to stay home for a minor cut or bruise, hmm? Something like this would have killed the old you.¡±


    ¡°Now, killing is a strong word. At most I would have been disabled, not died.¡±


    ¡°That sounds just as tragic. We had to make you wear a gothic lolita outfit because it was the only thing you were willing to wear that covers up everything.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, don¡¯t even mention it. It¡¯s an embarrassing part of my past.¡±


    ¡°With the frilly parasol, too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a vampire. I can actually live in the sunlight.¡±


    Finally, Caius let go of her. He calmed down and the tears were almost dried up, though he was still a mess. His face and hair were drenched in sweat, his lips were colourless and his breath was still short.


    ¡°Feeling better? How ironic that the victim has to ask the rescuer that. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°To where?¡±


    ¡°The infirmary, right? That¡¯s where you want me to go, so let¡¯s go, okay? Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry. You need to go too, after that panic attack. It¡¯s gotten a lot better than before, though, I¡¯ll give you that.¡±


    Mayumi smiled softly, pulling Caius along by the hand and towards the exit. Without another word, Caius allowed himself to be pulled along by her through Assembly Hall in a daze, leaving the rest of the drama department behind.


    ¡°In the end, we¡¯re going to the infirmary more for you than for me, huh, Caius?¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    From the upper floor, Cecilia watched the two leave the auditorium with a sinking feeling in her chest. It suffocated her like a knot around her heart, not just watching them holding hands together but also his reaction to her fall. It hurt to see him embrace Mayumi like that, even if the Elites were normally this brazen. Although from what Caius told her and from her own judgment of Mayumi, she shouldn¡¯t be worried about it, but the uncertainty and fear remained. Most of all, she was distressed about where Caius¡¯ feelings stood.


    ¡°Ms Cecilia? Is there something wrong?¡±


    Her trance was interrupted by the first-years she was taking care of, who were expecting Cecilia to continue after the commotion below had subsided, but she was spacing out and trapped in her own mind. Her focus returned to the autolight as she brushed aside the chronically dishevelled hair from the front of her face. She forced her thoughts into a state of deep freeze, in order to sort it out at a later time.


    ¡°No. Let¡¯s get back to this. You transcribe the circle¡¯s glyphs onto the cata-papers using this reference sheet. The machine only recognizes these, but there are more than enough glyphs programmed for our use.¡±


    <hr>


    The infirmary at Korolev Senior was, once upon a time, not something to be trifled with. It was equipped well enough to bring back a person from death¡¯s door after a mobsters¡¯ gunfight, though they hadn¡¯t needed that capacity for a long while. Not since the new modern era. While the technical capabilities were there to treat an entire platoon, this capacity was slowly reduced to zero over the years. Today, the infirmary was only staffed by one registered nurse at any given time, reducing the field hospital to a plain first-aid office.


    And not just that: because this was already past official club activities time, the school nurse had already left, leaving only the visitors¡¯ waiting area open. There was a simple bed and fire blankets there for exactly this purpose: for emergencies outside of school¡¯s official timetables. A sealed cupboard with a variety of first-aid equipment hung above the bed, unlockable by a swipe of a cleanse tag¡ªand would conveniently record the tag¡¯s personalized owner¡ªbut they didn¡¯t need it. Caius only needed to rest up a little on the bed.


    ¡°What a failure. I haven¡¯t had a panic attack since the one time during junior high.¡±


    ¡°But it seemed like you had control of it. You¡¯re not coughing and screaming like you did a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°I have no comeback for that, as I was a scrawny kid back then.¡±


    Caius laid face up on the emergency bed as Mayumi sat at the foot of it, swinging her feet above the floor that they weren¡¯t able to reach.


    ¡°Like I said, my body¡¯s a lot stronger than before. I¡¯m not the frail girl I used to be, y¡¯know? It¡¯s okay to not worry that much about me anymore.¡±


    She said gently, but Caius¡¯ eyes were staring at the ceiling, still feeling physically spent from the ordeal.


    ¡°Not a frail girl anymore, huh? Apologies, it¡¯s still a little hard to adjust. We all still have the same impression of you from fourth grade, after all.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind that, but if you¡¯re gonna be doing this every time I make a fall, you¡¯ll be the one we need to take care of, not me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m the one still living in the past. I guess it¡¯s a good time to switch mindsets and move on.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. The less visits to the infirmary, the better. I would know.¡±


    She smiled again, but similarly again, Caius did not see it. Mayumi almost stuttered as she replied, but in the end it came out without any trouble. Although this was exactly what she wanted to hear from him, she knew him well enough¡ªjust as Eon and Kato did¡ªto know that those words only held half the truth. A silence hung between them for a while before Caius piped up.


    ¡°How¡¯s Kato working out for you? Any progress there?¡±


    ¡°Progress? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to play dumb now, if you don¡¯t even play dumb in front of everyone else.¡±


    ¡°Heheheh. Then what do you think? Do you see any progress between him and me?¡±


    ¡°How would I know? If I did, why would I even need to ask?¡±


    She sneered at his laughable presumptuous attitude. To ask her for her side of the story, of course.


    ¡°Then, if I say it¡¯s not going well, would you help me out?¡±


    ¡°Help you out? Don¡¯t even think it. That¡¯s too difficult of a job.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re up against the Jupiter sisters, and Alice might be a new challenger. But even with just the Jupiters, you¡¯re at too much of a disadvantage. You know what they¡¯re like.¡±


    ¡°And this is why I want you to join forces with me. I need resources to make up for that disadvantage, right?¡±


    Caius finally laughed out loud, though remaining flat on the bed.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already allied with you. I¡¯ve always been on your side. It hasn¡¯t changed one bit. You just need to talk to me, and that¡¯s it.¡±


    Another pause, this time from Mayumi. It surprised her how much those words hurt, but there was no turning back the clock. She already made her choice years ago, so all she could do was take it all in and bury it within her heart.


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll take up on your kind offer.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡±


    Mayumi knew, though, she couldn¡¯t take up on his offer entirely. She couldn¡¯t bear to put Caius through that again. Even if she was unable to reciprocate his feelings, he was still an Elite; a timeless comradeship she would give up the world for, just as she would the same with Eon and Kato.


    ¡°Now, while we¡¯re just chilling in the infirmary, let¡¯s think of some ideas, Caius.¡±


    ¡°Ideas? What ideas?¡±


    ¡°For the equinox festival, of course. We need to come up with a plan and have it accepted before anyone else is able to.¡±


    Caius snapped his finger brilliantly, his usual self and grin returning.


    ¡°Now, that¡¯s something I have influence over. Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    <hr>


    By the end of another week, Caius¡¯ prophecy had come true. It was very hard to practice for three different works at the same time; the musical for the drama department, the rock band at lunch and the jazz band for the talent show. Alice considered dropping the jazz arrangement altogether, but because the material they were practicing for the rock band was essentially revolutionary-leaning in nature, it would never get approved by the AC for the talent show, so it was either they start practicing a different playlist, or go back to what they already were practicing with jazz.


    Though they initially sought to transition completely to rock, they quickly realized that Caius and Mayumi would be completely absent after school, leaving only the morning and some lunchtimes open. As they would need to practice together in the morning and then perform on some days for the anti-neutrality protests, there was little time left for the whole group to practice altogether for the talent show. So, in the end, they decided to leave out Caius and Mayumi from the Elites¡¯ talent show work.


    ¡°Is Mayumi normally this attached to Kato? Isn¡¯t it a bit excessive?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. She certainly was attached, but it¡¯s hard to compare to when we were li¡¯l runts.¡±


    While Mayumi and Kato were returning equipment to the fourth floor studio as usual, they were on their way to one of the music rooms, each with a small piece of the drum set in hand. Franco, Caius and the others were already way ahead of the trailing Alice and Eon.


    ¡°I get it if it was Evie or Teto, but even then¡­¡±


    ¡°Those two¡¯s situation¡¯s a little special, I know, but Mayumi¡¯s definitely taken unnecessary cues from those two.¡±


    ¡°I know, right? For me, I get called out for merely standing next to him for too long of a while, but Mayumi¡¯s allowed to do whatever she wants. This is unfair.¡±


    ¡°Well, your situation is special in the other direction. Because of the paparazzi, anything you do¡¯ll be the centre of attention.¡±


    Eon¡¯s carefree laugh and blunt assessment brought a pout to Alice¡¯s expression. She let out a sigh at the end.


    ¡°I thought Mira and Bianca were already obvious enough, but Mayumi¡¯s way over the top with it.¡±


    ¡°Mira, yes, because she¡¯s too nice of a person to people in general. She¡¯s also very upfront about the people she likes or doesn¡¯t like to hang with. But is Bia obvious? I don¡¯t feel like it.¡±


    ¡°Well, yes, I get what you mean, it¡¯s par for the course in Mira¡¯s case. But for Bianca, it¡¯s obvious for the opposite reasons. Instead of like Mayumi¡¯s PDA, they¡¯re plain awkward, like they have some unfinished business between them, but they¡¯re clearly more than just friends.¡±


    ¡°Hah. That¡¯s a very astute observation. How were you able to deduce that?¡±


    Alice gave him a ¡®hmph¡¯.


    ¡°Kato said that exact same thing to me. I¡¯m not stupid. If you live a life like mine, it¡¯s important to be able to read other people¡¯s intentions.¡±


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re right. That¡¯s completely true.¡±


    They threw their junk down in the music room as they watched the team hoist the huge bass drum back into its position at the elevated stage at the back of the room. The height difference between Franco and Caius seemed to have made the latter trip over outside of their vision, eliciting unnecessary consternation among themselves.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what to make of it. Remember what we explained the other day? While Kato is Mayumi¡¯s saviour, it¡¯s already years in the past. Everybody else moved on from then. Well, almost everybody.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about Mayumi and Caius?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Well, we can¡¯t do much except watch them, right? That¡¯s a bridge we¡¯ll cross eventually.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it looks like the ball¡¯s in Kato¡¯s court. Mayumi said so to me too at the start. The reason she¡¯s back is because of Kato.¡±


    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s a given. There weren¡¯t any doubts about that. However, according to my intuition, it is much more on the two main culprits than Kato. Kato will just be the match that¡¯ll light the ultimate fire.¡±


    Alice was bemused, but Eon just shrugged lightly.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what I meant?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly. You¡¯re saying it¡¯ll just be Kato¡¯s fault. It¡¯ll look like it is Kato¡¯s fault too, but it shouldn¡¯t be. That¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your prediction?¡±


    ¡°A prediction based on past experience and how well I know of the people involved.¡±


    ¡°But then you¡¯re not going to do anything about it? Just letting it come as it will?¡±


    ¡°Y¡¯see here, this is why you¡¯re like Kato in some ways. You don¡¯t have the innate fear to make the next move.¡±


    ¡°Really? I don¡¯t feel like you need to be afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s also what Kato would say. Y¡¯see what I mean?¡±


    They continued to loiter at the doorway, watching their friends inside continuing to struggle. Eon folded his arms together, impervious to the rough edges in Alice¡¯s aura.


    ¡°But yeah, I¡¯m just here to watch them. I might have some useful insight, but that¡¯s about it. I¡¯ll ask you in turn, then. What do you want to do about it, and what are you going to do about it? Hmm?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Alice was a little upset by the questions, but it was true that she hadn¡¯t given thought to that until he asked in earnest. It was only then she realized she was just annoyed and wanted someone who weren¡¯t the alleged criminals to talk to about it.


    ¡°You¡¯re just a bit frustrated that Kato¡¯s attention is constantly being taken away from you, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª!¡±


    Tripping over herself, Eon snickered at her innocently natural reaction. It was a little too easy with Alice, to be perfectly honest. That was why even Kato could do the same.


    ¡°Well, whatever it is, I¡¯ll let them sort it out amongst themselves. Again, what about you? Do you have any skin in this particular game?¡±


    ¡°... not that I can if I wanted. If even you consider yourself a bystander, then how can I have skin in this game?¡±


    Seeing her turn a little sad, Eon suddenly piped up jovially.


    ¡°Your worth in the fight is what you make it to be! Don¡¯t give up, eh? Remember, you¡¯re the only one amongst us who has the most influence in any metric. Most of us are just peasants, or stupidly strong but think like a peasant.¡±


    He pointed to the rest of the Elites in the classroom and nodded in agreement with himself, satisfied with his own narcissism. Alice was immediately wary.


    ¡°What do you have to gain from me doing something about it? Not that I have any ideas to act on.¡±


    ¡°Y¡¯see, this is why I don¡¯t give it too much thought, right? What is the correct course of action? No idea. Still should think about it, but then I¡¯d feel like I¡¯m just putting myself into a problem that was never for me to own to begin with, even if it¡¯s related to me on some level. Ye get me?¡±


    In the end, Eon did reveal his intentions, or rather, continued to affirm his intentions to Alice.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think you have any skin in the game?¡±


    ¡°If you think I did, you wouldn¡¯t be coming to me to talk about this, would you?¡±


    ¡°You were the original explainer, after all.¡±


    ¡°And the rest of them accept me as the unbiased one, precisely because I don¡¯t have any skin in the game. And now, you have accepted that too. How ¡®bout that?¡±


    ¡°Fair, fair. That makes sense.¡±


    Alice sighed. They made their way back into the music room, being signalled by Evie to return. She felt a bit restless, perhaps helpless, to remain a bystander, but like Eon said, she didn¡¯t need to beat herself up over whether to make a divine intervention. If so, then she needed to find her own way to deal with her insecurities, not expect a solution to be fed to her.


    <hr>


    Blrrrng!


    ¡°Cecilia! Do you have a few minutes?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mr Verne?¡±


    The last morning class of the week just finished, so the students were extra noisy with anticipation for their one Sunday off tomorrow. With her belongings put away for lunch period, she chugged her way to the front of the classroom.


    ¡°Sorry for the late notice. While the advanced midterms have started this Wednesday, we teachers have to start planning the next set of exams.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh. So, what¡¯s up?¡±


    As usual, Mr Verne started off as if he was already in a middle of a conversation. He scratched his balding head, unsure how to actually start.


    ¡°Well, this is about the morning class midterms that¡¯ll start in two weeks.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware. What about it?¡±


    He sighed. Mr Verne sat back on his stool and took out the class¡¯ attendance sheet, showing it to Cecilia.


    ¡°I believe, Ms Cecilia, I¡¯ve told you many times to watch your tardiness. Do you have anything to say for yourself?¡±


    Cecilia forced a laugh, like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.


    ¡°Is it making our attendance sheet look bad? Sorry about that, Mr Verne.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. For myself, I don¡¯t have to care about attendance sheets when I¡¯m already a third-year class¡¯ homeroom teacher. Thankfully, I can use that to focus on actually teaching a class.¡±


    Though he said that somewhat lightly, the seriousness had not yet subsided.


    ¡°It¡¯s not about that?¡±


    ¡°Look. You¡¯ve been coming to class more often for the last week and a half. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s because of Caius and Mayumi joining the drama department, but if it is, I¡¯m happy for you.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s got to do with anything, probably. Most likely. Mm.¡±


    Her hands subconsciously reached for her hair and she tried to hide her face with it, even though she let her true thoughts slip at the last second.


    ¡°Whatever it is, I can see your attendance improving to the point where we¡¯ll probably only need to have this conversation once.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Mr Verne had written numbers at the bottom on the attendance sheet. They were totals for the lates and absences she had for the morning classes up to now.


    ¡°This number might put you on academic probation in the coming midterms.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The school expects you to have full attendance, Cecilia. Even with your recent improvement, and even if you show up to all the classes from now until the exam period starts, it¡¯s not enough to take you out of danger of academic probation.¡±


    ¡°Ahahaha. It¡¯s this kind of bad news, eh?¡±


    ¡°I know that in your first and second year, your teachers gave you a pass on it because your grades were great despite the tardiness, but the tardiness rule is tougher on third-years. The school will not accept any appeals if it turns out you¡¯ll be put on probation.¡±


    ¡°I understand¡­ I think. How do I get put on probation, and what exactly happens to me when I¡¯m on it?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t pass this series of midterms with at least seventy-five percent in every exam, you¡¯ll be put on academic probation. Once you¡¯re on it, well, the only thing that will change for you is the prohibition of extracurricular activities until you succeed with the same condition on the next set of midterms. However, that¡¯s already enough of a problem, for you and for us.¡±


    She froze, and not just because of Mr Verne¡¯s explanation.


    ¡°That sounds like a really big problem, Caius?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough to re-cast Celia. We don¡¯t want that to happen, right?¡±


    ¡°What? What??¡±


    Caius and Mayumi suddenly appeared behind her, though it probably wasn¡¯t the case for Mr Verne. The two of them came to the 3-C classroom to pick her up for lunch.


    ¡°Basically, he¡¯s saying you have to pass all your exams with flying colours to avoid being banned from the musical.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what? Hold up. Mr Verne. How come you didn¡¯t tell me earlier?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a student¡¯s responsibility to know and abide by the school rules. This is only a reminder.¡±


    ¡°What? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Finally, the panic was setting in for Cecilia. Caius, however, thought it was a good time to kick someone while they were down, as an Elite normally would.


    ¡°I told you before, Celia. Students have their responsibilities, too, y¡¯know.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. It¡¯s my mistake. It¡¯s too late now, though, hah. What¡¯s done is done.¡±


    Like a deflated balloon, Cecilia accepted her fate, almost a little too easily. Rubbing her forehead anxiously, she kind of expected her constant skipping of classes to come back to bite her, but not in this way. Mayumi, though, had not yet given up.


    ¡°C¡¯mon, Caius, there¡¯s no need for that. What we need are solutions, not smack talk. Mr Verne, is there no way to negotiate with the faculty? At least delay it until after the talent show?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯re not Class 3-F, so no, the rules are the rules. The only way to avoid it is to make those scores happen. From her usual performance, though, Cecilia should do just fine, in my humble opinion.¡±


    ¡°But one misstep and she¡¯s out of a job, huh. Well, this is going to be a big problem for the drama department, Mr Verne. Maybe you should have reminded her a little earlier.¡±


    ¡°Caius!¡±


    At Mayumi¡¯s exclamation, Caius shrugged and sighed in exasperation.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s right. I should have given at least an earlier reminder. But what¡¯s done, is done. And although the threshold is seventy-five, Cecilia is high-achieving enough to pass all of them easily.¡±


    ¡°Is she that good at school? I¡¯m surprised, with all the skipping and all.¡±


    ¡°That makes one of us.¡±


    ¡°Eheheh. Yeah, one of us.¡±


    Cecilia forced a smile. In her head she already went through each of the classes and midterms, and immediately realized that her situation didn¡¯t look great. It wasn¡¯t insurmountable, but it would definitely mean she needed to go to class and pay attention, and then leave immediately after school to study to make up the time. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face as she watched their grins, unable to refute their confidence in her in the moment.


    <hr>


    In a dark corner of the school was the formidable Public Safety Committee office, situated on the east side of the third floor. By merely entering it, chills went down the spine due to its imposing presence. The office was awed as well as feared, for this place was where from the law stretched out its long arm.


    Actually, in its appearance it looked like any other office with its desks, files and papers and all, but the office was augmented with some imposing equipment and weaponry. At the back was a closed interrogation room, complete with steel doors and a lock from the outside. It was as if every room of a police department was merged into this one office.


    ¡°Thanks, Don. This¡¯ll be enough for the racetrack.¡±


    ¡°No problem, Liam. Get to work, my friend.¡±


    ¡°Got it, chief.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and remember to give the drama department a visit some time. Don¡¯t wait for the last two weeks please. You¡¯ll need time to learn how to use the new autolight.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ve got that too, chief.¡±


    Freely juggling the roll of cash in the air with his hand, Liam left with a sneer on his face, leaving Stephen and Donovan behind in the office. The door closed shut, and Stephen took a seat.


    ¡°Is this one of your men? I can¡¯t say I¡¯m impressed.¡±


    ¡°Well, there are useful grunts and there are fodder grunts. Despite his shortcomings in his personality, he falls into the former category. Every faction needs both types of men to run a business, so why not?¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡±


    Donovan sat down as well in the marshal¡¯s chair. A large desk separated the two men.


    ¡°What do you have for me, Stephen?¡±


    ¡°Yessir, Donovan. First, about the Class 3-F band that¡¯s been playing in the atrium for the past week. They¡¯re undoubtedly from the anti-neutrality camp. Their intention is to incite a vague sense of resistance from the general populace against the PSC¡¯s and even the AC¡¯s supremacy.¡±


    ¡°I mean, anyone with an eyeball can see that. They have that black flag for a reason.¡±


    Though Donovan¡¯s voice was cheery, the condescension was blatantly obvious. On the other hand, Stephen was unperturbed despite his temper. Where his loyalties laid was just as obvious; he wasn¡¯t Gilbert¡¯s right hand man for nothing.


    ¡°Of course. This is an expected course of events. With the furor of anti-establishment sentiment faltering because of the senatorial trials of our comrades, they need something else to keep up the waves of protests against our regime.


    ¡°This is most likely a covert operation orchestrated by the Class B-controlled student council. Through their personal connections, the student council is able to leverage the talents in Class F to do the dirty work; inciting rebellion against the Assembly.¡±


    ¡°There we go. Some useful intelligence. Then, what evidence do you have to make that claim?¡±


    ¡°I went down there myself. Ariel and Bianca were there to observe. Out of all the ruckus that Class F makes, they took their precious time to be there to observe on the first day of their live performance.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit of a stretch, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°This is an officer¡¯s intuition. Use it as you will.¡±


    The harsh gaze from Stephen was met with a light grin. Donovan rubbed the stub of hair at his chin, seemingly content.


    ¡°No, you are correct. My apologies. It is a very likely possibility. And with your cousin and half-sister part of the problem, your insight should be sufficiently accurate.¡±


    Stephen¡¯s left eye twitched at the mention of those two girls. His mouth twisted into a grimace.


    ¡°Do you think it will help you having Class A cleared out of the PSC? As much as the charges against us were politically motivated, most of the charges were true. But there were a few that weren¡¯t.¡±


    Donovan didn¡¯t blink. He knitted his fingers together nicely.


    ¡°And you were one of them who survived, because they couldn¡¯t press the false charges against you. I need exactly people like you to remain in order to keep the PSC operational. That¡¯s what we¡¯re doing, right?¡±


    ¡°If you think that¡¯s the case, then you have no need to question my loyalty.¡±


    ¡°No, no. I¡¯m not questioning your loyalty. You¡¯ve proven that already.¡±


    Stephen gritted his teeth. The restless urge to outright explode was scratching at his chest.


    ¡°If that¡¯s your answer, then if you¡¯d allow me, I¡¯d want you to explain why your department would hire Class F students for your musical. And why those same students plus your favourite pet would join Class F in playing The Outlaws¡¯ songs at lunchtime.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a decision made by Mr Verne and Mr Nigel. I¡¯m no longer in charge of the affairs of the drama department.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit.¡±


    The stare-off continued, but there was an obvious lack of trust between the lone two men in the office. It was already way past the end of club activities. For most people, it would be dinnertime already.


    ¡°Whether you think it¡¯s bullshit or not, it doesn¡¯t change the fact.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a moment missed with his innocent grin. Stephen sighed, rather impatiently.


    ¡°Really? Then what about your favourite pet who is my cousin? You¡¯re going to doubt my judgment because of her, but you¡¯re the one who¡¯s closer to her than me. Am I wrong?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. While I do favour your cousin, she¡¯s just someone to play around with without having the need to take care of the rest of the class. It¡¯s an irritating job, keeping people in line, so I need to have a little fun sometimes.¡±


    There was a sour taste in his mouth, but Stephen swallowed it nonetheless. Even if his new boss was a slimy bastard, it was still his mission to adapt to him, and not to submit to him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the main point, if that¡¯s all you¡¯re going to say. Student council and Class B are the most likely culprits. They will use popular sentiment to push for political reform, and the most likely direction is to subjugate the PSC and the AC.¡±


    ¡°Ho, that¡¯s news to me. Sorry, that was supposed to be sarcastic. Now, what¡¯s in it for them?¡±


    ¡°The PSC and the AC are organizations that de facto wield powers that are supposed to be the student council¡¯s. Because they¡¯re not Class A, and because of how the PSC and the AC are set up in practice, they¡¯re immediately excluded from the power structure. That¡¯s motivating enough. You should know, as the Class C representative who landed himself the top job in the PSC.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re thinking of just a mere power grab?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what it looks like.¡±


    Donovan leaned back in his chair.


    ¡°I have a different opinion. I believe it¡¯s more than just a power grab, and it¡¯ll soon be something out of our control. Your old man Gilbert should be able to see the same thing.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Stephen snarled again. Donovan shrugged, slightly amused.


    ¡°I happen to know Mirabelle Jupiter and her temperament, and Gilbert does as well. I¡¯ll advise you with this. She and her sisters have no stake in this school, or value anything we stand for. An opponent playing with chips that aren¡¯t theirs will naturally play their hands differently.¡±


    ¡°Really? What are you trying to say?¡±


    ¡°Class B is not a traditional faction, and Class F is not a traditional pawn. You and Gilbert are smart. You should already be aware of it.¡±


    ¡°We are. You are going to say, they¡¯re doing this just for the sake of doing it? To just mess everything up?¡±


    ¡°Yes. To destroy what exists and replace it with something else. They will replace our game with a different one.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Not bad. That is certainly something Class B and Class F would go for.¡±


    ¡°I told you, you and Gilbert are smart people.¡±


    Donovan widened his smile. He continued.


    ¡°You should learn to use a Teller sonograph. If your half-sister is even half of what she¡¯s famous for, pardon the wordplay, then it¡¯s obvious what you need to do.¡±


    Stephen frowned. He didn¡¯t expect this from Donovan.


    ¡°Do you expect Mayumi to attempt to use her eye to cheat on an exam?¡±


    ¡°Class A aren¡¯t the only ones with their paws in every corner of the city.¡±


    Donovan sneered for the first time, and threw several thick file folders on the desk between them.


    ¡°These are¡­?¡±


    ¡°Exam results from Regia Miriam.¡±


    Stephen stood up and picked up one of them by the hand and handled the papers cautiously as if they were radioactive. Several fell out from underneath, spilling over the table and floor.


    ¡°From whom did you obtain these? There are even photocopies of the actual papers.¡±


    ¡°Now, now, I can¡¯t out who my sources are, can I? But with that said, they have to be at least from Regia Miriam, right?¡±


    His corporate smile returned as Stephen picked up the dropped sheets and took his time flipping through them. It was a whole minute before Stephen aimed back at Donovan with a rigid gaze.


    ¡°At first glance, it doesn¡¯t seem like there are any traces of cheating, but there are other people¡¯s exams here too. You¡¯re saying she¡¯s helping her friends cheat on these exams?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If you go through it chronologically, there¡¯s a subtle pattern with the exam papers. Normally, if you want to catch the cheat, you would scrutinize the ringleader¡¯s and compare his answers with their accomplices¡¯. However, if you look at your half-sister¡¯s exam papers, they do not look out of the ordinary. There¡¯s an obvious natural progression of achievement from one exam to another.¡±


    Donovan pointed to a series of papers from Mayumi¡¯s first year of senior high. Like Stephen first said, looking at her papers alone did not show much, if at all any evidence of cheating.


    ¡°I can see it too. The mistakes she made in a previous exam, either she fixed and improved on it, or if it remained a mistake, any other course content that builds on top of that, she failed in those areas too. It looks absolutely normal.¡±


    Donovan nodded. He then spread out several more exams out on the desk, this time of other students from Mayumi¡¯s school.


    ¡°It took a while to obtain all the necessary data. These are just mere selections for demonstration purposes, but this is where you can find the pattern. You must look at the exams of students from outside of her homeroom class, and of very specific students.¡±


    Stephen put his hand to these papers, and noticed a pattern immediately. Donovan continued.


    ¡°They¡¯re not particularly high-scoring papers, nor were the answers themselves similar enough to raise a red flag in the teacher who¡¯s marking them. In general, teachers wouldn¡¯t give a crap about possible cheating if the final score doesn¡¯t even reach eighty percent. This is part of why this all went under their radar.¡±


    ¡°Mayumi, who can see the correct answers, distributed them among her clients, with each student getting one or two questions max. And probably only verbally and moments before the exam so that there¡¯s too little time for her clients to collude and put all the answers together, which makes practical sense given the scope of her eye¡¯s powers.¡±


    He nodded at Stephen¡¯s answer.


    ¡°Almost all correct. And because of the short timeframe, her clients rushed to sit down in their seats to write down their one or two answers almost word-by-word, meaning the answers should almost always have literary tendencies that match Mayumi¡¯s writing.


    ¡°Mayumi only did this for students outside of her class. It would have been too easy to be found out if she did this mercenary work for her own class. Different homerooms are mandated to have different exams, after all. But not always entirely.¡±


    Donovan got up and pointed to Mayumi¡¯s exams once more.


    ¡°More often than you¡¯d think, exams between classes will have a few overlapping questions; they teach the same syllabus after all. Similar to how Mayumi distributes her answers to different classes, lesser teachers and instructors most likely pluck out exam questions from a question bank. And even more likely, they¡¯d pluck out the same questions but stagger-distribute between the classes.


    ¡°For example, if the teachers pulled out nine questions by lottery from such a question bank, Class A¡¯s exam will have questions one to five, Class B¡¯s exam will have questions three to seven, Class C¡¯s exam will have questions five to nine, and Class D¡¯s exam will have questions seven, eight, nine, one, and two.¡±


    Stephen held one of the papers up.


    ¡°If Mayumi decides to help out several classes at the same time, then she¡¯ll be in fact giving the same answer to the same question, multiple times.¡±


    Donovan nodded again.


    ¡°Exactly. Only her own homeroom had used an active Teller sonograph to monitor her during an exam, so of course that¡¯s another barrier to help her own class to cheat. This is how she was able to evade detection. She handed out answers to only other classes, at the moment before the exam began, and with different answers to different clients. On top of that, teachers usually do not share exam papers with each other after the fact because from within their own set of completed exam papers, there¡¯s not enough reason to suspect any widespread cheating; Mayumi¡¯s strategy to disperse risk has made sure that it would be the case. This whole setup is practically undetectable by their faculty, and our deduction of how to find a pattern for finding Mayumi¡¯s answers is only possible because of a tip-off from an insider.¡±


    Donovan looked up from the exams as Stephen folded his arms across his chest.


    ¡°You got the tip-off and obtained these exams to try and cross-examine the theory.¡±


    ¡°Yes, essentially. There¡¯s also one more trail of evidence that makes this case much stronger. If you look through the exams over time, the number of clients is actually countable, because later on Mayumi wasn¡¯t distributing the answers equally among her clients. For a few of the classes, there seems to be three or four students that do this distribution as a proxy for Mayumi, for maybe the dozen students who are in on the scheme.¡±


    Stephen¡¯s eyes widened with attention.


    ¡°So after building up a network of trusted people, they were put in charge of proxying Mayumi¡¯s job of providing exam answers and therefore should have more exam answers from Mayumi. And that¡¯s how the pattern could be independently detected.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. I picked these out to show you, because these are her proxies. And because she made this compromise to make the operation more efficient, it allowed this pattern to be more detectable.¡±


    ¡°Yet, she lowers the risk of an inside leak as long as the proxies are loyal to her, since it¡¯s much harder to command this many clients to keep their mouths shut.¡±


    Stephen threw the exam papers back on the table.


    ¡°Is this operation really worth it for Mayumi? Her clients get at most only one or two answers, while her proxies might get a couple more.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s between five to twenty percent of the score we¡¯re talking about. For an elite school, that can make or break a lot of things.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. While this data certainly lends lots of credence to your insider¡¯s theory, it¡¯s not definitively provable until a Teller sonograph tells us so.¡±


    ¡°And this is why we need someone who can operate a Teller sonograph.¡±


    ¡°And you think I should be the one to do it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s got to do with you a lot, doesn¡¯t it? Your half-sister is the criminal, while your cousin is the would-be client.¡±


    ¡°Cecilia? A client¡ª?¡±


    Stephen took an involuntary step backward, but he already realized, even without Donovan¡¯s subsequent explanation.


    ¡°Due to her absences, Cecilia is on course for academic probation if she can¡¯t pass with above the probation threshold of seventy-five percent on the next set of morning midterms. Academic probation means a stop to extracurriculars, meaning she will miss out on the musical and the talent show. What do you think of the chances that Mayumi will use her powers here in this situation?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s Class 3-F and Mayumi, I¡¯d say it¡¯s likely. They¡¯re not the saints that they think they are.¡±


    ¡°And neither are any of the classes. This is Korolev Senior, after all. So, will you take the job?¡±


    Stephen shrugged nonchalantly.


    ¡°Of course. Although they may seem related to me, I really don¡¯t have any real relations to those two.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re your family, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°One has willingly left the family of their own volition, and the other is a bastard child of a mistress. Neither holds the Liguro name, nor do I even need my father¡¯s name. What do you think?¡±


    It was Donovan¡¯s turn to shrug.


    ¡°When you put it that way, it does sound like they have no relations to you, but you at least know them, right?¡±


    ¡°In some ways, sure. How about this? They know me, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°How convenient. Well, it do be like that sometimes. This is what this school¡¯s like. If it¡¯s true that they¡¯re just normal folk¡ªwell, as normal as you can get for this school¡ªthen I feel a little sorry for having the innocent involved.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mentioned before that the ongoing insurrection by Class F is different from periods of unrest in the past. Let¡¯s start from here: why do you think the faculty has the ultimate power, despite the backgrounds of the students who attend this institution? Including you and your relatives who are involved in this disturbance?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    Donovan took his seat in the marshal¡¯s chair and webbed his fingers together. Stephen, too, sat back down.


    ¡°The students were able to wrest away everything but the rights to lecture and to grade, but only for as long as the headmistress allows this to continue. The arrival of Ms Romana changed that equation.¡±


    ¡°But Ms Romana is a Heart, so of course her word is law.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s exactly why our system is falling apart. Our system is based on a mutually agreed-upon set of normative rules, the so-called rules of society and its functions. The constitution and the Rules of the Game. If one can come in and override these rules and force the contemporary holders of influence to bend the knee, then it¡¯s the beginning of the end for the existing system.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you think the reason is for Mayumi¡¯s return to Korolev? A conspiracy from above to overturn our order through the guise of a popular uprising?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a theory, of course, but I think it¡¯s more real than it may suggest on first glance. Here¡¯s the next conspiracy factor. Do you know who convinced your half-sister to return?¡±


    Stephen narrowed his eyes. Again, he didn¡¯t expect Donovan to look this deep into the situation as well as his relatives.


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°I mentioned her name before. Someone me, you and Gilbert, and pretty much everyone in the school, are familiar with. Especially the two of you, and might I add Mona to the list as well, should know exactly who this person is.¡±


    Angrily, Stephen spat out. He was suddenly pissed.


    ¡°¡­it¡¯s her? How can it be her?¡±


    ¡°Right? How can I not think it¡¯s a conspiracy if it¡¯s true? Well, it is true, so I guess I do think it¡¯s a conspiracy.¡±


    ¡°And I assume you got this bit from your informants at Regia Miriam? That means she showed up at that school as herself, and didn¡¯t approach Mayumi in secret.¡±


    ¡°Yes. And remember, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a coincidence that someone like Ms Romana would replace Mr Constantinus as Class F homeroom teacher, and then someone like Mayumi would be allowed to subsequently join that powder keg of a class. And now, as you and I were discussing earlier, that secret person¡¯s student council is using her and Class F for their political ends.¡±


    Stephen¡¯s fists curled into a ball, furious. Donovan cleaned up and set the file folders aside neatly. His fake, corporate smile was in full display, and said as he held up a different file folder.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Mirabelle Jupiter, our student council president, visited Regia Miriam to solicit your half-sister¡¯s consent to transfer here, to Korolev Senior.¡±

 3.9 Holiday

    The poor weather finally subsided after an extra week, allowing the city to hold a public event for the holiday called the Equinox; technically separate from the old semi-religious celebration known as the autumn equinox festival, but over time the public holiday¡¯s name and its original ritual became colloquially equivalent. Traditionally, the autumn equinox festival celebrated the end-of-year harvest and paid respects to the deities of foods, prosperity and good health. Today, it became a general celebration for the blessings and fortunes of the previous year, while making prayers for the same of the next year. A similar ritual recurs at the lunar new year, but to a different set of deities. There was a two-week window for any delays to public events to have a chance to be rescheduled, and there would be times where a public celebration was missed, but they were rare to come across.


    The Equinox was actually a series of public events held at several locations across the city. A dozen or so blocks of a major road or two would be cleared in the afternoon for stalls and vendors to set up their shops to provide food or entertainment, and these confined streets would be opened to the public sometime between five and six in the evening. After dark, usually a few hours after opening, a period of time would be set aside to light fireworks, timed together from each location. The festivities would continue until almost midnight, when the stalls closed and the peasants returned home.


    The two hallmarks of this festival were the use of coloured lanterns and the consumption of equinox cakes. As the people entered the festival streets, they held paper lanterns that dangled from a short wooden rod as a rite. The most basic types of paper lanterns were vertically collapsible: its walls folded like an accordion so that they could be flattened. With an open top, it exposed the plastic base where there would be a candle in the centre. It would then be lit, and the lantern de-collapsed to surround and cover the candle. It was a fire hazard in packed and narrow streets like these, so modern lanterns¡¯ candles were replaced with cheap pebbles imbued with catalyst impurities, clamped to the base of the lantern and were made to glow with a burst of mana.


    Equinox cakes were small, golf ball-sized pastries normally made with lotus seed paste filling, salted egg yolk centres, and a floury crust. They were usually shaped like thick biscuits, but time allowed the shape to morph into more popular designs. Because they were filling and high in calories, people ate only one or two on the day to leave enough appetite to enjoy the other street foods offered at the festival.


    As for the dress code, traditionally there weren¡¯t any, but over time it blended with the customs of New Yue. Nowadays, old-school festivals meant that the kids wore comfortable clothes that were akin to elaborate customary bathrobes, called yukata. For men, modern sandals and flip-flops mostly replaced traditional wooden sandals, or geta. But women, especially the older ones, continued to wear them for such occasions.


    ¡°Hey, you guys look good¡ªas usual.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, thank you very much. If you hadn¡¯t told us, we wouldn¡¯t have known.¡±


    Despite Bianca¡¯s words dripping with sarcasm, Eon heeded it no attention. The Elites met at their usual playground, or sometimes named Point Alpha, with the other half of the Elites and the Jupiter sisters. This year, instead of hosting it on Jordan Street where the playground was on, it was going to be done on Pedder Street, down and quite a distance away from the hill that the playground was on top of, so they were going to make their way down together.


    Everyone was in traditional garb, but there was a very diverse colour palette. The men tended to wear more muted dark-coloured clothes of one or two colours, like navy blue, dark green or purple. The ladies sported colourful and complex patterns with their yukata, such as Sisi¡¯s majestic orange-and-blue stripes behind the yellow-green dragons, or Ariel¡¯s vibrant green-and-turquoise with white lotus flowers, or perhaps Bianca¡¯s simple geometric patterns sprinkled among the colours between violet and madder red. Alice wore a mainly pink one that matched the pinkish red of her headband¡ªan Alice band, pardon the pun¡ªthat she insisted on wearing on any and every occasion, sometimes unsuccessfully.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go! We¡¯re gonna be stuck in a sea of people before we know it, so we better meet up with Mayumi and Celia before it gets too crowded.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the dumb one that asked them to meet underneath the big clock. Time is ticking now because of that.¡±


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s not fair to have them meet up here, sister. They¡¯d be taking the same long walk back to Pedder.¡±


    Like an experienced group of wilderness campers, they lined up nicely to make their way down the hill¡¯s paved narrow path. As usual, Eon and Bianca led the vanguard while Kato took the rearguard, though with Alice instead of Teto this year, and mostly because Alice was a slow walker. Unfortunately for Kato, Teto went ahead first with her group of friends. Earlier, he had wailed as he watched her go, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about that. Just as this was his last year in Korolev, it was Teto¡¯s too, so she needed to spend time with her own friends.


    ¡°There¡¯s never a dull moment with the Elites, huh. I went from my dreadfully slow suburban life, to this.¡±


    ¡°Welcome to the underbelly, Alice.¡±


    She chuckled at the allusion to Auxirian Idiot. And against all lady-like etiquette, she crudely folded her long sleeves up and kept them in place with her hairclips so that her arms could move more freely. She used that freedom to point at him squarely in the face, her smile gleaming.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have you regret those words. You¡¯re welcoming a very troublesome person to your city.¡±


    ¡°As if I didn¡¯t already know that. Now, what are you doing with those sleeves?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this more like my style? Convenient.¡±


    ¡°And you question why people stop and stare at you. C¡¯mon, bruh.¡±


    ¡°The women¡¯s yukata are clumsy and heavy, y¡¯know. I¡¯m here to relax and have fun, not be on a display shelf.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you worn dresses that are way heavier than these?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t wear them for fun. And I¡¯m surprised they can still go at regular speed in these geta. What are you guys even made of?¡±


    A good amount of distance had already grown between them and the rest of the Elites in the front. Actually, it was a dangerously large gap and they were already out of earshot. At least it didn¡¯t matter too much because they were all going to meet underneath the one large analog clock on Pedder Street that was perched atop a pole.


    They were already on the narrow and clustered streets of yet another sector of the inner city, travelling away from the direction of their school. While Korolev Senior was still considered a dense urban area, the school¡¯s immediate surroundings were not as dense as other sectors, mostly due to the school¡¯s reputation, historicity and affiliation with Eternia that warded off the capitalist exploitation they saw around them here.


    A great variety of high-rises loomed over them, stretching from a mere five storeys to in excess of fifty storeys. Most of the older buildings were shorter, together with ample evidence of wear and tear: cracks in the hardened limestone, stain trails of repeated leaks of oil and grease, and square rust patterns from old detached billboards. Newer buildings had less of these, and a few modern ones were even made of glass.


    Even the street level of these buildings was different in nature. Old buildings had a great density of shops with fronts of perhaps only eight or ten feet wide, and occasionally in between them was a nondescript, dimly-lit passageway to a staircase to the floors above, guarded only by a pair of steel doors next to a wall-mounted mailbox for tens¡ªeven a hundred¡ªof residences of the apartment, among other passages indoor. On the other hand, newer buildings didn¡¯t have many secret corridors, only presented a few fronts for higher-end stores and featured an actual security area for entry.


    Attached to the side of the non-glass buildings were various billboards and signage; the annoying ones were ones that stretched outwards to hang over the sidewalk and even the street itself, and unfortunately there were an endless number of them equipped with neon lighting for nighttime. Some were even low enough for tall people to jump and reach it, though there was no place or time for jumping among the throng of people that moved so quickly and busily through these streets.


    ¡°You¡¯ve never worn these before? I expect a lady to be able to move freely in any kind of footwear.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the dexterity of a deity such as yourself, moron.¡±


    ¡°No need. I¡¯m your retainer of sorts, so I¡¯ll just have to carry you on my back when push comes to shove.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to try harder, so you won¡¯t need to do something so heavy-handed. I swear, you may be a lot more civilized than Evie, but you¡¯re still cut from the same cloth as her. Sister and brother in all but blood.¡±


    ¡°This is the easiest way to solve the problem, after all.¡±


    ¡°Please. When the problem isn¡¯t solvable through pure physical ability, you falter.¡±


    ¡°Well, problems like those are not something you can repeatedly train for.¡±


    ¡°Am I not a good training partner for you? Like I said, I¡¯m quite a high-maintenance person.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re not afraid to admit it either. I guess you¡¯re right, huh. I¡¯ve a lot to learn, Ms Alice.¡±


    Kato shrugged at Alice¡¯s smug face, unperturbed. While their conversation was only typical and mundane, nothing filled Alice¡¯s thoughts and feelings with ease more than a simple heart-to-heart conversation with her friends.


    Ever since she escaped her family¡¯s home and its responsibilities¡ªalbeit temporarily¡ªher usual gloomy expressions finally cleared up and she wore her current smile much more often. Though her temper was still as quick, at least the harsh shadows underneath her eyes weren¡¯t as dark as they were before.


    Unaware of it, her more frequent sunny days steadily pulled him closer towards her. His mind gradually wondered more often about what to do with Alice next, whether it was a favour for her or a retort to her taunt. He thought of Alice as a unique and extraordinary girl, one-of-a-kind and in her own league, yet the short time he had spent with her already felt nostalgic. He wasn¡¯t sure what the cause was, but he let that feeling sit in his subconscious. It might be a mystery that could get solved on its own.


    With that at the back of his mind, he picked up the blonde beauty with the voluminous wavy hair by the waist and legs in a bridal carry in order for them to pick up the pace.


    ¡°W-w-w-w-w-what-are-you-doing?¡±


    ¡°Y¡¯know, we¡¯ve lost them already, and they should already be at Pedder¡¯s big clock by now, so we¡¯re gonna have to hurry it up. Hold on tight, Alice.¡±


    ¡°¡­easy for you to say! Hmph!¡±


    Her pride was the reason for the gush of red flowing into her porcelain cheeks and the displeasure in her pout, but she turned her head away from him and over his shoulder to not let him see, as she knew her face wore all of her emotions transparently and without fail. At least it was the day of the festival so it was not uncommon for men and women to be together, although running on the streets with a girl in arm was conspicuous in any situation.


    As she clutched him tightly, her imaginative mind flew in the direction of the other girls, especially Mirabelle and now Bianca and Mayumi too; all of whom Kato consistently withheld his judgment on in one way or another. It encouraged her as much as it saddened her, because while she held him this close to her, the physical touch was both real and hollow. The warmth and strength of his hold were really there, but she suspected it wasn¡¯t meant for her. Kato¡¯s arms belonged to someone else, and she was only borrowing them for this short moment in time.


    Kato, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed his time with Alice. Walking together with her was a fresh break from the storms that were the Elites, and of course a reprieve from the baggage it carried. He loved living in the inner city and it was his true home, but it was nice to go to live leisurely in the quiet suburbs once in a while.


    ¡°Do you do this for any girl?¡±


    ¡°Not any girl. Only girls that I think deserve it.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª?¡±


    Shocked, she didn¡¯t realize she said that aloud, but at least she didn¡¯t say any more than that. She bit her lip, making a point to keep her mouth shut. At the same time, she didn¡¯t know how she should feel about his answer as her brain was about to burn itself up and short-circuit. The little ball of intense anxiety at the base of her chest that she was holding down with all her willpower finally broke free, and it sapped away her strength as it spread throughout her body.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bad habit of yours, Alice. How were you able to make it this far by yourself?¡±


    ¡°Just¡­shut up for a while.¡±


    Kato grinned wryly, and was abundantly conscious of the delicately sweet scent from the blonde girl in the yukata. Cute. He held on to her just a speck tighter so that none of the giddiness made it onto his face. Though he raced past the crowded intersections at an extraordinary speed, surprisingly he found himself not wanting to let go of her just yet.


    At a famous section of Pedder Street was an open square that covered a few blocks. At the centre was a giant analog clock ringed with Roman numerals, placed atop a pole about two storeys high and flanked by two flags: Auxiria¡¯s imperial banner and Eternia¡¯s civil ensign. A simple obelisk, about fifteen feet high, was erected in front of the clock and flags, dedicated to the men from Livia who perished in the Great Eirian War earlier in the century.


    The only other landmark was the grand water fountain that sat behind the clock, but otherwise it was a patrolled area to keep the square clear of peddlers and their carts, despite the street¡¯s namesake. On the edge of the square were overpasses for pedestrians to cross the adjacent streets, especially on Pedder where it was a total of eight lanes wide at this section, an anomaly for this part of town.


    ¡°Okay, boys and girls. Before we get started, let¡¯s remember that this is likely the last time we¡¯re all gonna be together for an Equinox festival, so please don¡¯t be unreasonable tonight, everybody.¡±


    ¡°If by ¡®unreasonable¡¯, you mean don¡¯t fall into the river like you did last year, then sure, I¡¯m confident that the rest of us here can manage that.¡±


    ¡°What? Did something like that actually happen?¡±


    ¡°We had him stay for the fireworks while he¡¯s sopping wet all over. You can imagine the discomfort.¡±


    Eon clicked his tongue but otherwise held a stiff upper lip at Bianca¡¯s snide remark. Alice asked Evie as Caius clapped his hand to catch people¡¯s attention again.


    ¡°¡¯Kay, enough of Eon¡¯s great ideas backfiring on him. We¡¯re already late with this year¡¯s Equinox, so listen up. It¡¯s six o¡¯clock right now, but the fireworks are earlier this year, from nine-thirty to eight o¡¯clock, meaning we¡¯re gonna have to adjust our schedule. We¡¯re gonna reconvene only once this year, at seven-thirty, which is an hour and a half from now.¡±


    The group of children plus Sisi nodded in unison, as they had already discussed this prior. In a world where their only way of remote communication was by public telephone booth to Sisi¡¯s, or in prior years, Karl¡¯s, mobile telephone, they needed to schedule specific times to regroup, as it was inevitable that the group would get lost or separated from each other. Although Kato, Evie and Teto could use their sixth sense to find the others, it was only a little more useful when their normal and insignificant friends were melded into a sea of people who were just as normal and insignificant.


    ¡°We used to do this by the hour on the hour so that we make sure none of us get really lost and also to find each other again, but if this year they¡¯re cutting it short, then we don¡¯t have a choice. We¡¯ll meet back here at the foot of the clock, like always. Capiche? ¡°


    ¡°Yes, now let¡¯s go and eat, finally. Sisi skipped lunch so she must have her evening meal as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Sisi? You do realize that all the food here is overpriced in order to make money off of tourists, right? Pilgrims come here for the Equinox.¡±


    ¡°No matter, Eon. Sisi has all the cash she can possibly need in this right here.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, just don¡¯t get robbed on the way home when you¡¯re waving those Yukichi¡¯s like that.¡±


    Now with Sisi at the lead too, the group moved quickly onto the busy street that was already teeming with people, looking for their first bite of the Equinox. Through the heat and smoke of the plethora of grills and fryers, and from the density of the street stalls, it was not hard to be overwhelmed by the strength in the flavours from the smell. The usual meats barbecued in every sauce, spice and manner possible, usually on a skewer, to festive snacks such as takoyaki, curry fish balls, varieties of soba, traditional herbal drinks and other Yue desserts.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Whenever you are.¡±


    ¡°Three, two, one, go!¡±


    Evie and Franco each chowed down on a whole skewer¡¯s worth of lamb, but it was not just any roast lamb. It was covered in sauce that was advertised as the spiciest of all the land, and in one push of the hand up the skewer they filled their mouths with all of it at once.


    ¡°There, there. Here ya go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it here, Evie.¡±


    ¡°Hnn, Evie¡¯s got the advantage from this round. They finished at the same time, but Franco¡¯s reaction is more serious, not to mention the amount of sweat in comparison.¡±


    ¡°I concur. Minus style points for the sweat, but otherwise they¡¯re neck-and-neck.¡±


    While Yui and Alice had held their herbal drinks for them for this purpose, Scarlett and Ariel judged their friends¡¯ competition as if they were commentators to a sports match.


    ¡°Oh, Franco was able to finish his glass faster than Evie. How will Evie recover from this?¡±


    ¡°Though Evie was able to handle the spicy lamb much better than Franco, her follow-up was rather slow. It might cost her in round two.¡±


    ¡°Look, they¡¯re both going for their next skewer now. Franco seems to have refreshed himself with the tea, and his drinking speed has put him in the lead. On the other hand, Evie¡¯s pace has not slowed nor quickened.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s part of Evie¡¯s strength, which is to endure any flavour as if it was nothing. The only thing stopping her is her innate pacing.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re on their second glass now, and the same thing happened! Franco was able to edge it out just a tiny bit faster than Evie!¡±


    ¡°A tiny bit, but it¡¯s in no way beyond her reach. One mistake from Franco and it¡¯s all over.¡±


    The rest of the crew, while snacking leisurely at their non-spicy choices of food, chortled heartily at the two clowns selected for this exercise, who of course had nothing better to do than to have an extended spicy food contest like they did every year. Their caretakers, Alice and Yui, took the next round¡¯s food from Bianca on the side, who was holding onto all of the food.


    ¡°And here we are, at the final stretch! Both were able to gobble down the lamb at their usual pace, but what¡¯s this?! Franco¡¯s coughing up his tea! Oh, no! It looks like recovery is not possible!¡±


    ¡°It was the third skewer of maximum spicy lamb, after all. It was too much to take in all at once, and Franco¡¯s stomach finally gave. The winner this year, again, goes to Evie.¡±


    ¡°Hahahahahahahah~!¡±


    While the men couldn¡¯t stop laughing, the doubling over Franco was helped by Yui¡¯s arm and patient expression. Although Evie tried to put on a face to show that she was unaffected by the flavour, the water in her eyes told otherwise.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Caius, are they gonna be doing stuff like this the whole night?¡±


    ¡°Nah. If they did, they¡¯d end up spending more time in the washroom than out here.¡±


    ¡°Hah¡­¡±


    ¡°The worst of it is over, though. As you can see, their energy is already all spent.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still alive and kicking, aren¡¯t you? Eon and Kato, too.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d think I¡¯d fool around wrecking myself like that, Celia?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s kinda hard to agree with, not gonna lie.¡±


    ¡°¡­is that how you think of me? I¡¯m shocked.¡±


    Cecilia wore a rather risqu¨¦ yukata. While everyone else¡¯s covered all the way to the heels, the lower half of hers was essentially a skirt with frills, making it more like a dress than a yukata. It was pinkish like Alice¡¯s but also had an abundance of emerald to balance the warm colours.


    ¡°Man, watching them stuff their faces with meat makes me want to just have dessert and call it a day. It happens to me every time they do it, too. Let¡¯s get some candy apples.¡±


    ¡°Where is it?¡±


    ¡°Over there.¡±


    They lined up at the candy apple stand, a few stands away from where Franco was still recovering, surrounded by the rest of the Elites. Crossing his arms, Caius smirked from afar at the struggling muscle-head who was still being held up by Yui, but addressed Cecilia all the same.


    ¡°Where did you even get that kind of a yukata? Not many people are wearing one like yours.¡±


    ¡°Hm? This one? I borrowed this from Risa. This is her old one.¡±


    ¡°They wear stuff like this?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, stuff like this? Doesn¡¯t it look good?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes, but it¡¯s obviously too non-traditional with that kind of a cut. It¡¯s true to your style, though, I¡¯ll give you that.¡±


    For some reason, Cecilia burst out in laughter. Due to the noise around them it would have drowned out with a distance of just a few steps away, but since Caius was right next to her, he heard it as clear as chimes. A very natural, carefree laugh¡ªsomething that Cecilia¡¯s often strained expression almost never produced. Mysterious, thought Caius.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I was just thinking, what a roundabout way of giving somebody a compliment.¡±


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t intend it as a compliment¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be embarrassed about that. Though to be honest, I think I can only take compliments in this fashion without being embarrassed myself, too.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Immediately, when Caius went silent, Cecilia realized she spoke her mind aloud.


    ¡°No, no, no¡ªthat was, uh, I just mean that I don¡¯t take compliments well in most situations. That¡¯s all. Really!¡±


    He laughed at Cecilia''s unintended admission, though he had to cut it short to turn to the stall owner.


    ¡°Two candy apples, please.¡±


    While Caius was taking the two giant confections on a wooden rod, Cecilia noticed that the Elites had already started to disperse. Yui had taken Franco to the sidewalk in the direction of a public restroom alongside Evie and Scarlett, while the rest had moved on to the other food stands. This was what they meant when they said they would eventually be separated.


    ¡°Here ya go. My treat.¡±


    ¡°Uh, thanks.¡±


    ¡°No need. It¡¯s part of the program, Celia.¡±


    ¡°What are you looking at now?¡±


    ¡°Gotta keep up appearances. I would carry a mirror on me if men¡¯s trousers had the pockets for it.¡±


    Right next door was a vendor that sold small trinkets, tools and other everyday items, and Caius was fixing his hair in a large hand-mirror bound to the steel rack, probably for customers to use for trying on the accessories on display. Amusedly, Cecilia poked her head into the mirror¡¯s field of vision.


    ¡°Pft. What do you even need to keep up? Your hair curls so much that it¡¯s like permanent hairspray.¡±


    ¡°Look, even my permanent hairspray is not infallible. The symmetry of the locks becomes lopsided very quickly.¡±


    ¡°Oh, look at you, who¡¯s the edgy fashion expert here, hm?¡±


    Caius was incredulous, but continued to obsessively fix his unfixable hair.


    ¡°Sounds like someone here¡¯s growing a pair of balls, huh? Look at you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m just having fun here. I¡¯m supposed to have fun at a festival, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    Cecilia smirked as she made a peace sign in the mirror for Caius, getting a little carried away. He was encouraged by her unusual brightness, even a little nostalgic for some reason, and just as she did, he felt it was safe to add a bit of fuel to the fire too.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s have some fun, eh?¡±


    Taking himself out of the mirror, Caius smirked as he held a finger to her chin, almost whispering his words. She was immediately flustered, spluttering lip flaps and all, though her tongue held firm.


    ¡°N-now, let¡¯s not get too carried away. We¡¯ve just started walking around here, after all.¡±


    Seeing her bewildered but still in her feet, he reeled himself in and laughed again, shaking his head amusedly.


    ¡°You¡¯re too many years behind us in the smack talk game. Come back when you pose a challenge to us.¡±


    Arrogantly, he folded his arms in self-satisfaction, to Cecilia¡¯s exasperation. It made her rethink slightly on the open-door feeling she had just a few moments ago.


    However, Caius froze as he noticed a scene at the corner of his vision. Startled, Cecilia followed his stare to see a usual pairing of Elites.


    ¡°Say, ahn¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Goddammit.¡±


    Clearly unwilling, Kato was fed a bite from a box of takoyaki by a cheery Mayumi, whose yukata was mostly black with streaks of white. Opposite to Kato¡¯s scowl, Mayumi¡¯s face was one of pure glee. She seemed to be existing in her own world, impervious from outside interference.


    Unfortunately, Kato was not in her world with her and was much more sober than Mayumi. As a result, he caught Caius¡¯ rigid gaze and froze, just as he did. Simply watching them make eye contact sent shivers down Cecilia¡¯s spine as she sensed the alarm and apprehension that hung between them.


    Though disaster was swirling in Kato¡¯s mind, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it now that Caius had seen him. As Mayumi hung off his arm, he could see Caius¡¯ glazed expression and guess what was going through his head.


    ¡°Caius¡­¡±


    The blond boy did not miss a beat, seamlessly turning away from the scene without any trace of dismay, though his grin didn¡¯t return yet. Seeing his indifferent expression, Cecilia felt as if a rock was shoved into the base of her throat, managing only to call his name.


    ¡°Man, it sucks balls to have to feel down this early on, even if I already knew it would happen. I planned it, after all. Care to join me by ourselves for a while?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wondering about us, the Elites, aren¡¯t you? Distraught every time like that.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­what tipped you off?¡±


    Caius smiled lightly, trying to not scare off Cecilia.


    ¡°I just notice these things. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of splitting off from the rest of them until eight?¡±


    ¡°How many blocks do these stalls occupy? Only a dozen. We¡¯re more likely to bump into some of them at one point or another, than completely get away from them.¡±


    ¡°Then why do you guys need to reconvene at a scheduled time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so that everyone comes back together, not just a few of us.¡±


    Cecilia was still hesitant to leave behind everyone, but was also very curious as to what he had to say. Caius continued.


    ¡°Or, am I not good enough of a festival-goer for you to hang out with?¡±


    ¡°N-no way! It¡¯s not about that! Not about that at all!¡±


    Poking at her, she was startled and raised her hands in front of her in a panic, but when she saw the usual grin forming on Caius¡¯ face, it reminded her that it was only a joke, and she instantly beat herself up mentally for being flustered at his cheap shot. In any case, she felt guilt-tripped, even if just a bit, so she lost the game all the same. Caius took a step back and put his hands in his pockets, grin now completely wide.


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s take off.¡±


    Cecilia rubbed her forehead, already unusually fatigued. Then again, Caius liked playing these games, and she knew fully well that this was his style. She didn¡¯t mind being pulled around; in fact she normally wholly accepted that premise, even if she gets annoyed in the moment. Peeling her gaze off of his smile, she shrugged wearily and took a step forward to lead the way.


    ¡°Whatever.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Mayumi!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little too¡­close?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    The gremlin grinned but gave no coherent reply. Unfortunately, it infuriated Kato as much as it made him feel powerless. He liked this girl. He really did. However, she was even clingier than Teto and Evie, and despite his reputation those two were the only girls he ever allowed to be clingy to him.


    Somehow, they got separated from the main group a while back, so they were wandering the streets on their own. As a group, they had already thrown darts, tossed horseshoes and shot corks from air rifles to win prizes, all of which were held onto by Eon. As a rule of thumb, the deities of the group were not allowed to compete, for obvious reasons, but nevertheless entertained everyone by guiding their friends on the art of war. Curiously, Mayumi turned out to be a great marksman on her own.


    The festival streets only occupied a dozen blocks, six in both directions from the clock¡¯s square. However, the festivities usually spilled over to the adjacent streets, and while no peddler was allowed to host their stall off the officially designated area, those who were friends and allies of the shops on those adjacent streets would usually get hosted by those shop owners. Through this it brought a bigger, unofficial celebration to the Equinox that, while the government did not sanction, it did not have to be accountable for things that happen on the outer streets.


    Although the local government was de facto run by the mob, it maintained a tight facade of official purpose by claiming itself to be legitimate imperial authority, and to some extent it operated that way: as a vassal of the imperial government. The Eternian nomenklatura in the local government walked a fine line between the Auxirian authorities and their own group¡¯s vested interests, and in this manner Livia was able to remain peaceful for hundreds of years. However, in recent years tensions rose between the two axes of power, and even between factions within Eternia, that threatened to break the peace. The political crackdown in Lien, a sister city that was administered in a similar arrangement albeit with a few stark differences, stirred fear and uncertainty about Livia¡¯s future too.


    But his beloved city¡¯s larger political picture aside, the more pressing issue is the pressing from the black-haired girl next to him, quite literally. Under Mayumi¡¯s lead, they wandered off into these side streets and arrived at a canal that ran parallel to Pedder Street. They were resting at the tip of an arching bridge, overlooking the artificial water flow below. Like any day of the week, the street was overwhelmed with human bodies, and today with paper lanterns in hand too. The darkness was beginning to settle in, indicating the arrival of evening.


    ¡°Did you plan this? Getting the two of us to be alone?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. This was all chance.¡±


    Mayumi was basically glued to Kato¡¯s right arm for a long while now. He could have shaken her off if he wanted to, but she would come off quite unceremoniously, so he could only put up with it until she decided to let go. Despite his wariness, he couldn¡¯t help but be super-conscious of the warm body stuck to him, and the fact that the body belonged to a girl he admired the most, of all time.


    In contrast, the captor of his arm was as bright as day, without a doubt enjoying taking him all for herself. Only a few weeks ago, she never thought she would ever be here with Kato at the once-a-year Equinox event, both in their yukatas, festival confections in hand and watching from atop a bridge the tiny boats floating slowly down the canal. The touch of someone special still made her heart race, loudly and without fail.


    ¡°If I were to believe you at face value, Mayumi, but alas, I think I still cannot.¡±


    ¡°Alas? Who still says that? What are you going on about, old man?¡±


    There was one major change for Mayumi today: she did not wear her usual eyepatch, so her alien eye was visible for all to see. Almost every shop tender they saw today asked about her eye, to which she happily explained on every occasion. For some reason, on each explanation Kato felt a little sting on his conscience, and by the fifth time he really wanted it to stop.


    ¡°Well, whatever.¡±


    They leaned upon the banister of the bridge, relaxing there as they took a break from aimlessly foraging through the unofficial stalls. The busy worldly noises behind them were quite loud, as expected from a night market, so any whispers and murmurs were quickly lost in the ether of sound.


    ¡°See? My eye isn¡¯t that bad, is it?¡±


    Finally, she let go of him and pointed to her right eye. Outside of the jarring eye, Mayumi¡¯s tiny features joined to form a beautiful Oriental face befitting a Yue nobleman¡¯s daughter. The weak evening lighting from street lamps, lanterns and the fading sun contrasted elegantly her ghost-like skin with her black hair and brown eyes. Together with her black yukata, a majestic crow was the comparison that materialized in his thoughts, but Mayumi would probably scowl at that if he said it aloud.


    ¡°Never said there was a problem at any point.¡±


    Kato was unrepentant. In his head he breathed a sigh of relief as she let go for the first time since they separated from the Elites. Mayumi¡¯s smile softened.


    ¡°Thank you so much, Kato, and I¡¯m really sorry. I¡¯m being overbearing, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    He immediately relented, regretting the ungrateful attitude he had put on. True, it was the natural response to someone who was normally more than just overbearing, but it didn¡¯t make him feel any more vindicated as she gazed earnestly over and along the river.


    ¡°It¡¯s normal for you to be overbearing, isn¡¯t it? You¡¯ve never apologized for it before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ¡®cos it¡¯s not convenient to apologize, like it is right now.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    She beamed at him again to fill in the silence from his incredulity. The contrition that was on her face just mere moments ago had evaporated, causing him no shortage of displeasure.


    ¡°If you¡¯re being an ungrateful bastard, then I suppose I won¡¯t be getting an answer today either, hm?¡±


    ¡°Answer to what?¡±


    Kato said it before he gave it any thought, and he realized he was inviting a reprimand for no good reason.


    ¡°Ah, what am I going to do with you, Kato? I thought I reminded you of it enough times today already, but making me spell it out is rather upsetting.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Hands on hips, for a moment she pouted with puffed cheeks, but she put the frustration away just as quickly. He sensed the air crystallize around him, which turned his undivided attention towards Mayumi. She put her hands together, rather formally, and bowed gracefully.


    ¡°Then let me ask you again. Kato, I¡¯m in love with you. Please go out with me.¡±


    Yes. This was the story that she had been telling the shopkeepers.


    ¡°I cannot answer you right now, just as I was not able to answer you in the past.¡±


    ¡°Then, when will you be able to answer me?¡±


    ¡°Likely not for a long time.¡±


    Mayumi didn¡¯t frown, but she didn¡¯t smile either.


    ¡°Is it because of the mind wipe, that you¡¯re not going to give me an answer?¡±


    ¡°In short, yes.¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s the long story?¡±


    Kato was not shaken by Mayumi¡¯s knowledge of his situation. Alice had mentioned it to him before, and Mayumi had tacitly confirmed this was part of why she came back. He gave that question some time, though he already knew the answer and she should too.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t supposed to be freed from my duties this year, but Evie and I worked hard to create this opportunity. I promised that everyone will be all together for one final year. The keyword here is ¡®everyone¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I figured it would be something like that. It unravelled pretty quickly the last time I did this, didn¡¯t it? But this time is different. There shouldn¡¯t be any trouble with Caius this time around.¡±


    He arched an eyebrow.


    ¡°I¡¯d beg to differ, but I¡¯d like to hear why you think Caius is different from last time.¡±


    ¡°Well, I had him help set up this Equinox festival¡¯s scenario for me. We took a lot of time to plan our routes.¡±


    ¡°Is that how it is? I¡¯m not surprised, but it¡¯s not convincing me of anything, when I know how much you meant to Caius when he almost never returned. Even today, he¡¯s not gotten over that part of him, Mayumi. I have no doubt about that.¡±


    Not to mention Caius¡¯ glare towards him just earlier. However, Mayumi wasn¡¯t stupid, and in her subconscious she felt that this might be the case too, with the way Caius had reacted to her fall in the auditorium. If Kato felt firmly about Caius, then unfortunately she couldn¡¯t avoid glossing over Caius¡¯ predicament. In fact, Kato¡¯s expression was distorted with grief, almost as if blaming her for its cause. It was true, though, and Mayumi froze at the unsightliness of his grimace. She wanted to understand it, but at the same time was afraid to.


    ¡°Can you tell me, how¡¯s there no doubt about it?¡±


    <hr>


    On one end of the festival¡¯s designated area was actually a terminus of Pedder Street that intersected with Queen¡¯s Road, which ran parallel to a semi-natural estuary that eventually flowed into the lake at the valley¡¯s gap towards Auxiria proper. The estuary was rebuilt in recent times with sloping concrete banks and floors in order to control the earth around it so that it could support the city¡¯s high-density development. These slopes were shallow and flattened at regular intervals to mitigate accidental falls, and Caius and Cecilia sat together at one of the level intervals.


    ¡°Can I have some of that?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Caius held out the last bit of cotton candy to Cecilia to bite into. She sat with her legs tucked in and arms around her knees, resting her head on them as they were a little fatigued. While Caius meant to explain things initially, as they walked past the stalls down Pedder they couldn¡¯t help but stop by to play games and pick up food.


    They made themselves comfortable, looking out on the fairly wide river lit up by sparse street lights and people¡¯s lanterns on the edge of the water. There were sections of the slopes that had turf, but not enough to host any wildlife, so there were no cicadas or dragonflies to make any natural impressions. This was the city, after all.


    ¡°So? Ready?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. The others shouldn¡¯t be coming here any time soon, either.¡±


    They actually walked quite a ways downstream to make sure they strayed away from Pedder and its surrounding streets.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to, y¡¯know, if you don¡¯t want to¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m just collecting my thoughts. Give me a moment.¡±


    Cecilia didn¡¯t know how to feel about it. It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t care. She really wanted to know what happened, but perhaps she was only a little scared to find out. It was always tantalizing to tread the unknown, and she unconsciously hid her face behind her hair because of that.


    ¡°Hm. Before we start, I wanna ask you, what do you think of Mayumi?¡±


    ¡°Huh? What do I think of her? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Do ye think of her as a good friend? Just a friend? Friend of a friend?¡±


    He pointed to himself, faintly smiling. she didn¡¯t know where he was going with it, so she answered truthfully.


    ¡°A good friend. A very good friend. I¡¯m a bit envious of her, in different respects.¡±


    ¡°Right? She¡¯s too good to be true. She¡¯s very much a good friend to those she likes. Conversely, she¡¯s just as inhospitable to those she doesn¡¯t like.¡±


    ¡°I can see that. I¡¯m just surprised she¡¯s willing to put so much time into people. Even for myself, we only met not so long ago, but she put in a lot of time for me.¡±


    ¡°Exactly that. She¡¯s too outgoing for her own good, right? She doesn¡¯t know when to stop, and she voluntarily gets involved in other people¡¯s troubles.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why I¡¯m a little envious. She¡¯s an amazing person. Not only did she join the drama department on a whim, but also helped me out with the autolights, coming to town with me. After that, we went home together almost every day.¡±


    ¡°Ho? Really? That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard that.¡±


    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s because we tend to separate pretty quickly after a rehearsal, between us and you. I¡¯d thought she mentioned it to you already, but I guess not.¡±


    She peeked at him from behind her fringes to find Caius still watching the opposite bank¡¯s busy paths filled with festival-goers. Cecilia continued.


    ¡°What¡¯s not to like? If even you are singing her praises, then it isn¡¯t out of the ordinary for me to like her a lot, right?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. Exactly. Like you said, she¡¯s an amazing person, and you ended up liking her a lot, too, huh? For you to like others is pretty difficult, so Mayumi¡¯s magic hasn¡¯t lost its touch.¡±


    Cecilia perked up at the sting, turning a little red.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult for me to like others! C¡¯mon!¡±


    ¡°I should be telling you to ¡®c¡¯mon¡¯. If you were, you wouldn¡¯t have been a loner floating between circles until now.¡±


    At first momentarily paralyzed, she turned deflated at the frank assessment of herself and hid behind her fringes again.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to say it like that¡­¡±


    He chuckled and reached over to give her a soft nudge on the shoulder.


    ¡°I only indulge myself like this once in a while. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not that good at finding these opportunities. Eon and Kato are much better at it.¡±


    She pouted, but Caius continued.


    ¡°In any case, Mayumi¡¯s amazing, right? Reminds you of anyone, Celia?¡±


    ¡°Reminds me of who?¡±


    ¡°Her character. Whatzshecalled.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Caius placed the empty cone to the side so that he had both arms to plant behind him and lean back to gaze at the darkened sky, starless due to the abundance of light pollution. Listlessly, he started.


    ¡°She was even more amazing when she was a kid. Maybe it¡¯s because when you¡¯re a kid, everything is bright and innocent, but at the same time it¡¯ll feel like the end of the world when something tiny goes wrong. Remember Mayumi¡¯s right eye? We explained before that it had the power of clairvoyance, right? It¡¯s not that simple. That eye was a curse for her.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°You saw how I reacted when Mayumi fell into the stage prop, right? I can tell you it was definitely warranted, if she was still her fourth-grade self.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Cecilia mused as she came up with possibilities in her mind.


    ¡°Her boisterous voice is still the same as it was then, but her body was fragile as glass. A fall like that would put her in bed for two weeks to recover.¡±


    ¡°¡­how is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Clairvoyance isn¡¯t any normal ability. It¡¯s one where you attempt to gain information from the future. It¡¯s information that isn¡¯t supposed to exist at the present time, but we forced it to materialize and it amounts to adding extra energy to the universe, when energy is supposed to be conserved. Not only that, but the information itself lets a conscious observer use it to intentionally break causality, or in other words, change the future.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡±


    Caius chuckled as a cloud of mystery slowly crept into Cecilia¡¯s expression. He wasn¡¯t going to go into the many-worlds interpretation, which implied the existence of multiple true futures, or a converging arrow of time, which was an analogous field theory to quantum decoherence.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay to just assume that the cost for that valuable information is very high. Extremely high. As a kid, her eye completely wrecked her physical health.¡±


    ¡°But she¡¯s okay now, isn¡¯t she? It¡¯s hard to imagine her as a sickly girl. And didn¡¯t she say she can turn off her future sight with a covering like her eyepatch?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. That¡¯s now, today. Back then, she did not have control over her eye. She could force herself to use it, but it also ignited at random intervals, covered up or not, and every time it¡¯s used for more than a few seconds, she would start throwing up and the day would be ruined for her.¡±


    ¡°...how was she able to eventually control it?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t, even until the very end. Only abnormal people like Kato or Teto would have been fine controlling a clairvoyant eye of Mayumi¡¯s strength.¡±


    ¡°¡®Abnormal people¡¯.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how you would normally describe challengers and deities. In any case, you can see that her eye was a major problem. She would have to sit out on any kind of physical activity, at school or at our old playground.


    ¡°But for better or for worse, her voice was shrill enough to make up for it. She would try to join in when we tackled each other, but we made sure someone entertained her while we were fist-fighting. We took turns doing it, and it somehow worked out. By fourth grade we moved on from physical brawls, but still, we continued to make sure we took care of her.


    ¡°We had fun, but it all came to an abrupt end at the end of fourth grade. There was some bad luck mixed into it, but it probably would have turned out the same way.¡±


    Caius laid flat on his back, eyes staring upwards at the endless purple sky. He sensed Cecilia shuffle a little closer to him, undoubtedly to make sure she heard every word from him. Still with her knees up, her face appeared on the edge of his vision, listening intently.


    ¡°I confessed to her, and in that moment I thought she would turn me down. I still remember the hesitation that was as clear as day, but in the end she agreed to date me.¡±


    ¡°Just like that?¡±


    ¡°Just like that. At the time, I thought her hesitation was because she didn¡¯t see anyone in the Elites as a significant other, and that I was lucky that she gave me and herself a chance. I wouldn¡¯t know the real reason she agreed to it until about a month afterwards, when she was hospitalized for the final time.


    ¡°Apparently, her eye that had been crippling her body had finally caused enough damage to put her in the hospital permanently. I guess you can say that it was like a super-cancer, and over time it caused multiple areas of complications.


    ¡°She went to the doctor¡¯s frequently to check herself, and she had known months earlier that her condition was terminal and it would begin to deteriorate quickly at the start of summer break and be put in the hospital, for however many days left of her life.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The traces of the sun had vanished by this time, leaving the city in night mode. The riverside had much less lights than the streets, so without a lantern they were essentially sitting in the dark; not that they weren¡¯t already, but what little the sun provided went a long way.


    ¡°At first, we thought it was just a routine check-up, but only when the week passed without any news did Kato and Evie go out of their way to track her down. That¡¯s when we found out about her situation, and also why she agreed with me.¡±


    Cecilia could already guess why. Knowing how kind of a person Mayumi was, she was sure that was it. Caius heaved a long sigh first before continuing.


    ¡°It was a simple thing, eh? She already knew she didn¡¯t have many weeks left to live, so she wanted to give us everything she could before she left, even if she didn¡¯t really reciprocate my feelings for her. Whatever her real feelings were, she thought she would bring it with her to her grave.


    ¡°She must have not expected us to find her once she¡¯s hospitalized, and even if we realized and acted upon it, it would have been too late. It was a cruel decision she made for us, but on the other hand, I have no right to criticize her if what she wanted was to spend her last few months without thinking about her imminent death.


    ¡°And she was right. We were all panicking the moment we learned of it, and it didn¡¯t go away until she was finally fixed. Imagine if she told us a few months before. We would have been in panic mode for that entire time, and it certainly would have been troublesome for her final moments.¡±


    Cecilia prompted him as he paused for a while longer than usual.


    ¡°Then, how was Mayumi¡¯s condition cured?¡±


    ¡°A miracle, of course.¡±


    Caius grinned lightly, but like the many times before, she didn¡¯t believe it was because he was happy or delighted. There was no way that was the case unless he was the one who performed that miracle for Mayumi, so she could only watch over him as he closed his eyes gently.


    ¡°You can already guess. The only Elite who can perform miracles, is Kato.¡±

 3.10 Mayumis Inferno

    After a long pause, Kato unfurled the fists that he unconsciously formed and rested his arms on the bridge¡¯s handrail. He looked down at the black mirror that was the water¡¯s surface, where soft ripples continuously fanned across. Mayumi followed suit, but instead of the water she stared carefully at Kato¡¯s troubled face. He forced a helpless smile as he noticed her gaze.


    ¡°I was a kid back then, and as a bratty kid, I couldn¡¯t take care of everyone. I could only fight whatever was in front of me and leave everything around me behind. Even today, I still do that, but at least I¡¯ll be aware of what I have to sacrifice.


    ¡°I can say I should have done things differently, but that¡¯s just na?ve. I was more than just desperate to save you. At that moment, I wanted to give up everything I have to make you stay alive, and I had put those feelings into words.¡±


    Mayumi knew which moment he was referring to. She, too, smiled awkwardly with reservation.


    ¡°Yeah, I remember. Very clearly.¡±


    Kato put his head in one hand, still perched on the railing.


    ¡°No doubt it did, because I didn¡¯t want you to give up yet. You were on the deathbed, physically and mentally. That person in the hospital wasn¡¯t the Mayumi I knew of. Whoever that person was, she was a different person. And I can pride myself in bringing the real Mayumi back, first in spirit, and then for real.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t believe you found out where I was staying, and then to come in to cry endlessly in front of me until I accepted your help in curing my eye. You¡¯re right. I¡¯ve already given up.¡±


    ¡°Which is exactly why I was desperate enough to give that speech. Though I don¡¯t really wanna remember any of its embarrassing details.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I still remember the important bits as clear as day.¡±


    ¡°Thank goodness.¡±


    He spat out sarcastically on reflex, but held the rest of it in. While he didn¡¯t want to, he, too, remembered it clearly.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t give up! Don¡¯t give up! Even if I need to offer up the entire world for you to return to me, I¡¯ll make it happen! So, please, believe in me! Let me take care of you for once, and everything will be all right, Mayumi! I¡¯ll create a miracle, I promise you! You know there¡¯s nothing that I can¡¯t make happen for you!¡±


    Kato had professed as such at the end of a heated exchange between himself and Mayumi, who had been speaking as if she was already dead, trying to implore the others to move on from her. It was especially difficult for Kato, who refused to abandon her.


    ¡°As much as it seems clich¨¦, you changed my heart with that. In many more ways than you anticipated.¡±


    He felt as if she hurled a spear and pierced where his heart was, bringing it immeasurable pain, but he kept it in and ignored it as if it was nothing.


    ¡°It not only changed your heart. Probably, that was when Caius¡¯ downward spiral began. I can¡¯t tell you what exactly went through his head, but he definitely didn¡¯t appreciate what I said, when he was supposed to be your boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°So, tell me one thing. Why did you agree to date him in the first place?¡±


    Kato removed his face from his hand and aimed his eyes at Mayumi, who in exchange averted his gaze and focused her eye on the water.


    ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t expect myself to survive beyond that. I thought of it as a favour for Caius, to leave him with some good memories, and that was why I was a little resistant when you were pleading for me. I thought I needed to pass away, because I didn¡¯t love Caius the way he wanted, nor the way did I come to love you.¡±


    He knew that was the answer anyway, but another spear was flung at his heart and hurt him all the same. That time was a mess of massive proportions, and it only got worse. He sighed with a bitter taste in his mouth.


    ¡°Then, the only course of action I knew was to beg Lady Eterna to fix your eye. You had no idea how desperate I was in front of her, but she eventually agreed to cure it. It was important that I convinced you to not give up, or else Lady Eterna would never agree to cure you in the first place. With her arbitrarily omnipotent powers, it was healed in a matter of days, and before we knew it, you were back in school.¡±


    At that point, Mayumi was still there with them, and also knew what had happened. She held her hands tightly together, bracing for it as he continued.


    ¡°Long story short, you just ignored Caius and began clinging to me as you are right now. I¡¯m shocked that Caius didn¡¯t melt down immediately, and against my expectations he decidedly ignored it, too.


    ¡°But on the day of your confession, that was also when we found out for certain that Caius held, let¡¯s say, a grievance against me. A couple of hours after your confession, Caius came to us at the end of class and we basically threw insults at each other. Well, it was mostly him, but you get the idea. You sat through that silently, after all.


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit, in hindsight, what had happened did sound like what he accused me of, even if it did not sound like it in the moment. He was rightfully furious at me, who had seemingly stolen you away from him, and while you disappeared from Korolev the next day, so did Caius.¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s fingers dug into her skin, turning the contact area white. Listening intently, she didn¡¯t realize her breath was turning shallower with every breath, contributing to her state of fear and anxiety.


    ¡°This time, we figured out from Karl, our caretaker, that you merely moved away from Korolev, so we couldn¡¯t do much about that. But then Caius went missing for a long time, not going to school and not willing to see any of the Elites. It went on for long enough that we thought the Elites were done for.


    ¡°But it turned out that Caius was in the hospital for almost the entire time, and it was to treat the lingering symptoms of his panic attacks. When we went to visit him, he tried to throw us out with as much contempt for me as he did on your final day. It was like we just continued where we left off, with no end to our feud in sight.¡±


    Kato let go of the railing. His face was somehow glazed yet strained; the former from his irredeemable regrets, the latter from the stress of carefully observing Mayumi¡¯s expression.


    ¡°In the end, only one thing saved the Elites from permanently disbanding, and it was when he learned that you left Korolev on the same day he went AWOL. He didn¡¯t know about that until we told him.¡±


    ¡°¡ª!¡±


    Mayumi gasped ever so slightly, stunned.


    ¡°He calmed down quickly enough. As soon as he heard it, it turned him into the Caius we know of today. The one that¡¯s always calm, cool, collected, and the most distant of all of us. At the very end, he told me this.¡±


    ¡°I will never forgive you, nor will I put my trust in you, ever. But just this time, and only while the issue of Mayumi is set aside, I¡¯m willing to ignore what had happened in the last month. In other words, we¡¯ll still be friends, until we¡¯re not. You have the right to refuse, in which case this will be the last time I¡¯ll see either of you. So, what¡¯s your answer?¡±


    Her voice was reduced to a murmur.


    ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t know it was this bad.¡±


    ¡°And seeing how Caius reacted to your minor mishap in the Assembly Hall the other day, I¡¯m absolutely certain that these feelings still exist somewhere within him.¡±


    He peeled his gaze off of Mayumi and heaved another fatigued sigh.


    ¡°So, do you understand the reason why I cannot give you an answer? Someone has to fill in the shoes that you left behind, and even if you¡¯ve come back to us now, you don¡¯t fit those shoes anymore.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Only now, as Kato said it aloud that it occurred to her he was right. The Elites would have slowly drifted apart without somebody stepping up to take on the mantle of her leadership. It was even more remarkable that he was able to keep the company together for this long when Kato¡¯s household was physically present for only two days of the week at school and a Sunday here and there. And at this juncture, Kato had no intention of giving up on the Elites by answering her feelings.


    ¡°You mean, we can¡¯t go back to the way we used to be?¡±


    He smiled wryly.


    ¡°A lot¡¯s changed in the seven years you were gone.¡±


    Her heart ached at the turn her second confession had to take, and at the next, obvious question she desperately wanted answered. Though she turned to him, she instinctively covered her right eye with her hand in order to steel herself enough to ask.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t return my feelings, will you only just tell me yours? It¡¯s all right if we can¡¯t be any more than what¡¯s allowed. I just want to know¡ª¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s body slackened as she watched Kato slowly close his eyes and shake his head. She lost all of her strength, and a world of oil on canvas melted around her as tears filled her vision.


    She lied. If she put enough willpower into it, as she just inadvertently did, she could use her eye¡¯s clairvoyant powers whether it was covered or not, although it was easier to trigger its precognitive effects with exposure to light. She lived amidst a sea of prophecies and visions at any time and any place, a curse given to her at birth with no means of salvation.


    Time and time again, her future sight came to her in a dreamlike, out-of-body sequence, playing out the scenario to her like an old, scratched-up videocassette recording. As her mind floated about on a distant plane above the mortal realm, to the outside observer her visions were instantaneous. Once the trance ended, it snapped her consciousness right back to the present, with no time missed.


    She saw, without doubt, the negative answer that Kato was about to reveal to her. That alone was already enough to make her buckle and rest on her knees, gently sobbing into her hands that clumsily wiped at the tears on her face. The kaleidoscope of evening colours was swallowed by the darkness as she shut her eyes, unable to muster the strength to keep them open.


    Mayumi could not feel the coarse, hard surface of the asphalt that dug into her knees through the thin fabric of her yukata. The air around her chilled several degrees despite the fair weather and the throng of people constantly shuffling across the bridge. Some passersby noticed her and were visibly distressed at her plight, but no one stopped to interrupt, afraid of both Mayumi¡¯s pitiful state and Kato¡¯s imposing aura. And in the heart of the twilight, she cried out ever so softly.


    ¡°Why¡­?¡±


    He was baffled by the lengths that Mayumi was willing to go to, and at the same time upset and frustrated at that stubbornness. She really did have the enormous ego to ignore the difficulties that he needed to deal with and to pursue her own selfish desires, but without it, she wouldn¡¯t make it all the way here either. Nor did Kato think it was all that out of the ordinary, as he also had his own disgraceful, conceited moments.


    But while she wasn¡¯t wrong, he would react in the same way to it as anyone else would. If he didn¡¯t, she would never be able to accept this reality. Kato¡¯s grim expression casted long shadows over his face as he prepared to lay all the blame on Mayumi. He let the years of resentment boil over in this very moment, and then instantly realized why she was this upset. She saw this answer too.


    ¡°Because you left me.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°The damning thing was that Kato couldn¡¯t forgive Mayumi for leaving the way she did. So while logically I shouldn¡¯t hate him, it¡¯s in part because of my pride, I think. Why was he able to get her to like him, while I was never able to? That¡¯s already enough reason to be unreasonably bitter.¡±


    Now with the sun completely set, Caius was laid on his back with his eyes closed. Cecilia had rested her hand on his forehead, and they maintained this comfy position for a long while as he continued to explain.


    ¡°I mean, like, that¡¯s one thing and this is another. Your reaction is as natural as it should be.¡±


    Caius kept a light smile on his face.


    ¡°While I think I scared him enough with that outburst, really, I don¡¯t actually hate him anymore. It¡¯s been so long since that happened, and looking back at it now, it¡¯s been stupid to hold onto that grudge. I lost Mayumi fair and square, or rather, I never won her heart in the first place. Even if I have leftover feelings for her in the present, I already know it¡¯ll never be answered. It¡¯s easier to give up, eh?¡±


    ¡°But you kept the fa?ade up, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    He pointed to his heart with his thumb alongside a tinge of ego in his half-sneer.


    ¡°Well, yes. I can say it¡¯s convenient to keep Kato in line, perhaps, but realistically, I know Kato¡¯s earnesty well enough that I don¡¯t actually need to keep it up. It¡¯s just a bad habit of mine to keep my cards close by and face-down.¡±


    She knew what he meant by that. She was also a loner, so she understood exactly why one would close off their heart to others. Cecilia patted his head unconsciously.


    ¡°Then, why exactly was Kato that angry at Mayumi? Shouldn¡¯t everyone else be just as upset?¡±


    ¡°He probably resented her for almost breaking up the Elites. That¡¯s another reason why I shouldn¡¯t hate Kato. He really believes in his friends and treasures that friendship. After all, he gambled against Lady Eterna with his life to save Mayumi. Mayumi was someone he looked up to as a leader of our little group, as a personification of that idealized friendship, and for Mayumi to completely betray those expectations of his, probably hurt him a lot.¡±


    ¡°Like seeing the less-than-ideal side of an idol, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Something like that, but much worse, of course. Because of that, he most likely doesn¡¯t trust Mayumi as he did before; which makes sense, as he¡¯s not following her around like a teacher¡¯s pet anymore.¡±


    ¡°He was that kind of a kid before?¡±


    He chuckled at Cecilia¡¯s wide eyes.


    ¡°Yes, that kind of a kid. The kind who¡¯s always on her coat tails, like a subservient sidekick. For girls, we call them groupies, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    She knew exactly what he was talking about. Within circles of girls, especially the popular girls, there was always the most popular one at the top of the food chain, and many below that either idolized her as servile cronies¡ªgroupies¡ªor were trying to find any and every way to overthrow her position and become the top dog.


    Then she caught onto a detail he mentioned.


    ¡°Gambled against Lady Eterna? What do you mean by that?¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Do you think that begging will get Lady Eterna to do him a favour? There¡¯s a cost to every miracle you wish for, and Kato almost paid the ultimate price.¡±


    Cecilia was aghast, because while Eterna was an omnipotent being, she was also the strongest mobster on the continent. She could only imagine.


    ¡°What exactly did Lady Eterna make him do?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as grotesque as you¡¯re thinking. She just tested his resolve. They played Avian roulette with two bullets on opposite ends of the chamber, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°They played?¡±


    ¡°Lady Eterna first, Kato second. They¡¯re both alive, so you know what happened.¡±


    ¡°Haaaaah¡­ Kato¡¯s pull was a fifty-fifty. Either it was the second blank in the turn, or it¡¯s one of the bullets.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Kato only needed to pull the trigger, and Lady Eterna would cure Mayumi. It didn¡¯t matter if he died or not.¡±


    The tributary was wide and deep enough to moderate the temperature of its surroundings, so as the evening ticked by, the cooler the air became. It tickled and refreshed their faces, conveniently making their laid-back positions even more comfortable.


    ¡°Knowing this, I shouldn¡¯t have been too ambiguous with them when Mayumi returned out of the blue recently. For sure, I know Kato doesn¡¯t have any lingering feelings for her after her initial departure.¡±


    ¡°What, you mean that he had feelings for her before?¡±


    Caius opened one eye, still grinning lightly.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just my hunch, but mine are usually accurate. Remember I told you that Kato held her in really high regard? Almost like an idol, as you said, but she¡¯s different from an idol in that they held consistent mutual interactions.


    ¡°While Kato might not have noticed it, his relationship with Mayumi was much more than just friends. Way more. It¡¯s obvious as day from the outside, but amazingly both Kato and Mayumi were oblivious to it. You¡¯d think Mayumi would be the first to notice, but as clich¨¦ as this may sound, her blind spot is herself.¡±


    ¡°Most people¡¯s blind spots are themselves, to be fair.¡±


    ¡°Of course. His admiration for her was there from the start, but it began to evolve into something more substantial over time, if you get what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Heheh. I bet they were spending more and more time together, and with a shorter and shorter physical distance between them.¡±


    Kind of like us right now, the thought suddenly struck Cecilia.


    ¡°Very good, very good. This is why I had to confess to Mayumi in the first place: to put myself in between them. And actually, that went really smoothly, so it proved that they were unaware of their mutual attraction towards each other.¡±


    ¡°Now you sound like a homewrecker.¡±


    Caius laughed earnestly.


    ¡°That does sound like a homewrecker. I give, I give. Anyway, in the end, it didn¡¯t work out in the way I wanted, so it was all for naught.¡±


    Another bout of silence floated between them for a short while.


    ¡°So, knowing what you know, what do you think will become of the two of them tonight? They¡¯re spending it together, y¡¯know.¡±


    ¡°Hm? I expect that either nothing happens, or it blows up spectacularly in Mayumi¡¯s face. Why do you think I have the guts to help her out in the first place?¡±


    His small sneer reappeared, brimming with confidence that his predictions would come to pass. Cecilia giggled.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a terrible person. Rotten to the core. There¡¯s no other way to describe it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡±


    A little hesitant, Cecilia asked another question after another lull.


    ¡°If it turns out that it blows up spectacularly in her face, what would you do?¡±


    ¡°What would I do? I¡¯d do what I¡¯d do normally, I guess? It¡¯ll suck for the people involved, but what can I even do about it, and for what purpose?¡±


    She waited patiently for the bravado to dissipate. Even Caius had the classic prideful characteristic of the masculine ego in him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll probably be pretty angry, to be honest. Who wouldn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Even after all this time, you still have something for Mayumi?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be lying if I didn¡¯t. But I¡¯d also be lying if I had any pretensions that Mayumi would have a change of heart in my favour. A lose-lose situation for me.¡±


    He finally sat up and into the relatively cool air blowing gently from the river, patting Cecilia¡¯s head just thrice before attempting to get up to stretch out his limbs.


    ¡°But whatever happens, nothing about me will change. That, for sure, I know. Kind of like Tommy in his Homecoming, right?¡±


    ¡°¡ª!¡±


    Suddenly, Cecilia burst out in laughter. It was such a terrible analogy. Their situations were nowhere close to each other¡¯s, but the crucial parallel that Caius pointed out, was true. Tommy, in his disgraceful return to Sunnyville, found out the hard way that, despite all his efforts and the efforts of the world around him, he and the world around him remained unchanged.


    But there was one other thing that Tommy did about that. At the end of his journey through the city and the underbelly, he duly accepted that despicable part of himself: the fact that he was merely a suburban kid without the guts or heart for the ideals that Whatzshecalled was chasing after. To that, Cecilia still had doubts if Caius had truly let go as Tommy had.


    Caius, though, seemed to be aware of what she was thinking, and he shrugged his shoulders. He wasn¡¯t too sure himself, either.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Everyone¡¯s gonna be waiting for the fireworks.¡±


    He held out his hand to the girl with, despite the occasion, a mop for her hair, still. She took it enthusiastically. She learned a lot about her friend¡¯s thoughts today, she told herself.


    <hr>


    Because of the rescheduling, the equinox festival was winding down earlier than usual. People moved away from the festival centre the later the night went on, especially for local folks who went on foot. Around two hours of standing and walking without a break was enough to tire most ordinary people, and because of the blocks of unofficial shops that were set up adjacent to the designated festival streets, moving towards home made a natural transition. However, it was far from emptying the main festival streets. There were still more than enough festival-goers, and for the eager and excited it would continue late into the night.


    At a cleared out corner of the main square on Pedder Street stood a subset of Elites that were unusually quiet for a group mass of this size. Bianca was sitting on the pavement leaning against a long, low, rectangular concrete planter with her geta off because she had sprained her ankle, and next to her was a standing Kato with a rigidly forlorn face. Eon, Yui, Franco, Alice and Sisi made a wide, disjointed circle around him wearing varying expressions, from pissed off to anxious to listless.


    ¡°Why the long faces?¡±


    Caius¡¯ mood upon rejoining the group was relatively much better than the gang¡¯s. No response from such a rowdy group of children was enough to tell that something went terribly wrong. Cecilia watched him and the Elites worriedly, and she immediately noticed that Mayumi was among the ones missing and separated from Kato.


    ¡°Is it because Bianca¡¯s injured herself? This is par for the course, right? Every year, at least one person takes a misstep in their geta and hurts themselves.¡±


    Still quite genial, he joined the awkward circle next to Eon, who shot an anxious glance as Caius materialized beside him. Instead of joining the circle, Cecilia remained some distance behind their formation, feeling a little out of place to do so for a circle of friends she had been attached to only recently; she still felt like a mercenary or a floater, neither part of nor outside of them.


    ¡°Where¡¯re the others? Evie, Scarlett, Ariel. Anyone seen them?¡±


    Caius only got an extended silence from the circle. Even Sisi was visibly concerned, but would not talk. As he mentally assessed the bizarre scene in front of him, he surmised that his best strategy was to continue to feign ignorance to get someone to start talking. Of course, he noticed the same things that Cecilia had. He steadily pressed on.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Mayumi? She¡¯s gone too?¡±


    Eon clicked his tongue impatiently before he answered.


    ¡°They¡¯re all together, and they¡¯re probably taking her home right now.¡±


    ¡°Taking her home? What, is she injured like Bianca, too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s injured, all right. Just not in the way Bianca is, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Ho? Then, in what way was she injured?¡±


    Another silence fell on the group. No one seemed willing to answer that question, so Caius assumed that he and Cecilia, the last ones to arrive, were also the last ones to know of what happened between Kato and Mayumi. Caius shrugged and sat down on the ground.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care how many explanations have already been made, but while we still have someone in the dark, let¡¯s hear it one more time.¡±


    The silence persisted, but Caius felt like waiting. No one else was moving either, so he had all the time in the world. Cecilia felt the tense pressure from all members of their summoning circle and it was quite menacing, prompting her to remain silent as they were. At least the crowds were still busy enough with themselves that their peculiar assembled formation didn¡¯t attract too much attention.


    After a long while, Kato was the first to speak up. It had to be him, anyway.


    ¡°In short, Mayumi asked me to give her an answer, so I gave her a negative answer.¡±


    ¡°That was really short, yeah. I get it, but what¡¯s the problem? How did she take it?¡±


    ¡°She wanted to know why, of course.¡±


    Kato sat down gingerly on the edge of the concrete planter that Bianca was leaning onto. He continued as he watched Caius carefully, who did the same in return.


    ¡°She also wanted to know what my own feelings are, outside of all our baggage. She was using her eye¡¯s powers as she asked. I could only guess, but I think I know what she saw.¡±


    ¡°Then, what was the invisible conversation like?¡±


    Sometimes, conversations with Mayumi could become disjointed when her visions propelled her several lines ahead. Because she would react to an answer that wasn¡¯t actually given yet, it took some trouble for the receiver to piece the full conversation together. In a way, it amounted to reading Kato¡¯s thoughts, though normally it was difficult to do such a thing. The other party would need to already have a very strong resolve about the issue at hand for Mayumi to hear the individual words in her vision, including thoughts that he might not want heard. And this was one of such moments.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start from the beginning. I¡¯m not in love with her, so she likely saw that first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t today. I know that already.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for the record.¡±


    Unusually, Eon interrupted. Caius gave a small nod at his friend, momentarily acknowledging his presence but otherwise still laser-focused on Kato.


    ¡°Okay, fine. That¡¯s what she saw first. Then, what else did she see with her eye?¡±


    Kato let out a sigh.


    ¡°She probably saw that I came to resent her for leaving us like that, and because of it, I don¡¯t trust her in that way anymore, in order to have such a relationship.¡±


    ¡°Mhm. That sounds about right.¡±


    ¡°About right?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not surprised you would think that way, but never mind that. How did she respond?¡±


    Pausing for a moment to brace himself, Kato looked around to the others who remained silent, except maybe a little tenser as Kato steadily marched forward in his explanation.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t respond to that, specifically. I believe she saw something else along with that, and that¡¯s what she responded to.¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    A couple of the Elites in the circle quietly turned away. Eon, on the other hand, moved forward into a position sort of in between the two.


    ¡°Besides the situation around her life, there was something else I didn¡¯t trust her with, and it¡¯s got to do with her motivations after she returned to Korolev. If I were to believe she returned to only chase after me, then I would give her the benefit of the doubt and believe it. But she spends way more time with you than she does with me, and I think there¡¯s some underlying motive for that, so in the end I cannot trust her with my feelings.¡±


    Unconsciously, Caius curled his hands into fists, gripping himself tightly.


    ¡°And what would that motive be?¡±


    ¡°I think she¡¯s desperate to find a way to forgive herself for ditching you the way she did. Or rather, she wants to find something to justify to herself that that decision isn¡¯t wrong, so she can live without that guilt anymore.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? And how did you prove your theory?¡±


    Never before was Kato this tongue-tied in his life, but here he was, about to incriminate his blond friend in an accusation born of his own insecurities. He almost spluttered.


    ¡°One, to fulfill her original aim of getting together with me. Second, to get you to move on from her. These were the two things she was doing¡ª¡±


    ¡°And? What of it?¡±


    Caius quickly closed the distance between them and pulled Kato by the lapels to his face. The group around them flinched and was unable to maneuver between them before he reached Kato, including Eon who had seen it coming.


    ¡°¡®What of it?¡¯¡±


    ¡°What did she have to say about that? This isn¡¯t the first time she used her eye to read our thoughts. You didn¡¯t want to tell her this, but her eye saw it, right?¡±


    Kato was slack, allowing Caius to hold him there as he concentrated on his thoughts. He squinted at Caius¡¯ looming face that was wrought with grief, and the boulder on top of his heart gained even more weight.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°She denied it at first, but it was half-assed. She broke down there, because Kato got it right. Mayumi came back to Korolev not just for Kato, but you as well, and most importantly, herself.¡±


    Eon interrupted again, this time with his hands on both their shoulders, but neither Kato nor Caius broke away from their locked eyes. Besides the words coming out of his mouth, they ignored Eon¡¯s presence like the first time.


    ¡°Mayumi continued to ask about it, for a second time¡ªwell, the first time¡ªto make sure they were truths, and Kato confirmed it each time. Eventually, Bianca, Ariel and myself stepped in to separate them because by that point Mayumi was completely exhausted from using her eye and should be sent home. In the end, the three of them, the other girls missing from here, took her home.¡±


    They didn¡¯t blink, and sweat rolled down both their faces. Caius was the first to snarl.


    ¡°Did that make you feel like you couldn¡¯t trust Mayumi? Just because she was doing some soul-searching?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re distrustful of her intentions, because you think it¡¯s more about absolving herself of her mistakes, than truly loving you, is that right? And even if there¡¯s no evidence to show that that¡¯s even remotely true, you¡¯d still think that way, hm?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°My apologies. She¡¯s never told us why she left us back then, or why she returned to Korolev in the first place. That¡¯s why you¡¯re distrustful, because of that uncertainty.¡±


    It was already clear to everyone present that her return was definitely not only about the Elites. It was much easier to let go of this baggage than return to it.


    ¡°But whatever those reasons are, they have no place in the Elites anyway. If it did, she would have told us a long time ago. That¡¯s my faith in her, and that¡¯s why I continue to do things the way I do.¡±


    With his other hand, somehow, he pointed at Kato in the eye, even though their faces were inches from one another.


    ¡°One, I don¡¯t need her to come between us if she¡¯s not gonna be here, and that was the last seven years. Two, if she wants to use me to get closer to you, then so be it. I¡¯ve accepted that I¡¯ve already lost. Three, I¡¯ll welcome whatever she does to allow me to move on from her, because only an ungrateful bastard would view it as some contrived self-salvation trick. You get me?


    ¡°You can be correct, that she¡¯s doing all of this so she can find peace for herself. Obviously, she¡¯s not doing this purely out of contrition. She has to do it for her own sake on some level. You¡¯re doing the exact same thing.¡±


    Kato was the first to blink, and finally replied in a surly mutter.


    ¡°I have no doubt that that¡¯s true, but it doesn¡¯t make me any more inclined to accept her feelings.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    Out of nowhere and pushing Eon aside, Caius landed a punch in Kato¡¯s face, knocking him off of his seat and into the overgrown shrubbery behind him. While Kato¡¯s superhuman senses saw it coming, he allowed the flimsy fist to connect with his face, knowing he probably fully deserved it. The sharp branches behind him scratched obnoxiously at his exposed head and arms, even puncturing his yukata.


    ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Caius!¡± ¡°Kato!¡± ¡°¡ª!¡±


    Simultaneously the crew exclaimed, but no one moved from their place one step further because Caius had already grabbed Kato¡¯s lapels again, still wearing the same harsh expression.


    ¡°You¡¯re scum, y¡¯know that? But I can¡¯t control what you think, so you do you. Continue to throw away the hearts of girls who unconditionally gave them to you. That punch was for Mayumi.¡±


    Peculiarly, Bianca, who was right next to them, flinched.


    ¡°...I have nothing to say.¡±


    Kato laid limp and defeated in the dry soil, his eyes already lost their focus and colour. He was at a loss as to what to do while fighting his internal turmoil, but it was the same for Caius. He, too, didn¡¯t expect to have that kind of fight in himself.


    ¡°I feel sorry for Mayumi, or any girl who had the misfortune to have been involved with you. If you find Mayumi¡¯s pure¡ªpure¡ªheart to be too difficult to put your faith in, then I don¡¯t know what kind of perfect fantasy world you live in, because you¡¯re just gonna keep on suffering. And no amount of punching from me or Eon will help.¡±


    The scathing remark hurt way more than the branches did on his arms, and Kato accepted it silently. On the side, Eon grimaced. When Caius realized that Kato was not responding anymore, he subconsciously let one hand go of his yukata; and rather angrily, as if he wanted Kato to rebuke him.


    ¡°Am I wrong? There were no winners this time, last time, or any other time. And you were the biggest loser, every time.¡±


    Another raw stab at his heart paralyzed Kato in place. Still looking up at Caius¡¯ face, the deep blue eyes on it were swollen red and on the verge of tears, but in a bitter and frustrated way. Caius shook his head and was unimpressed by his lack of response.


    ¡°Maybe I should be thanking you. What you¡¯re doing is technically advantageous for me, but I can¡¯t find it in myself to not feel aggrieved for Mayumi¡¯s sake. It¡¯s very simple. You¡¯ve hurt her irreparably, and I cannot accept that. I get that she did the same to you, and you cannot accept that either. That¡¯s why things turned out like this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simpler than that. I don¡¯t love her. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Kato managed to grunt. Gradually, the frustration on Caius¡¯ face finally caught up with the rest of his body, impatiently stamping one foot onto the edge of the concrete planter, but didn¡¯t make contact with Kato.


    ¡°And I wish you did, as you had before. It might not have ended well for me, but that is Mayumi¡¯s wish, after all. Not mine.¡±


    ¡°You¡ªI¡¯ve never¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t kid yourself. You just weren¡¯t aware of it.¡±


    ¡°Wait, that¡¯s¡ª¡±


    He was startled by Caius who abruptly got up and threw him back into the shrubs. Caius staggered unevenly a few steps backwards as he began to turn his back to Kato, but caught himself upright at the end. His fists were curled impossibly tight again, lest he loses control of his composure.


    ¡°One more word out of you, and I swear, I will end it all here.¡±


    As his voice trembled for the first time in living memory, the fury in his glower reached Kato in full force, who remained locked in place even as the pain throbbed from his lacerations from the hardened wooden branches. Kato felt utterly defeated, but with it came a reprieve and a giant weight off his body. A bitter smile formed on his face as he watched his friend turn away.


    The others were just as shocked, as no one had ever seen Caius trip up. The closest instance was when the boys visited Caius in the hospital, and even at that age he was as sophisticated and articulate as he was today, in both calm and anger.


    Steadily, Caius stormed out of the circle and picked up his pace almost to a run, going in the opposite direction of their homes. Cecilia, too, was as stunned as the rest of them, and she hesitated for a while too long before it dawned on her that Caius was just going to up and leave all of them behind.


    Instantly alarmed and even hysterical, Cecilia gave the Elites a frantic, pleading glance, who unfortunately were abundantly distracted. Luckily, Sisi noticed her desperation and nodded reassuringly at her. The schoolteacher somehow knew what she was thinking, and she too returned the nod, now more confident. She turned to chase after Caius, just as he was about to disappear into the crowds.


    A brisk run was needed to catch up to him, and she quickly realized it was much more difficult than anticipated to run in her geta, even if she only wore half a yukata. It was made worse as they entered the more crowded street compared to the square, and while she kept him in her sights, she felt a sinking feeling in her chest that she might lose him.


    I¡¯ve got to get to him, she thought. She wasn¡¯t about to let Caius disappear on her; not when she had finally found a gloomy kindred spirit. For some reason, she felt that if she was not able to get to him now, he would close himself off altogether, and even go by his word to end it all. This uncertainty gnawed at her heart, pushing her to run faster and ignore the pain in her feet.


    Even within this short of a timeframe, she thought she knew a lot about Caius, and she really did. They shared their thoughts and feelings countless times in the library, and through it she saw, many times, the underlying thoughts behind his usual fa?ade in front of his friends. But she realized there was just as much about him that she didn¡¯t know about, and in this moment she desperately wanted to know.


    ¡°No, no, no, no, no. Don¡¯t go full emo on me, emo kid¡ª!¡±

 3.11 Twenty-one Guns

    ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Caius kicked at the base of a tree planted in a small opening in the pavement on the edge of the waterfront. Other trees were sparsely planted along the tributary and were lightly decorated with lanterns of the equinox festival. He travelled quite far up the stream and away from Pedder Street, into an area that was much less crowded than the festival centre. Here, he cursed loudly without consequence.


    He wasn¡¯t angry at Kato in particular. Rather, he was frustrated with himself for the need to feel so strongly about Kato and Mayumi¡¯s predicament. He told himself over and over again, that he no longer had anything to do with those two¡¯s relationship, and yet here he was, furious at the whole of which had happened. He thought he had given up a long time ago, but alas, it was not the case. His chest burned at a searing one thousand degrees, and there was no amount of self-delusion that was able to put out the fire.


    ¡°Caius!¡±


    A familiar voice called out to him, and suddenly, that blaze went up in smoke. He raised his head to see, catching up to him frantically, the blonde girl in a revealing pink-and-emerald yukata, wearing a panicked expression that only signalled worry and unease. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but the moment he saw that face, he was able to bury his rage beneath his fa?ade once more and receive her rather calmly for his state of mind.


    ¡°Celia. What are you doing here?¡±


    Panting, she took deep, accelerated breaths with her hands on her knees. Her troublesome footwear slowed her down significantly, despite her relatively decent physical fitness from her job as a stage performer.


    ¡°I¡ªI just, you¡ª¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s take it easy here.¡±


    Caius held out his hands for Cecilia to grab onto, and she suddenly grabbed both by the forearms. Though he was taken aback, she didn¡¯t stutter and looked up into Caius¡¯ serene face, and snapped.


    ¡°Don¡¯t just up and leave, stupid! What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±


    He blinked, amazed. This was the first time the normally calm Cecilia was visibly angry in front of Caius.


    ¡°What am I doing?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Like, I mean, you did say you were gonna be angry if it turned out the way it did, but you didn¡¯t need to run this far! It makes it hard for me find you! I went in the opposite direction before coming back here.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Caius chortled at the trivial reason, but of course that wasn¡¯t all. She continued.


    ¡°I get it that you have some old baggage with the other Elites, so there¡¯ll be times where you¡¯ll need to walk away for a while, but if you¡¯re gonna be angry and depressed, at least take me along with you. We¡¯re friends for a reason, right?!¡±


    ¡°Ah, was I really angry and depressed?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that shit! And now you¡¯re all back to normal it seems, but you were about to murder someone back there. C¡¯mon man, give me a break.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Wiping the sweat-soaked hair from her front, she grimaced at Caius and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking them.


    ¡°Did I worry too much about you and you¡¯re really okay, or are you hiding your feelings again? Like, what¡¯s going through your head right now? I don¡¯t get it.¡±


    While she continued to be vaguely exasperated, he reached up at the arms that were shaking him and held them firmly in order to calm her down. She did stop the shaking, but the sour expression remained.


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure myself, to be very honest.¡±


    The thin smile forming on his face didn¡¯t help Cecilia one iota. Instead, her tense determination quickly dissipated, and the hands on his shoulders were slipping away as they turned limp.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t get it. I really don¡¯t. If you can¡¯t tell me, then what can you ever tell me? I want¡ªI need to know, because otherwise, why am I even here?!¡±


    Then, as the tears steadily rolled down her pretty face, Caius was rudely awakened to his mistake. He stepped forward and held her face in his hands, trying to distract her to calm her down.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Sorry about that. It¡¯s just a habit of mine to not show anything. Rest assured that I¡¯m an absolute mess right now, don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    His grin turned into a darker one, complementing the self-deprecating irony in his words. A little desperate, Cecilia bought his words at face value, and almost breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the familiar pompous edge in his voice.


    ¡°At least you get me. Thank goodness.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not as dim-witted as Kato when it comes to these things, I want to believe.¡±


    ¡°Then prove it. Tell me, what¡¯s going through your head right now. There¡¯re things you have to share, or else no one¡¯ll ever understand you.¡±


    She said seriously as she peeled his hands off of her face. Seeing an inkling of impatience, perhaps an ultimatum in her reddened eyes, he had a sudden realization of how miserable the state of his chaotic thoughts and feelings were. He wanted precisely somebody to care about him to the point of anguish, as Cecilia was right now. Yet, his first instinct was to shut himself off from anyone and everyone, and in the process push away a person who was willing to share in his pain and suffering. He was afraid of putting his feelings, romantic or otherwise, in the hands of someone else because when he had, it broke his faith in others beyond repair. And all this time, he placed the blame for his hermetically sealed heart on his staunchest friend, Kato.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m different from Kato. I won¡¯t stumble like he did. So, would you listen to me, Celia?¡±


    It was his turn to have tears flow down his cheeks. The years of mistrust and grievances finally caught up to him and overflowed unabashedly in front of Cecilia, and it painfully distorted his comely face.


    ¡°Of course I will. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡±


    Cecilia closed in and wrapped her arms around him, hugging his cold frame close to her. It felt as if his soul was slowly burned away over the years, hollowing out the body of its essence and leaving behind a barely functioning husk of his former, rowdy and hot-blooded self. He returned the soft embrace with his own, and hung his head on her shoulder neatly as they were similar in height.


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m just¡­really exhausted right now. I don¡¯t want to think about anything. I¡¯ve had enough heart trouble for one lifetime¡ªin both ways. I¡¯m very disappointed, troubled, frustrated, and it all hurt, for what had all transpired.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hate Kato¡ªand I don¡¯t. But at the same time, I don¡¯t want to forgive him. If he hadn¡¯t been here, then all this would never have happened. I would still have a chance with Mayumi. She wouldn¡¯t be heartbroken. The Elites would not be split apart by fractures made from our own hands.


    ¡°Was there anything I could have done to prevent this? I didn¡¯t think so, and I still don¡¯t. Everything happened as I rationally predicted, and yet I still want to throw myself into the river and end my misery. Why can I see the damned outcome, and have no power in changing it? And why is it that Kato is always the one who has that power to change things, back then and today?¡±


    They let a long silence meander between them, taking their time brooding over his words. Cecilia knitted her brows at the grounded-up frustration she heard in his voice, and eventually asked carefully.


    ¡°¡­are you jealous of Kato?¡±


    Immediately, an overwhelming flow of despair washed over Caius, sapping the strength out of his body. His knees buckled and Cecilia hastily clutched him by the torso, slipping to the ground and kneeling together.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­very jealous of Kato. Impossibly envious of his abilities and resentful for the great fortune he has. I have nothing in comparison to him.¡±


    ¡°¡­do you really wish him to be gone?¡±


    She felt his grip tighten ever so slightly. His voice shook.


    ¡°Selfishly, I do. But if he was gone, Mayumi would have died back then, and without even a final goodbye. I can¡¯t accept that either. I want both Mayumi to live and Kato to be gone, but I¡¯m absolutely unable to make even one of those things happen, and I most certainly don¡¯t deserve them either.¡±


    ¡°But still, you won¡¯t hate him?¡±


    He heaved a heavy breath, and it took a gargantuan effort to get the words to come out. It was unusually difficult to accept and admit its reality.


    ¡°¡­how could I? He¡¯s my friend; an utterly irreplaceable friend, just like Eon. The three of us are supposed to be the inseparable trio, sticking together through thick and thin. Not only that, but I know that out of all of us, he was the one who cared about the Elites the most. I cannot even start to describe his passion for our friendship, and despicably, I¡¯m jealous of him for the heart that he has, too.¡±


    ¡°Between a one-of-a-kind brotherhood and an unrequited love, you really have it tough here, huh.¡±


    ¡°But what can I do? All I could do was to watch Mayumi¡¯s attempt crash and burn, and hold an irrational grudge against Kato for it.¡±


    Cecilia smiled bitterly.


    ¡°You said it yourself, right? You¡¯re Tommy, and Tommy is actually the most sober of the bunch, so he kinda knew what he was getting into, and what he would get out of it. You chased after your dream, and while you missed the mark, at least you¡¯re still here, alive and kicking. While Tommy gave up and went home, you still have me here. The underbelly might not be solace, but at least St. Timmy is here to stay.¡±


    He froze, but only for a moment. The spontaneous shaking started in his shoulders, and Caius couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.


    ¡°In the story, Tommy isn¡¯t supposed to stay with St. Timmy, though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s cuz this St. Timmy is different. She¡¯s a real person who¡¯s here for you. And besides, Whatzshecalled didn¡¯t even dump you this time. Even if your past was marred with a letterbomb, Mayumi today is still within your reach, and I¡¯m here to help.¡±


    Though she had to force herself a little, she still believed what she said. Mayumi was such a long way ahead of her that it stung a bit every time she was reminded of that.


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed. But the second-last part is most likely untrue.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯ve sobered up?¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you. Really.¡±


    He felt a gorge of emotions deflate from within, and for the last time his embrace lost its strength. He finally came to terms with the fact that everything he did was utterly futile, and he could only be crushed underneath the misery of his torrents of emotions. He needed someone¡¯s shoulders to cry on seven years ago, but he didn¡¯t have that someone, so he turned into the bitterly spiteful man he was today, holding painful grievances that he logically knew was of no worth.


    So, when Cecilia reminded him of Tommy¡¯s story, it calmed him. Or rather, it extinguished a raging fire in his mind that was the chaos of his feelings for Mayumi and the Elites. Tommy¡¯s settlement with himself was only possible after a long, internal struggle with his ideals. He really wanted to become someone he really wasn¡¯t, and in the process of that, he destroyed his most important relationship: his romance with Whatzshecalled. In the midst of the letterbomb¡¯s fallout, he went on a whirlwind journey through the city above the underbelly, working odd jobs in bars, cafes, restaurants and offices, and trying to find meaning in his post-crime life. When St. Timmy eventually called to collect his dues, Tommy finally realized and accepted who he was, and rejected St. Timmy¡¯s dope in order to return home to Sunnyville. That was Tommy¡¯s Homecoming, and it was likely the part of the story closest to reality, as the life of Tommy was a reflection of Mary Jane Armstrong¡¯s own.


    Still, St. Timmy¡¯s call gave both of them realizations about themselves, but luckily, Caius¡¯ St. Timmy was not coming to collect his head. He realized that this trivially insignificant emotional support he got from this St. Timmy, with absolutely no effect on the outcomes of today¡¯s battles, saved him. It gave him hope that even if tomorrow was hard to accept, there were other things worth looking out for. He had much more than what Tommy had and he should definitely cherish them; starting with the girl he was embracing.


    ¡°I¡¯m all over the place, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a total wreck, Caius. A complete mess.¡±


    Suddenly, loud pops from the atmosphere above prompted them to raise their heads and eyes. Some of the pops were isolated, while some were in quick succession like a machine gun. Even at the brightly lit riverside, they could see clearly the dazzling dance of fireworks in the night sky.


    ¡°It¡¯s only a continuation of what was supposed to happen. You and the Elites only put this confrontation off until now, that¡¯s all. A slap in the face that was in slow-motion for seven years in the making, and you should be loud and proud that it finally ended today¡­ just kidding.¡±


    Caius realized she had let go in order to face him. Watching the awkwardness jump across on her face as she grandstanded, it was probably as she said. He was a total wreck. He managed a lopsided smile through all his tumult, but nothing more. He still didn¡¯t know why, but her words again brought calm to him.


    On the other side, the awkwardness continued as her cheeks turned pink. Though she was a performer, they were off the stage right now and the distance¡ªor lack thereof¡ªbetween her face and his still made her heart race. A stammer just barely made it to her voice as her lips almost faltered.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m not Mayumi, or part of the Elites, but would you join me in the fireworks watch?¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad, was it?¡±


    Eon was the first to say anything in a long time. After Caius had stormed away, they all stayed in place and in almost complete silence. Kato had slowly pulled himself out of the bush and seated himself next to Bianca again, a total of two injured people in the group. His glazed eyes mirrored the emptiness in his tired expression, which was being etched in stone.


    ¡°If we move now, we¡¯ll still catch the last bit of the fireworks when we hit the playground. C¡¯mon, guys, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Despite the obvious time limit, just a few of them budged, but only ever so slowly. Crucially, they waited for Kato to make a move, and he did get up and walked several paces away around the planter to stop and idle at the edge of the square. However, it didn¡¯t seem like he was going to move further any time soon.


    ¡°Kato, we can think about the two of them later. There¡¯s nothing else left for any of us to do now, so might as well finish the day off with what we initially planned.¡±


    ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t that bad. It could have been worse.¡±


    Kato forced a smile on his face as he lifted his eyes up at his bespectacled friend. He felt somewhat relieved because thankfully Eon was the kind of person to be always looking forward and not dwelling on the troubles. He looked up to Eon for that affable trait of his.


    ¡°Well, he probably didn¡¯t want to make too much of a ruckus in a public place like this, with so many people around us. It¡¯s different from our spat.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making the bingo card work, though. Congrats. You got punched by both of us. Now, you just need Franco to punch you for some reason.¡±


    ¡°Spare me, please. That¡¯ll actually be so fucked up, if it ever gets to that point.¡±


    ¡°It sure would.¡±


    And, of course, Eon and his light grin would subvert all his expectations with a dramatic U-turn. Classic.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to stay here and find Teto. The rest of you guys can go first. I¡¯ll try to take her back with me, but you can head home if I don¡¯t return in time.¡±


    Suddenly, the crew around him perked up in surprise. Alice was the first to make a gaping mouth, but she stopped herself as she saw nobody else making a sound. At this juncture, only Eon was qualified to continue talking.


    ¡°If you really want to go find Teto by yourself, that¡¯s fine. Yeah, try and make it quick. It¡¯ll be better if everyone¡¯s together to see the fireworks.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll take a little convincing to separate from her friends, but I¡¯ll try my utmost to bring her with me.¡±


    ¡°No doubt she¡¯ll need a little convincing, and no doubt you¡¯ll try your damndest.¡±


    Eon crossed his arms before he continued.


    ¡°Are you going to attempt to chase after Caius or Mayumi?¡±


    Kato frowned.


    ¡°What good is that going to do for them or me? Besides, they have some people around them right now to help, and I definitely can¡¯t be one of those people. I¡¯ll find Teto and head towards the playground. That¡¯s all I¡¯m going to do.¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I¡¯m just making sure you¡¯re not gonna do anything stupid if we leave you alone.¡±


    ¡°¡­thanks for the non-confidence vote.¡±


    After erasing the annoying smirk that Kato found a little tiresome, Eon shrugged his shoulders and gave a lukewarm farewell.


    ¡°Take care of yourself, bud. We¡¯ll pick this back up later, or not. Depends on if you want to.¡±


    Eon held out a fist for Kato to bump, and he did so after a slow pause. Behind Eon, Alice grimaced harshly, mostly at Kato¡¯s ignorance of her. Yui held Sisi¡¯s hand tightly and both wore a worried expression. Franco smiled, trying to cheer him up with his bottomless positive energy, but like with Alice, Kato¡¯s attention was divided.


    ¡°Yeah, we will. Thanks.¡±


    Slowly, the group recovered themselves and quietly made their departures as Kato sat back down on the pavement, not even watching them go and instead retreated into the confines of his mind. He put his face in his hands, numb at the events of the past hour.


    He didn¡¯t know if his choice to match Mayumi¡¯s fervour was correct. He could have given her an ambiguous answer and tossed the can down the road, but in the moment he felt he couldn¡¯t back down. It felt as if things would never get solved if he continued to do that, and he hated the restless feeling in his chest that it produced. But in doing so, things got solved in ways that he might not like or have control over.


    He was ready for Mayumi¡¯s reaction and for many years too, because of his own selfish feelings towards her, but he was incredibly uncertain about Caius¡¯. That was the real challenge, and he certainly was terrified of what would befall if he pushed them both too far, considering how Caius reacted the last time. Even if he made the decisions he thought Caius would logically agree with, as he did tonight, he was still afraid¡ªinfinitely afraid that it would irreparably shatter the Elites.


    And at present, he was just as unsure as he was a couple of hours ago, if his fear would come to pass. Ever since Mayumi returned, there was not a moment he didn¡¯t agonize over it, and now that the wheels had begun to turn, there was no turning it back. It all rested on what Mayumi and Caius would do next, just like the last time.


    ¡°Feeling down, huh, Kato?¡±


    Suddenly, he was taken out of his trance with Bianca¡¯s unexpected materialization next to him again. Once upon a time, he would mistake Bianca¡¯s face for Mirabelle¡¯s, but that was no longer the case. Not since Bianca had captured his heart, as Mayumi once had in the distant past.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you go with the others?¡±


    ¡°Unlike yourself, the others care about you. They want someone to look after you.¡±


    ¡°Care about me?¡±


    ¡°Like you said, Caius and Mayumi have their own people to support them right now. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here, okay?¡±


    ¡°I just want to be alone for a bit, man.¡±


    ¡°Of course you would. Just pretend I¡¯m invisible, like you were doing for the past ten minutes or so. Carry on, carry on.¡±


    ¡°Do you have to be this ungrateful?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who wants me to be invisible right now, and I¡¯m giving you that choice. Isn¡¯t it exactly what you want?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡ª¡±


    While he was momentarily frustrated, he finally noticed that Teto¡¯s presence became very far away. The impatience on his face was suddenly flushed clean and replaced with astonishment, and to that Bianca scoffed.


    ¡°If you¡¯re thinking about Teto, she actually came looking for us because she sensed your impending mental breakdown. And then, it¡¯s partly because of her that I¡¯m here.¡±


    As Bianca spoke one step ahead of his brain, it finally made sense why she was next to him here. It was a result of the assessment by his spiritual twin and younger sister, Teto. A dumb grin surfaced on his face as he thought of his beloved sister and how she was caring about him at the moment.


    ¡°Y¡¯see here, your siscon is showing again. Creepy.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not attached at the hip, but we¡¯re attached at the brain. You wouldn¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t, and I would never want to, but I¡¯ll admit that it was convenient this time around.¡±


    ¡°And now I¡¯m stuck with an injured person that I also need to carry home by myself.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a problem with that, injured person number two?¡±


    She stuck a finger into one of the scrapes on his arm, and he winced reflexively at the pain. He was a little surprised at Bianca¡¯s attitude, compared to the relative silence between them ever since they came back from the Bozz. The sudden pushiness reminded him a little of Alice, but Bianca had always been a little pushy. And comparatively speaking, Alice was a lot more than just pushy. Commandeering, in fact.


    He suddenly felt an extreme guilt wash over him as he allowed his thoughts of Bianca to wander. She was very different from when they were children. She was a disagreeable brat that found joy in making fun of, even bullying others, and as a result was frequently at odds with the Elites. As they got older, she gradually shed that obnoxious part of her and mellowed out to a relatively balanced temperament, squarely between Alice¡¯s stubborn pride, Mirabelle¡¯s enigmatic composure, and Mayumi¡¯s fiery spirit.


    He suspected that her younger self was the result of a serious inferiority complex; understandable as Mirabelle was the better of the twins in every way imaginable, at least in the eyes of the adults and Bianca herself. When Mirabelle began to slowly disappear from the Elites¡¯ daily business to attend her tutors and extra classes, Bianca started to change. Without Mirabelle in the picture, she was able to let her complex go. Not completely, but enough to make herself likeable.


    And likeable she became. Although with her pedigree of impertinence she would never reach Mirabelle¡¯s level of charisma, at the very least she was able to captivate Kato; enough to allow her to sit here shoulder touching shoulder, all by themselves in the middle of the busy city. And that was why the guilt stung him. He had once done her wrong, and now history was repeating itself with Mayumi. Even worse, Bianca had unequivocally forgiven him when she had no reason to, and so he hated himself for wanting the same reprieve from Mayumi.


    ¡°The problem¡¯s with you, not me. We haven¡¯t had a conversation of more than two sentences since the Bozz until now, because of you. Do you know how frustrating that is?¡±


    She pursed her lips, aggravated that he was being mean, but at the same time delighted to know that he had wanted to see her.


    ¡°Speak for yourself. You finally get it, now, huh?¡±


    ¡°Except this time, we¡¯ve already come to a mutual understanding beforehand. No going back on your words, Bia.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Well, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re gonna stand by, then we¡¯ll leave it at that.¡±


    ¡°Are you implying that you¡¯re not going to stand by that?¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯m merely saying that there¡¯s nothing to discuss further.¡±


    Bianca was clearly pouting but unfortunately for her, Kato¡¯s head was still in his knees, thoroughly crestfallen and miserable¡ªand she knew it, so she wanted to can that conversation as soon as possible. Kato sighed heavily, seemingly agreeing to her thoughts without his knowledge.


    ¡°Aight.¡±


    Bianca put her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, watching his deflated head from the side. Kato was still lost in the world of his mind, and had only a few thoughts to spare for his little sister.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be all right, Kato. Mayumi must have been prepared for a rejection, and Caius¡¯ reaction is within your expectations, no? Unlike last time, we¡¯ve sent Ariel, Scarlett and Evie after Mayumi, and Caius has Celia now with him.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. I¡¯m just, super frustrated at all of this. Keeping the peace and the status quo can¡¯t be this hard, can it? What I do to try and preserve it, can make it completely fall apart at the same time, so what¡¯s even the meaning in all this?¡±


    ¡°It may be a tough job, but think of the past seven years. You already did more than well enough to keep everyone together for this long.¡±


    ¡°Except this is the year that should be the most important, and it could all end tonight.¡±


    ¡°I beg to differ. Everything up until this point is just as important. C¡¯mon. Without the past, we won¡¯t even make it this far. Y¡¯know what would have happened if you didn¡¯t insist on Caius returning when he gave you the chance? Mira and Ariel would be leading Class A as the Jupiter faction. Eon would have been promoted into Class B alongside me. Franco would have automatically been selected into Class C just from his social status. Yui would not have found a way out of the slums. Alice would have remained by Gilbert¡¯s side in silent misery. That¡¯s what¡¯s important; not that we need to live in pretend harmony forever after.¡±


    ¡°...is that so?¡±


    She felt the warm mass next to her begin to relax just a tad bit, and she smiled gently.


    ¡°Chin up. This peace wasn¡¯t meant to last forever in the first place. Mayumi¡¯s return is basically the beginning of the end. You already know that.¡±


    ¡°And yet I¡¯m still desperately preventing the end from coming to pass. Is there really nothing else I can do?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for Caius and Mayumi to decide, right? They¡¯re the ones who couldn¡¯t live with the peace, so it was always in their hands to start with.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s probably why I¡¯m so frustrated right now.¡±


    ¡°Then let me ask: what¡¯s your reason to keep the peace?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the reason¡­?¡±


    ¡°To have you feel so strongly about it. Well, I guess it¡¯s this strong because it¡¯s you we¡¯re talking about.¡±


    He was surprised. He thought the reason was a given, that he wanted everyone to stay together for one final year. But it was a selfish wish, it dawned on him. After the end of this year, everyone outside the Hearts candidates would not remember their existences, courtesy of a memory wipe. These memories would only live on in Kato, Evie and Teto¡¯s, and possibly Alice¡¯s, so the others didn¡¯t need to worry about the continuity of the Elites. They would continue to pursue what they desired, with or without it, as they always had. That was what they always did, anyway.


    ¡°Ah¡­ I think I get it now. That¡¯s why it¡¯s been so hard for me this past while.¡±


    ¡°You get it?¡±


    ¡°Mm. I mistakenly assumed that everyone else shared the same sentiment as me, but they didn¡¯t. I¡¯m so stupid. I thought I was doing this for everyone, but in the end, I wanted this peace for myself.¡±


    She patted him on the head.


    ¡°Yup. And, well, this time around, you have an ally in me who agrees with you in keeping the peace.¡±


    ¡°And if I remember correctly, this was originally your idea, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. It seems like my wishes are a little too big, eh? But like you told me, I won¡¯t be going back on my word, so you better not either.¡±


    He smiled too, but bitterly. He raised his head, making a much better expression than what it was some minutes ago.


    ¡°Were you always this confrontational?¡±


    ¡°Imagine if I was Alice. How ridiculous would the things coming out of my mouth be?¡±


    ¡°On the contrary, Alice is not good at taking care of other people, so she¡¯ll probably just stay tongue-tied and silent¡ªwhich is exactly what I needed.¡±


    ¡°So, exactly like Evie, right? And how did that work out for you last time?¡±


    Bianca moved to his front to nestle her head against his and hug it gently. The cutting edge in her words was nothing like the warmth of her touch. Though the air was stale with hours of burning meat, vegetable oil and smoke, he was still able to recognize Bianca¡¯s familiar scent through all of it¡ªa sweet scent that recalled a fresh, blossoming spring.


    ¡°It was better than you think. Evie got things done and closed the books on it faster than anyone could imagine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one way to put it. If you had to make that choice again, what would you have made?¡±


    ¡°Probably would¡¯ve done everything in reverse.¡±


    ¡°Just like with Mayumi?¡±


    Kato closed his eyes again, but much calmer than before.


    ¡°If Mayumi wasn¡¯t this gutsy, I wouldn¡¯t need to ask for a retake. Then again, that part of her hasn¡¯t changed one bit, so we all saw it coming.¡±


    A pause hung over them for a while before Bianca spoke up again.


    ¡°Was Caius accurate?¡±


    ¡°What was?¡±


    ¡°He said that you were in love with Mayumi. Is that true?¡±


    Kato instinctively backed off and held Bianca away at arm¡¯s length, but he didn¡¯t stumble. Her face was as serene as it was before, unchanged.


    ¡°You¡¯d be the one to ask that.¡±


    ¡°Even if I didn¡¯t ask, you¡¯d still think of how to explain it to yourself, the others, and then eventually, Caius.¡±


    She shrugged nonchalantly, and he sighed in reply. For some reason, he couldn¡¯t maintain eye contact with her, and his heart stopped for a moment as he asked.


    ¡°Then, what did you think? Did I seem like I was in love with Mayumi back then?¡±


    ¡°Now that I think about it, you were close. You were like her dog¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªthat¡¯s not how you should describe it. I was a sidekick, okay?¡±


    He immediately interrupted her as he knew what kind of disrespect was coming, pulling a light-hearted giggle out from Bianca.


    ¡°But I think you both were in that territory. The reason why neither of you noticed was that she was always looking ahead and away from you as you chased after her coattails. And the only thing that needed to happen to get the two of you to realize everything, is for her to turn around.¡±


    ¡°¡­was that really how it was?¡±


    ¡°Even someone so self-absorbed like my kid self could see that. What did you think Caius had seen?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. That was probably how he saw it.¡±


    Downcast again, Kato planted his face in his knees in exhaustion. Bianca put both her hands on the top of his head, holding it lightly.


    ¡°And at the very end she did turn around to see you. That was when I realized everything that was happening and it all made sense. Mayumi really left Caius out to dry in pursuit of her true feelings. I can respect her resolve, but something like that will inevitably hurt those around her.¡±


    He heard a twinge of sadness in her voice that he tried to ignore, but it hurt all the same because something similar happened between him and Bianca. He didn¡¯t say anything, merely letting the stir of emotions simmer slowly on his mind.


    ¡°What did you think of Mayumi at the time? After she confessed to you?¡±


    ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t know what to think, to be honest. Of course, the first thing I thought was how would Caius fit in all of this. Mayumi was supposed to be together with him, but she ditched him and went after me instead.¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t have to think about the consequences and she was, somehow, able to stay with us and not suddenly disappear, would you have realized that you loved Mayumi? Or if your memory doesn¡¯t serve you right, then if you give it some more time, would you have eventually fallen in love with her?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t remember if I was aware of it or if in fact it was true. But if you¡¯re asking if I eventually would, I can say yes, slowly and awkwardly because I was a stupid fourth-grader. I didn¡¯t have a very firm grasp on the concept of romance at that point¡ªonly enough to see it in and among other people, and not myself.¡±


    Bianca eventually asked calmly. Surprisingly, Kato knew the answers to those questions and without doubt. On his chest he felt something akin to a sense of relief, so it was probably something he wanted to say for a long time, but was impossible to do so until now.


    ¡°¡­that¡¯s pretty much an admission that you loved Mayumi, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Even if it is, it doesn¡¯t matter now. I can only say that it was a possibility at that point in the past, but there is no returning to that now.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you¡¯re in the situation that you¡¯re in.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Another silence filled the space between them as the still-lively festival continued around them. Fortunately, there were no bystanders who stopped for more than a moment to observe. Off in their own little world, it was a temporary respite from reality, protected by a bubble of the city noises and the festivities¡¯ distractions.


    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t need to hold that against yourself. To be able to fall in love is as natural as anything, and in fact I appreciate that part of you. I think a lot of the others do, too.¡±


    ¡°¡¯To fall in love¡¯; you really have no hesitation in saying that out loud, do you?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s easy. I¡¯m the one consoling you here, so I have to have some guts.¡±


    And then, a flutter of popping sounds from above interrupted their spiritual refuge. It was joined by a jumble of cheers from the people below who were excited that the fireworks had finally begun. Watching the multicoloured sparks of light streak across the blanket of darkness, Kato¡¯s consciousness snapped back to the present. His dulled senses had returned to him, as if a lens had refocused its visual precision correctly, and became infinitely more aware of the girl in front of him.


    His face began to scorch at the distance that she had closed between them, and somehow, he knew Bianca felt the same; unconsciously, he was reading the aura of mana that was right in his face, and with that knowledge he couldn¡¯t help but feel buoyed and euphoric. He could even feel her heartbeat, pounding at such a furious pace that it stirred his own to attempt to match it. Though clich¨¦, worry for his sweating crossed his mind for a split second nevertheless.


    Just as quick as his return to earth, another wave of guilt washed over him and seared at his heart. Bianca had no business to be here with him, yet she agreed to Teto¡¯s request and babysat him in his worn-out state. Like with Mayumi, he felt hopeless and defeated at how he couldn¡¯t return Bianca¡¯s kindness¡ªand affection. Not in the form their hearts wished for.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    Kato quickly picked himself up and onto his feet, letting go of Bianca for only a moment before picking up her whole in his arms. Though surprised and a little flustered, she didn¡¯t forget to wrap her arms around his neck in order to hold on. It wasn¡¯t the first time they had done this, and with strong and heavy strides, he quickly passed through the crowds and paced towards a familiar building across from the open square.


    ¡°Where¡¯re we going?¡±


    ¡°To the top of Livia Tower, of course.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna get up there right now?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes.¡±


    ¡°And how do you expect the hotel to let you up there?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think that''ll be a problem, but they can¡¯t stop me even if they wanted anyway.¡±


    Livia Tower was one of many high-rises on the block, and one purposed as a hotel. As a city situated at a major natural junction, there were many hotels like these across the city. When they were kids, Karl sometimes used his wallet to bring the kids to the rooftop of Livia Tower to enjoy the fireworks of the equinox.


    Bianca laughed gently at the haphazardness and idiocy from Kato. She was pleasantly reminded of the level of thoughtlessness he had in him, and though it was probably unrelated, in her head she inadvertently drew parallels with the current situation with Mayumi.


    Though modern enough, Livia Tower was on the older side, a building made from real brick and mortar rather than glass. The main hall had a tropical ambience with its white paint backdrop, tan-coloured bricks and palm trees. The lack of metal and sleekness gave off a quaintness of the preceding decades. The open atmosphere almost expected country music to spontaneously start playing, a complete opposite from the cramped and crowded city outside. The difference was, of course, the blasts of air conditioning that reminded them that they were inside a hotel.


    ¡°Good evening, sir. Your card, please.¡±


    ¡°Here it is.¡±


    ¡°Which floor, sir?¡±


    ¡°The roof, please.¡±


    The main, retro elevator was an old-school mechanical metallic cage, complete with a folding steel fence as a door. There once were no controls inside the elevator, and it was operated by the old man on the ground floor who pushed the buttons at the request of the client. Of course, nowadays, controls were installed inside for safety purposes, but the business maintained their time-honoured tradition of operating it from the outside.


    ¡°How do you have a card key for a room?¡±


    ¡°I told you. They can¡¯t stop li¡¯l old me.¡±


    ¡°You booked a room here tonight on purpose? Who paid for it?¡±


    ¡°Only so that we have access to the rooftop, in case we don¡¯t make it back to the playground in time. It was a part of Eon¡¯s contingency plans that I paid out in full.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re willing to shell out for it. Equinox night is crazy expensive.¡±


    ¡°I know, right? I wish I didn¡¯t need to budget my money.¡±


    ¡°Is that jealously I hear in your voice?¡±


    ¡°Nuh-uh. I may be poor, but I am proud.¡±


    ¡°Pft. Only someone like you would be proud to be poor. I have not seen anyone like that, not even the other Elites.¡±


    ¡°It turns out that the poor one is the one who¡¯s still standing here. That¡¯s an obvious win.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s got more to do with your health, and nothing to do with your wealth. And besides, I¡¯m the one getting a free ride, so who here has the W, hm?¡±


    ¡°I can drop you off at the next bus stop and call it a day, y¡¯know? But I¡¯m feeling awfully generous today, so I¡¯m letting you have the W. Be grateful.¡±


    ¡°If you did leave me behind, it¡¯ll still be a loss for you. I¡¯ll never let you hear the end of it.¡±


    ¡°Figures.¡±


    One and a half conversations later, they made it to the top of the building, and just in time to see the continuation of the fireworks above them. There were other guests on the rooftop as well to celebrate the equinox, but of course there were much less people than there were on the streets. The area was laid out like a typical enclosed park, with rows of plants and a few trees, plenty of benches and gazebos, and open spaces. The rooftop was fenced in by a doubled up tough chain-link barrier, as most buildings were.


    They sat themselves at an empty bench near the edge with a clear view in the direction of the gunpowder show. The explosions were rather close, so the pops were loud in their ears and would briefly muffle the chatter around them. They saw parents conversing lightly among themselves as their children clung to the inner fence, innocently reaching out to the sparks in the sky in awe.


    ¡°We used to do that, eh?¡±


    ¡°That was such a long time ago. Even someone as clammy as you would glue yourself to the fence.¡±


    ¡°Now that I think about it, all the kids did, and it¡¯s probably covered in kid grime and germs.¡±


    ¡°Sister, spare me the imagery.¡±


    The fireworks continued, and would last for a good thirty minutes before the last one was fired. It was one of the few public festivals in the year that the city organized a firework show, and private fireworks were entirely banned in the city, so it justified the long shows.


    ¡°Are you chilled down enough now?¡±


    ¡°¡®Chilled down¡¯? Is this another one of Eon¡¯s nefarious creations?¡±


    ¡°Judging by your tone, you¡¯ve chilled down enough.¡±


    ¡°More or less.¡±


    Though they were already touching, Bianca squeezed even closer to him, leaning into his shoulder. She twisted her hand into his, grasping it firmly in her clutches.


    ¡°¡­that¡¯s against the rules, sister.¡±


    ¡°If we remain silent, then we¡¯re good.¡±


    Kato knew she meant that not only silence was needed when they get back, but also here. This was about as close as they could get without crossing a boundary that would break what was left of the status quo. He was more focused on the warm body next to him and how much he wanted to embrace it with all his might, than the spectacle in the sky. Unconsciously, he reciprocated her grip on his hand, as though to affirm his affection for her.


    On the other side, she felt as if her heart was about to burst out of her ribcage. His return hold slowly turned her cheeks deep red and herself lightheaded. Because of that and their fortuitous isolation, before she was able to give it a second thought, she let her thoughts spill out of her lips.


    ¡°Was I able to make you forget about Mayumi for the time being?¡±


    Suddenly, both of them froze. One was unsure of how to respond, the other was waiting in fear and in a state of self-reprimand. However, at the same time, Bianca really wanted to know the answer, so she hesitated to retrieve her question and allowed it to hang between them. It was a while before he was able to painstakingly assemble an answer.


    ¡°More than I¡¯d want to admit. We might not have another chance to go on the Ferris wheel, but at least I could bring you here.¡±


    Bianca¡¯s heart welled up in happiness, but only for a moment. The Ferris wheel was not just about her.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the real reason you answered Mayumi this way? You have some unfinished business elsewhere to take care of.¡±


    ¡°Nah. Even if some business is unfinished, my answer to Mayumi wouldn¡¯t have changed.¡±


    She was surprised at the calm resolve in his voice. She looked up at his face, and somehow its peaceful expression assured her of its truth. Bianca turned towards the dancing lights in the sky once more, somewhat satisfied at the result.


    ¡°Then, I hope I¡¯m part of the unfinished business.¡±


    She said gently as a large, golden sphere of points of light in the sky above scattered in all directions like miniature comets. It was accompanied by the loudest bang yet, drowning out these rosy words from Kato¡¯s ears.

 3.12 A Fixture in the City of Lust

    ¡°¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡ªGilbert. Mona.¡±


    ¡°Good evening, Kato, Bianca.¡±


    ¡°Well, well, well, if it isn¡¯t our resident Eternian deity and Madam Chancellor up here on the rooftop.¡±


    Out of the blue, they were confronted by a short, temperamental girl with an auburn bobcut and a tall, handsome boy with long, wavy, mop-like black hair. Kato was only a little surprised, as he had felt their presences earlier. Bianca, on the other hand, jumped at the sight of the Class A faction leaders and hurriedly let go of Kato, a little flustered at the interruption.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    Kato was unperturbed, greeting the exceptionally tall man and his precocious partner. As usual, Gilbert was composed and unfazed with his thin smile. Instead, the runt next to him got worked up for him, sneering at the wary Eternian.


    ¡°You really do have the temerity to speak to us in that tone. Have you learned nothing since we last met?¡±


    ¡°Mona, we¡¯re not here to trade insults with Kato tonight. It¡¯s the Equinox, after all.¡±


    ¡°You can leave her antagonism be, Gilbert. I don¡¯t remember us being on good terms anyway, so that¡¯s expected from Mona.¡±


    Kato shrugged as he stood up from the bench to greet the two. Bianca hastily followed suit, picking herself back up from her nervousness.


    ¡°Reasonable. I suppose you¡¯re not used to wearing geta, Bianca?¡±


    ¡°N-no, Gilbert. I don¡¯t have many chances to wear these.¡±


    Gilbert said calmly. Like other men at the festival he was in a customary bathrobe similar to Kato¡¯s, though his flip-flops were much more sophisticated with rubber that made it more like sandals. Mona wore a yukata that was pitch-black, reminding Kato of Mayumi¡¯s and making his heart wring involuntarily.


    ¡°And it¡¯s been a treat to see Madam Chancellor cuddled up against Kato. I see how it is. Goodness, how many points are there on your triangle, hmm?¡±


    Mona¡¯s grin was as devious as it could get, and Bianca squirmed in place at the pressure of those words. Exceeding expectations, Kato¡¯s relatively good mood had still not been spoiled by Mona¡¯s animosity.


    ¡°Look, Mona. I asked for her to stay with me, so can¡¯t you lay off on that? No need to make this a poop-slinging contest.¡±


    ¡°In my time here, I have never seen a chancellor this love-struck and pathetic. If I wasn¡¯t aware of what was really going on, I would¡¯ve thought she was a pure-hearted maiden in love¡ªthough to be fair that¡¯s not very far from the truth.¡±


    ¡°I, too, know Bia has once been an ass¡ªlike you are right now, in fact. But one of the two asses grew up and matured, while the other remained a spoiled child, am I right?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t referring to that, but okay. I¡¯d rather be a spoiled child than disgrace myself with such weakness. Imagine succumbing to your hormones. I don¡¯t need that crap when it clouds judgment.¡±


    ¡°And you think you¡¯re the pinnacle of sound judgment?¡±


    ¡°More than you¡¯d want to give me credit for. Have I made a single mistake in the years you¡¯ve known me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know you that well, Mona¡­¡±


    ¡°¡ªI was in your class at one point!¡±


    ¡°And I don¡¯t remember you being very chummy-buddy with me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough pleasantries for now.¡±


    Gilbert put a pin in their unfriendly exchange, as expected from the no-nonsense person in the gathering. Bianca breathed a sigh of relief at the halted insults, though her face was still deep-red with embarrassment. More importantly, no one else seemed to know what Mona was referring to, and Mona herself didn¡¯t press on it further.


    As an aside, Mona was at Korolev district longer than Gilbert had, joining somewhere in the middle of primary school. Before her rise to power, she was just one of many children of status stuck in the lower classes until Gilbert arrived to take the middle school scene by storm and climbed the hierarchy together in a utilitarian alliance.


    For Kato, he was a little surprised at Bianca¡¯s compliant, even frightened demeanour. Normally, she was the tenaciously defiant one, but with Gilbert taking control of the conversation, he missed an opportunity to ask¡ªnot that it was a good idea to ask in front of Gilbert and Mona anyway. He turned back to Gilbert just in time for him to start speaking.


    ¡°Kato. I need to talk to you.¡±


    Gilbert took a step forward as Mona gave a short and irritated ¡°tch¡±. Whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t good news for anyone.


    ¡°I thought we¡¯re enemies, Gilbert. You need a word with me?¡±


    ¡°Personally, I do hate you, but it doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t be a potential business partner.¡±


    ¡°Hoho? As expected, you have a heart of steel. Or gold. If it were me, I wouldn¡¯t be able to stomach my pride like that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a necessary skill, but it¡¯s a useful skill.¡±


    ¡°Whatever, dude. I¡¯m not that person, that¡¯s all. Now, what am I gonna be assisting you with?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll start with school and the PSC. Is it true that it was Madam Chancellor who solicited your lot to play music in the atrium?¡±


    While Bianca straightened herself at her call, Kato put a hand to his hip, bemused at Gilbert.


    ¡°If you already know, why ask? And with you resigned from the PSC, what¡¯s even your purpose for still looking after them?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s actually more to this than just school and the PSC, if you can believe it.¡±


    Unflinching, Gilbert continued, but with a slight change in strategy. Glancing at the two women they brought with them and their discordant auras¡ªeach upset for their own reasons¡ªhe wanted to cut it to the chase.


    ¡°I want you to protect Alice and grant her her wishes. That¡¯s what you said you¡¯ll do, back in the middle of our Class War, right?¡±


    ¡°Something like that. As an Elite, of course I would. The question is, what in the world is going on now?¡±


    ¡°All right. Then, I¡¯ll tell you that she¡¯s in danger of being forced out of Korolev Senior. Not immediately, but in the near future.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that danger from you and Mona to start with? Who else does Alice need to give her shares of her family business to now?¡±


    ¡°Well, it seems that we weren¡¯t the only ones who had some funny ideas, but this time it¡¯s not just about a family feud. It¡¯s about the intentions of the faculty. The very school she wants to continue to attend is after her. It¡¯s no simple matter¡ªan expulsion from Korolev Senior will destroy her nomenklatura nomination.¡±


    ¡°The faculty?¡±


    Kato frowned on the mention of the nomenklatura. This was probably just as, if not more, important to her than staying in their school. Alice wanted to stay connected to Kato and Evie¡¯s world after they leave, rather than be subject to the mind wipe and lose all her memories of them. Gilbert shook his head.


    ¡°Will you promise to commit yourself to protecting Alice? If you do, and if we can acknowledge each other as allies, we¡¯ll keep talking.¡±


    ¡°If I said yes, would you even believe me? And if you¡¯re telling me this, why not tell it to Alice herself too?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. And I don¡¯t mind keeping Alice in the loop, but anyway, after you hear me out, think about whether to go over it with her later, or not.¡±


    Folding his arms, Kato shot a sharp glance at Madam Chancellor next to him.


    ¡°What do you think? What are the chances that this is some kind of farce?¡±


    Bianca¡¯s voice was soft and feeble, but steady nonetheless. Just why she was shaken this much, Kato now wanted to know even more.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s legit. I also think the faculty¡¯s overzealous persecution of the old PSC is a little suspicious. Let¡¯s hear what Gilbert has to say.¡±


    Gilbert nodded.


    ¡°If you would forgive me, Bianca, but in my opinion you¡¯re under-qualified for your current position. I don¡¯t mean it as disrespect, but taking the role of temporary president for this long must be difficult work and challenging to hold everything together. In fact, you deserve lots of credit for holding on for this long.¡±


    ¡°Ah, mhm. You¡¯re not wrong. I know the limits of my ability. Mira¡¯s the president for a reason.¡±


    ¡°If only Mirabelle can return to put a leash on the other factions, but I understand why she left our school for the time being.¡±


    Gilbert finally caught Kato¡¯s undivided attention, who scowled as he spat out.


    ¡°What¡¯s this about Mirabelle?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get there, but let¡¯s go over Alice¡¯s problem first.¡±


    Gilbert held a hand out for a shake, and without hesitation Kato grabbed it. Bianca couldn¡¯t retort fast enough to put a pause on them, and was fairly spooked that the conversation returned to Mirabelle and her extended absence, which Kato was not allowed to know about yet.


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll accept that we are allies on some level. So, I¡¯m guessing that Mona knows about this as well?¡±


    ¡°Good. And yes, she does. And from her and my own intelligence, your good friend Mayumi too may be involved in this.¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    Kato growled. Gilbert mentioned three names already and he didn¡¯t like where the conversation was going.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s start. Did you know that the faculty belongs to the pan-blue camp, or if there are independents among them, they¡¯re mostly blue-leaning? A blue faculty, if you must.¡±


    ¡°Then you got the short end of the stick in the pan-blue camp¡¯s power struggles. My condolences.¡±


    ¡°No need, no need. Now, do you also know that the drama department is independent from Class A. It was not my decision to install Donovan as Marshal, though everyone seems to think it is. Donovan¡¯s assignment is, as publicly stated, a decision by the faculty. Why? Because there was supposed to be a Donovan faction, not a Gilbert faction. He was supposed to be in Class A.¡±


    ¡°Come again?¡±


    ¡°Remember that Mona and I climbed up through the ranks, including through your class. But not every faction leader is created that way. In fact, most of the time a successor is groomed into the position of Marshal or Chairman, and Donovan is one of them. Both myself and Mona are merely usurpers who were able to build bases of support for ourselves.¡±


    Gilbert folded his arms as he continued.


    ¡°Donovan¡¯s ticket was backed by members of the faculty with vested interests in certain sectors of the underworld. As a quick background check, Donovan¡¯s family runs about a third of the gambling rings in all of Candor. That¡¯s a major vested interest if you¡¯ve ever seen one.¡±


    Kato was not impressed.


    ¡°So? What does Donovan have to do with anything?¡±


    Gilbert pointed at himself.


    ¡°The blue faculty took their time and sweat to groom their preferred candidates for the AC and the PSC, only to have those positions taken over by Mona and myself, so they¡¯ll inevitably be spiteful towards us and the people around us. Alice was a part of the establishment like anyone else was. The haves are all blue-leaning, and they will not tolerate any defections to the yellow camp¡ªwhich Alice has done. Conveniently, this also doubled as a punitive measure against me, to satisfy that spitefulness. This is why they took action.¡±


    ¡°And the have-nots are pan-yellow, dedicated to rebellion and revolution. Of course, but is that really enough reason to go after Alice?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have enough information to know for sure if this is all, or if there is a deeper reason for it. However, the Alice gambit itself is definitely true. They¡¯re looking for a way to discredit and disgrace her and the people around her, in school and in the Eternian circles. This is why I¡¯m asking you for your help.¡±


    ¡°And why would I ever help you?¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll just be helping yourself and Alice, that¡¯s all. By corollary, you¡¯ll be helping me.¡±


    ¡°Then can I know why you¡¯re still trying to help Alice? I thought she¡¯s not your problem anymore.¡±


    ¡°Of course, there¡¯s a cynical reason. However, wouldn¡¯t it be easier for you to think I¡¯m doing this based on my emotions?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually harder to imagine, to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Then how about this? Both Mona and I want Alice to join the nomenklatura, and due to a certain circumstance we¡¯d support her bid at almost all costs. That circumstance is linked you and your group of friends, especially the Eternians, if you can believe it. Is that reason enough?¡±


    Actually, it was more than enough. He couldn¡¯t care less about the deeper reason because it was very likely some petty power struggle unrelated to him, but more importantly it confirmed the authenticity in Gilbert¡¯s words. For what little he knew of them, it was still very likely that it was in Gilbert and Mona¡¯s interests for Alice to join the nomenklatura, regardless of their personal fallout.


    ¡°Okay, okay. You can have your conniving scheming, but at the end of the day, it¡¯s still reason enough to help her out.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Alice¡¯s wishes are my first priority.¡±


    ¡°For how long can I expect this kind of support?¡±


    ¡°For as long as this generation¡¯s Hearts candidates are not yet all officially confirmed.¡±


    Kato gave him an incredulous stare, but relented at the end. If he was not mistaken, Gilbert should have been a Hearts candidate himself, but was removed from the selection process years ago so he could eventually take over his family business. If that certain circumstance was related to him and the Eternians that lived with him, then it must be related to his physical superiority and his status as a challenger, as Eternia would not let go of a Hearts candidate they have trained. And if Kato didn¡¯t already know it, then it was something he would never be able to find out on his own anyway. That was just how Eternia operated.


    ¡°Fine. It checks out for now. Then, let¡¯s get back to the problem at hand: a blue faculty trying to kick out a student out of spite. Is there a bigger picture here? How is Donovan even involved in Alice¡¯s problem?¡±


    ¡°I can link your questions. I would say that it¡¯s not about Donovan being related to Alice¡¯s predicament, but instead they¡¯re all cogs inside of whatever the faculty¡¯s scheming. Their objective is something grander, most likely, and whatever happens to Donovan and Alice is just conveniently part of their plan.¡±


    Kato didn¡¯t like the sound of this brewing situation underneath their school. He needed more information.


    ¡°Then, is Sisi a blue faculty member or not? I would think not. Aren¡¯t you and Mona in the blue camp too?¡±


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re originally outsiders who upset their place in the system in the first place. To them, they¡¯re merely retaking what they think was rightfully theirs. We may be powerful, but the existing patrons are just as powerful. They exacted their revenge on me already, at least, with those senatorial trials, so while I¡¯m closely linked to the establishment, I¡¯m by no means a clear-cut member of their ranks. We can say I¡¯m a blue-leaning independent to the faculty.¡±


    ¡°Your connection to Albert and Sisi makes you an outsider to them?¡±


    ¡°Well, of course. The arms industry is quite independent with very peculiar customers; ones militant in nature, for example, the Hearts. In contrast to the peace-loving robber barons of the type that Donovan and Mona are, they¡¯re much closer to what the blue faculty perceives as reliable, trustworthy and of economic value.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re not wrong about Donovan and Mona. Hmm. You¡¯re saying Sisi is the lone yellow faculty member?¡±


    ¡°If I were to hazard a guess, Sisi was assigned here not just to tutor your lot, but also to put a wrench into the blue faculty¡¯s treason.¡±


    ¡°Treason?¡±


    ¡°Collaborating with the Auxirian establishment through their economic ties. While economic co-operation and prosperity preserves the delicate peace between the two axes of power on this continent, it makes our organization vulnerable to outside manipulation and influence. The pan-blue camp wishes to keep this status quo to continuously reap the capitalist rewards of that co-operation.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. This is Lady Eterna¡¯s will?¡±


    ¡°A Heart is an Elder¡¯s personal tool, so very likely yes.¡±


    ¡°If this is your line of thinking, then the blue faculty is looking to make every attempt to maintain the existing order. Isn¡¯t that backwards from what Donovan is doing right now, at least publicly? He seems to be more amenable to the pan-yellow camp¡¯s demands.¡±


    ¡°I do have a thought, or a theory of their grander plan, but this is all guesswork territory.¡±


    ¡°How so? And how does it come back to Mayumi in the end? Tell me about your guesswork.¡±


    Gilbert signalled to Kato to join him for a walk around the rooftop garden. He obliged without hesitation, and the two women followed closely behind them, listening intently.


    ¡°There is one more hard fact. Well, this fact and a related fact. The fact that our student council president, Mirabelle Jupiter, personally invited Mayumi Hanamiya to transfer to our school.¡±


    Kato instantly turned livid, but Gilbert continued unabated.


    ¡°And the second fact. Mirabelle was supposed to have been the faculty¡¯s candidate for the next chairwoman of the AC.¡±


    ¡°How? How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an open secret in the nomenklatura that Donovan and Mirabelle were their two PSC and AC leader candidates for this year, and should either be elected president, their organizations would be succeeded by their allies, Anne and Scarlett respectively. Unfortunately for the blue faculty, they didn¡¯t expect Mona and me to join the fray.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    In a flash, they made it safely to the other side of the garden, or rather, Gilbert took his time with his words. And while Kato was not amused, at least he didn¡¯t explode.


    ¡°However, make no mistake. Even if Donovan and Mirabelle are the blue faculty¡¯s left and right arms, they themselves may not be true allies, and from what I understand, they¡¯re more like business partners.¡±


    ¡°¡­you mean like you and Mona?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I would say it¡¯s more like me and you at this moment in time.¡±


    Kato smashed his fist against the concrete post next to him, but not with any measure of force because otherwise the post would start cracking.


    ¡°Fine, fine. That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s totally fine.¡±


    Gilbert sighed. He felt a twinge of pity for the angry young man in front of him. Putting Alice and all her attached strings aside, Kato really had nothing to do with the situation, and through Mirabelle, he was aware enough of the interpersonal links between the Elites of Class F to understand Kato¡¯s indignation. However, he had already made it this far, so he might as well see it through to the end.


    ¡°My conjecture is that the faculty requested the two of them to come up with a plan to quell the current wave of protests, but at the same time preserve the authority of the establishment. One of them, Mirabelle, suggested allowing Mayumi to return to Korolev Senior.¡±


    ¡°Allow her? And how does that help with those two objectives?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll borrow what I heard from Donovan. He believes that Mayumi is radical enough to mount an open rebellion irrespective of the situation on the ground, so by paying lip service and pretending to work as an ally of the people, once Mayumi inevitably blows the gasket, the faculty will be able to use it as a pretext to use extraordinary powers to put down the insurrection.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Mayumi¡¯s best friend. Does this scenario sound likely?¡±


    Gilbert watched intently as Kato gritted his teeth. He took a breath in, and admitted.


    ¡°Likely. A revolution led at the front by Mayumi is inevitable.¡±


    ¡°See? Not a bad conjecture, right? And during the crackdown, Alice will be eliminated alongside Mayumi and any other perceived enemies of the state.¡±


    ¡°Alongside Mayumi?¡±


    ¡°She wasn¡¯t a student of ours to begin with. Of course they¡¯ll cut her at the first available opportunity. Mirabelle probably knew Mayumi would come to this point, which is why she¡¯s a politically convenient scapegoat, and so the faculty was all aboard her plan to bring Mayumi back.¡±


    Kato took another deep breath in, a little more composed than before.


    ¡°¡­I understand. But, all of this is just guesswork. We don¡¯t know for sure if Mayumi¡¯s decision to return is related to school or not. If I know her well enough, she came back for personal reasons, and not to serve our school.¡±


    ¡°I want to believe that too, but on the same token, we can¡¯t be sure if this wasn¡¯t done under the duress of the blue faculty. Whether it was her own will or not, Mayumi was contacted and transferred here after the events of our Class War, and directly into your class where the revolution is brewing. I daresay this is not a mere coincidence that the blue faculty stumbled into.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    They stopped walking, and Gilbert put his hand up to him once more.


    ¡°Do you think we can continue to be business partners? Looks like we can provide what we want from each other and our goals are aligned for the time being.¡±


    Kato didn¡¯t hesitate. He took his hand, and with more than sufficient force. Gilbert handled it as if the force didn¡¯t exist, as expected from a peer.


    ¡°Of course, we can. Can I even say no at this point?¡±


    Gilbert nodded solemnly. Behind them, Mona remained silent and well-behaved, but Bianca was on another level of spooked.


    ¡°Now, can I ask you why you¡¯ve also roped Bia into this conversation?¡±


    ¡°Because I think it¡¯s prudent for Bianca to know what her president is doing, and also see how much faith the president has in her cabinet. From the looks of things though, this must be the first time you¡¯ve heard this, Madam Chancellor?¡±


    Her face was several shades of forlorn.


    ¡°Y-yes. I know some of the things she¡¯s doing, but not everything. Not even close to a decent picture, actually.¡±


    Kato was unconvinced of Gilbert and Mona.


    ¡°It sounds more like you¡¯re wary of what Mira¡¯s planning, and seeing how you already treat Bia, you think you can bully her into giving hints on Mira¡¯s intentions.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, Kato. We don¡¯t need to bully her for that if we already know it¡¯s unlikely she has any valuable information on Mirabelle to begin with. Just by pairing that fact and her reactions, we can see what Madam President is thinking¡ªat least with regards to her place in Korolev.¡±


    Mona walked in between Kato and Gilbert, once again ready to take a stab at the boy with the scowl.


    ¡°How magnanimous of you, Mona, to look down on us just a little less than usual.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re very welcome. Sometimes, I even surprise myself.¡±


    Gilbert put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.


    ¡°Not exactly, but you¡¯re close. Mirabelle may not be a true ally of mine, but she¡¯s on friendly terms with us, and for sure our interests align. Precisely because of that, I should let Bianca know in secret from her.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This step to establish a partnership with you is actually a suggestion from Mirabelle. She thinks that you¡¯re the best bet on keeping Alice in Korolev.¡±


    ¡°¡ª!?¡±


    ¡°Not that it didn¡¯t make sense. Supporting you would be the same as supporting Mayumi, and Mirabelle was the one who devised this plan for the faculty. To use your own words, roping you into her secret plan to get the revolution off the ground is what¡¯s happening right now.¡±


    ¡°¡­and you¡¯re wary of her because she¡¯s essentially throwing us, her friends and Class F, under the bus?¡±


    ¡°Again, close, but not exactly. For certain, I know what you and your friends mean to Mirabelle. To be perfectly honest, you are her weak spot. If somebody is able to convince you to work against her, it¡¯ll be the end of her.¡±


    Gilbert glanced over at Bianca, who was just as shocked as Kato was.


    ¡°And on the same token, her sisters are just as precious. These are non-negotiable to her, so why would she need to bring an old friend back to Korolev, from Regia Miriam of all places, in order to rip apart the very group of friends and family she held so close and dear to her? Plus, it¡¯s not just about the score you just settled downstairs in the square, but she¡¯s risking her own friendship with Alice as well.¡±


    Both Kato and Bianca felt the goosebumps on their necks, chilled by Gilbert¡¯s narrative. Even more shocking was Gilbert and Mona¡¯s knowledge of the rift in the Elites, but then Kato remembered that they were just flinging shit at each other in public, so it wasn¡¯t unreasonable for them to have been observing.


    ¡°If Bianca¡¯s as clueless as you are, then there¡¯s much more to Mirabelle¡¯s motives than meets the eye¡ªwhich seems to be the case. We suspected it is, but of course we wanted to confirm.¡±


    ¡°I was the one who gave Mayumi and them the permission to perform during lunchtime. I didn¡¯t know that the revolution was an inside job by Mira from the start.¡±


    Bianca sighed, her voice sombre. Gilbert crossed his arms and said with a little bit of disbelief.


    ¡°The only reasons I can see her going through with this plan is, one, she views the faculty as an enemy and wants to show the faculty that she doesn¡¯t have weak points to attack, and/or two, there¡¯s an even more secretive personal motive to do so. This is where I hoped Bianca would be able to deduce, but apologies for the lack of clues I¡¯m able to procure. This is about as much as I can do at the moment.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Bianca shook her head in agreement with Gilbert, signalling her defeat. Kato was even more disheartened by the power struggle that Mirabelle was swept up in and how it, probably, threw a wrench between them.


    ¡°Why would the faculty be testing Mira? Didn¡¯t you say she¡¯s the faculty¡¯s golden child?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that she¡¯s become an unreliable asset for the faculty over the years. But even without that, the fact that she¡¯s friends with as many as three Hearts candidates is already a glaring threat to the faculty, even if she¡¯s nominally the faculty¡¯s loyal subject.¡±


    Of course, in this context the faculty is synonymous with the wider pan-blue pro-establishment faction of the nomenklatura. On the other hand, the Hearts were seen as more likely to be yellow-leaning, as evident with Sisi¡¯s return to the school. Gilbert continued.


    ¡°In any case, we¡¯re both playing into Mirabelle¡¯s hands. As Bianca mentioned, you guys already have. And while we don¡¯t know her intentions, the key to it is probably why she insisted on convincing Mayumi to return, despite the improbability of it happening. It should¡¯ve been impossible for her to return of her own volition, even if she learned what happens to the people around new Hearts, no?¡±


    Though Kato bristled at Gilbert¡¯s words, he didn¡¯t have a firm answer either. After all, it had stumped the Elites as much as it stumped them now.


    ¡°Yes. It should¡¯ve been.¡±


    ¡°If we can find out the reason, then we¡¯ll be in better shape to protect ourselves.¡±


    As they mused in a short lull, a sudden curiosity emerged in his mind, and Kato asked offhandedly just in case Gilbert had an answer for it.


    ¡°Sounds like you don¡¯t think you¡¯re powerful enough to stand up to the faculty alone. If you knew all of this from the start, then Alice was a weak point that the faculty could attack and undermine your hold on power, so you wanted to get her transferred out of Korolev as soon as possible. When she refused and instead wanted to join the nomenklatura, it put her in the faculty¡¯s sights, and they of course didn¡¯t want a new challenger as barbaric as Alice to encroach on their territory.


    ¡°In turn, seeing the cards you were dealt, you used Alice¡¯s decision to break with your family as a pretext for sieging my class, and under these smoke and mirrors, handed her off to me to take care of without attracting the faculty¡¯s scrutiny in your direction.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª!¡±


    Mona was the first to put forth a menacing advance towards Kato, but Gilbert physically stopped her with his arm.


    ¡°He¡¯s right. You were the best bet given the circumstances, which is also why I agreed with Mirabelle to seek your help once more. A win-win situation for us both, right?¡±


    ¡°In the process, you¡¯ve goaded the faculty into responding to your failed siege by rolling up its sleeves and beginning its path to cracking down on the school, right? And simultaneously, exploit it to take back their kingdom.¡±


    Uncharacteristically, Gilbert narrowed his eyes and showed his wariness to Kato. He wasn¡¯t one to show emotion to anyone, and especially not his former enemy.


    ¡°Yes. We both knew that the faculty will try their very best to wrest control of the school from the two of us, but previously, we expected it to come slowly through the student council led by Madam President. With Class B and Class F¡¯s incessant agitation, it¡¯ll pressure our factions to eventually clash in spectacular fashion, and the faculty will be there to pick up the pieces. The failed siege served to speed up the schedule, and probably threw them for a loop too. They were probably debating furiously on how to respond to the result of the siege.¡±


    Kato scowled.


    ¡°If all of what you¡¯ve said tonight is true, then the faculty ended up deciding to take advantage of it, and prop up Donovan as their new golden child¡ªover Mira.¡±


    ¡°Exactly, that¡¯s what we suspect too; but if Donovan¡¯s golden status is already all said and done, then Madam President won¡¯t need to be so heavy-handed in bringing the school so close to revolution. She would have already lost, and Donovan would be the ¡®winner¡¯, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°So there¡¯s something else there, too.¡±


    ¡°A circumstantial clue, yes, but unless we have an ear in the inner faculty to gauge their thought processes, it¡¯s not very useful by itself.¡±


    The mystery only thickened, and Kato put a hand to his forehead with cold sweat. Gilbert concurred with a nod.


    ¡°But the cascade of responses and counter-responses has eventually engulfed everyone involved here. We¡¯re all in a state of danger.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Partly because of that, my hope is for you to take care of the people delivered into your circle, including the pitiful Madam Chancellor here.¡±


    Mona interrupted, to Kato¡¯s apprehension.


    ¡°What do you mean by that? We¡¯re just talking about how you want me to take care of Alice, and now Bia too?¡±


    ¡°Allow me to ask you a simple question; is Bianca important to you?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡±


    He spluttered a little, but only because he didn¡¯t expect that kind of a question out of Mona. Next to him, Bianca¡¯s heart fluttered hysterically, almost gagging.


    ¡°Then you realize that she¡¯s got nothing to do with Eternia. A plain old civilian, if you will¡ªbut when she¡¯s associated with Mirabelle and yourself, it makes her an easy target.¡±


    ¡°An easy target?¡±


    She sighed exaggeratedly.


    ¡°Look. My belief is that it¡¯s unfair for Mirabelle to drag her sisters along with her into a mob¡¯s internal conflict, and now she¡¯s dragged Mayumi into this as well. They¡¯re innocent people who aren¡¯t supposed to be victims of a petty political struggle, but they could get caught in the crossfire. That¡¯s the irresponsibility I see in Mirabelle, and she¡¯s handing off that irresponsibility to you to cover, essentially.¡±


    ¡°¡ª!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we find it a little suspicious. For sure, it¡¯s logical to rely on you, a Hearts candidate, to protect your own circle of friends, but we¡¯re not certain why Madam President¡¯s in such a hurry to move things along. In a span of a few weeks, she¡¯s engineered an imminent rebellion in Korolev that¡¯s set to let the faculty clamp their authority down on the students, and has done so seemingly without even coordinating with you two. On top of that, I suspect it might even be on Madam President¡¯s instructions that the faculty had me table the Act of Neutrality¡ªthe bill that triggered this wave of protest in the first place.¡±


    Kato and Bianca turned whiter by the second. It was the first time Mona admitted that the tabled draft bill was actually on the faculty¡¯s suggestion. If that was true, then the faculty was way darker than he could ever give credit for, and made Gilbert and Mona seem mild in comparison.


    ¡°That¡¯s a totally possible scenario. From the get-go, the faculty could have asked Mirabelle and Donovan to find a way to wrest power away from the PSC and the AC, and when I upped the stakes by sieging your classroom, they took my provocation and pounced on the chance. Mirabelle obviously needed to speed up her plan as well, and brought Mayumi here as soon as she could. Impressive on all fronts.¡±


    Gilbert took the conversation back from Mona as Kato took time to process what they said, furrowing his brows as he did. He replied after a brief pause.


    ¡°While we can¡¯t figure out the mystery around Mira, this is all Alice¡¯s fault in the end.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you and Alice many times. Being selfish has its consequences.¡±


    Kato crouched down with hands over his head as the gunpowder shower continued in the night sky. He was already exhausted from the ordeal with Mayumi and Caius, and for an even more serious issue to come up had drained the life out of him. He wanted to sleep on the ground right then and there, but he was pulled back to the present by a calm and gentle hand at his shoulder; Bianca had joined him on the ground.


    For the two mob bosses still standing up, they began to make their leisurely departure.


    ¡°Let¡¯s close the conversation here and enjoy the rest of the night in peace. We¡¯ll meet again in the near future, I¡¯m sure. I suppose you understand how to handle intelligence, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I know how to handle it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to your discretion how much you want to tell Alice, but at most let¡¯s keep it between the five of us. It¡¯s a test against Mirabelle too, after all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Gilbert turned around, and again uncharacteristically, he took Mona¡¯s arm in his. It was not often he allowed Mona to have her way with him, and her smug face confirmed that.


    ¡°Then be careful, future Number Seven.¡±


    ¡°I always am.¡±


    Kato grimaced, but Gilbert was already walking away. Mona turned her head around, though, to stick her tongue out at him belligerently. She never missed an opportunity to be downright insufferable.


    Funnily enough, even with so much poisonous stuff to say, he realized that Mona never really wasted her breath. Her criticisms were on the whole correct and non-trivial, and more often than not it made Kato think twice about whatever the situation was. She was right when she said her judgment was sharp, and surprisingly idealistic. If Mona was born in a slightly different circumstance, she could have been a formidable Elite.


    He sat down on the ground, listening to the footsteps of his former enemies retreat from the rooftop. Watching his unsightly sitting position, Bianca let out an exasperated sigh.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Get up.¡±


    ¡°A few more minutes. I¡¯m tired.¡±


    Holding a nasty retort back, she kneeled behind him, laid herself onto his back and lightly hugged him, placing her chin on top of his head. Strangely, or perhaps not, the more anxious she was, the more she relied on physical touch with Kato to soothe the unease. She knew it was dangerous to do so, essentially relapsing on a previous addiction; but like an addict, she welcomed it.


    ¡°What¡¯s with your agreeable attitude with Gilbert and Mona? Is he blackmailing you or something?¡±


    ¡°If they were, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to be as aggressive as I am in the Assembly. No, this is about Mira.¡±


    ¡°How did you know this was about Mira from the start?¡±


    ¡°Like you surmised, Gilbert wouldn¡¯t bother with me unless it involved her.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Then, what¡¯s so serious about Mira that even your attitude needs to be toned down?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Bianca was unsure of what to do. There were a few things she was simply not allowed to say, and she didn¡¯t want to say anything lest too many hints get out. She hated Mirabelle that she was obliged to keep Kato in the dark, though to be fair she was far from having even a decent view of the whole picture. And from Gilbert and Mona¡¯s questions, the two mobsters only seemed to have a slightly clearer one.


    ¡°Like Gilbert said, I¡¯m just a normal person compared to you Eternians. I¡¯m not the golden child like Mira is.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re used to taking advantage of Mira¡¯s status anyway. What happened to your unscrupulous efforts to reap the rewards of another¡¯s merits?¡±


    ¡°Can it, asshole. It only makes me want to answer your question even less.¡±


    From their position, he stood up, easily carrying her on his back again. He began moving back to the other side of the rooftop to catch the final stage of the light show.


    ¡°No doubt. Even if I¡¯m at the centre of attention, I¡¯m always the first one left behind, back then and now still. Well, whatever. I¡¯m used to it. It¡¯s almost certain that it¡¯s Mira¡¯s fault in any case.¡±


    Bianca¡¯s chest tightened at the distinct resignation in his voice that reminded her of the same at the acrimonious end of their group¡¯s trip to the Bozz. She apologized over and over again in her head, but it was only that; within the confines of her mind.


    ¡°Yes, it is. In addition to the fact that I have no status or abilities of my own, I try to stay out of her way as much as possible. That¡¯s why when I¡¯m outside of school, I¡¯m just another average girl.¡±


    It took a few more moments and a sigh for Kato to respond.


    ¡°Figures. Gilbert and Mona confided in you on this because they know that even though you¡¯re supposed to be on Mira¡¯s side so to speak, you¡¯re still an outsider, and they trust you enough to remain one and not confide in Mira. They know about the two of you quite well, eh? And c¡¯mon, you¡¯re gonna fight Mira ¡®til the bitter end?¡±


    Bianca blinked at the calm and collected Kato that was able to put together this conclusion. Oh, how much had changed since their childhood. As she remembered his small figure as a kid it filled her with immeasurable regret to know how immature she had been, wallowing alone in the misery of her own inferiority complex against Mirabelle, and letting the chances with the boy in front of her slip away so easily, until it was too late.


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t fight, then I would have never made it this far. Not a bad result for an average girl, if I do say so myself.¡±


    Unaware of the turmoil in Bianca¡¯s mind, Kato shrugged.


    ¡°Fair enough, though you¡¯re underselling yourself a little there. You¡¯re no average girl.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pleased that you have a unique opinion of me, but you knew what I meant by ¡®average¡¯.¡±


    Coincidentally, both made a bitter smirk, though they weren¡¯t able to see each other¡¯s. Thoroughly exhausted, they watched once more the flashes in the sky in silence, leaving their intractable troubles for another day.

 3.13 (Wake Me Up) When October Ends

    ¡°Care for a treat?¡±


    This was a bizarre scene. Stephen, with his occasionally gelled black hair inside of a cook¡¯s fishnet, offered a bag of freshly made egg waffles to the unlikely duo of Caius and Cecilia. Not only that, but his eyes were narrow slits that scrutinized the pair excessively, as if he was about to murder them¡ªthe complete opposite of the words that came out of his mouth.


    Though, he was giving it to them for free. The food stand he was working in was winding down its operations as the festival drew to a close, so it was more prudent to lower the price or even give out the leftover pastry, as they wouldn¡¯t sell the next day, after the end of a festival.


    While his eyes seemed to lase the two mercilessly, he was softer and more focused on Cecilia, expecting an answer from her.


    ¡°Yeah, uh, thanks.¡±


    She accepted the gift warily with one hand, also expectant of questions from Stephen. Why one hand? The other hand held onto Caius¡¯ hand. It was a classic instance of a public display of affection. As words flowed out, his mouth steadily twisted into a snarl.


    ¡°How are you finding the festival? Fun?¡±


    ¡°Fun enough, thanks. What about you?¡±


    ¡°Almost finished with my shift. Made some good money today and it¡¯s back to regular part-time work tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Good to hear, though I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re strapped for cash when you¡¯re still with the family and Gilbert¡¯s right hand man.¡±


    The air around them was menacing, and if you looked very closely there were dark clouds coalescing around them, and Caius was caught in the midst of it.


    ¡°What a coincidence, I¡¯m also kinda strapped for cash, too. Any chance you can introduce me to a part-time job?¡±


    Caius¡¯ attempt at small talk did not help. In fact, it ignited the powder keg immediately.


    ¡°How ¡®bout I shove this spatula up your asshole, huh, convict?¡±


    ¡°I was released with all charges dropped. As much as I wanted to be a convict, I¡¯m no longer such.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no. That¡¯s not the point, okay? Stop provoking him, please! And Stephen, it¡¯s fine to let him blabber on. You already know he¡¯s a rude brat.¡±


    Cecilia pleaded, and successfully this time, in part because both sides were exhausted after a long day.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t hold back, huh?¡±


    ¡°Alice was right when she said the Elites were not tameable.¡±


    Caius was the only one to complain about her remarks, though to be fair it was specifically scathing towards him.


    ¡°Caius, Stephen is my cousin. He¡¯s from my uncle¡¯s family on mom¡¯s side.¡±


    Then, somehow, everything clicked for Caius. Stephen was the one doing the rounds in the atrium at every lunch period they were holding a live concert, but not once did he break up the party. Cecilia seemed to be the reason for not jumping on them.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, and get your filthy hands off of Cecilia this instant!¡±


    Stephen¡¯s growl returned as Cecilia took his side for a split second, and she immediately regretted it.


    ¡°Stephen!¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t wanna~¡±


    ¡°Not helping, Caius!¡±


    Exasperated, she watched in terror as Stephen dropped his kitchen tools and stomped his way out from the back of the stand, wondering why life had chosen these two volatile men to be in her life.


    <hr>


    One defused confrontation later, Caius was sent waiting at a good number of stands away, out of earshot of Cecilia and Stephen. She wasn¡¯t sure why, perhaps out of respect, but she always allowed Stephen to occupy a bit of her time.


    ¡°What¡¯s the deal with you and the convict just now?¡±


    ¡°Convict? Is that any way to treat another human being?¡±


    ¡°If you have a problem with it, I could give you the same freedom speech you give me every time.¡±


    Cecilia clicked her tongue, cursing him in her head for being absolutely inhospitable, but he was right as usual. Still, she miffed.


    ¡°What about me and Caius?¡±


    ¡°You know what it is! Why are you holding hands with him?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    It was his turn to be unreasonably upset.


    ¡°Hell yes it¡¯s my business! A family of mine is cozying up to the seditious elements of the school! Do you know how much that¡¯ll cost me?¡±


    ¡°And of course, this is all about you. I thought it might be out of concern for me, but I should¡¯ve expected less.¡±


    ¡°If I did, you¡¯d just tell me that I¡¯m not your mother, so I just skipped to the chase.¡±


    Cecilia reeled, thoroughly disgusted by his barbarity. On the other hand, it did merely sound like an older sibling that had a difficult relationship with her, the younger one.


    Still, she was equally as surprised when she realized she unconsciously expected more kindness from Stephen, even after all this time. It probably came from his continued persistence for her attention, even if most of it were just errands from the family¡ªand Stephen never once deceived her of his intentions.


    ¡°True, but you still could be nicer.¡±


    ¡°If being nice worked in this world, you and Aunt Nellie wouldn¡¯t be living miserable lives.¡±


    As nasty as that sounded, she was well aware of how Stephen treated his and Gilbert¡¯s enemies, and despite their rough conversations, Stephen was actually in his most timid state. She knew she was lucky for him to entertain her complaints at all.


    ¡°Be nice to me, I mean. You¡¯re welcome to be ungrateful to everyone else.¡±


    ¡°So you agree that I should continue to be ungrateful to the convict? I¡¯m glad that you finally understand.¡±


    Cecilia sighed again, and Stephen waited patiently for her to answer the original question. Somehow, he always had a grain of an older brother in him, and she didn¡¯t know how that was even possible given his brutish behaviour all the time. Maybe it really was because of their blood relation.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Are you throwing your hat into the ring? I¡¯d suggest backing out right now, if you want to live out a simple, normal life as you intended. You wanted as much, since Donovan had been trying to date you over the last couple of years.¡±


    Cecilia bristled at the mention of Donovan¡¯s very public attempts at gunning for her hand. She didn¡¯t have anything against Donovan personally, it was just that¡ª


    ¡°¡ªhe¡¯s not my type, okay? Get rid of all that facial hair and I might give some thought to it¡ª¡±


    Stephen interjected with a rare fit of laughs. Instantly, Cecilia realized she spoke her mind again and went tomato-red at his chortles. Now that she had said it, there was no taking it back.


    ¡°Aaaugh! It¡¯s true, okay? Besides his slimey personality, there are plenty of other things about him that turned me off.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re so attached to the convict. He is literally the opposite of Donovan. How shallow can you get?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still g¡¯on about that? And shallow? Y¡¯know how much offence girls take to that? With that attitude, you should be worried about your own future, not mine.¡±


    ¡°I do know, actually. But it¡¯s still the most hilarious thing I¡¯ve heard in a long time. Are you serious about Caius, though?¡±


    Caius? Not ¡®convict¡¯?


    ¡°¡­I¡¯d be lying if I said no, but it¡¯s not a yes either. In either case, he¡¯s a close friend and a good person, and so are the chumps in Class F. They just had a huge spat, and we¡¯re still figuring out what to do with the fallout.¡±


    ¡°It was quite a public display back there.¡±


    ¡°Were you there?¡±


    ¡°No, but some of my lackeys saw the scene. I mean, it was right there in the square. It¡¯s out in the open.¡±


    To that, she didn¡¯t have a comeback. It was true. Stephen¡¯s expression returned to his usual harsh one, and his words the same.


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna make enemies out of a lot of people, including myself, at school. Luckily, no one will bother to go after you outside of school, but that is not much better. Miss Alice is able to make that leap because she has her own clout, enough to be a nominee for the nomenklatura, but do you have what it takes to turn against the establishment? And me?¡±


    ¡°That, I have no doubt about.¡±


    ¡°Without thought for the consequences? I thought you wanted to live your life in peace, like Aunt Nellie.¡±


    ¡°I do. As a part of that, I have to support my friends when they¡¯re in a pinch.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be this involved. Shouldn¡¯t a light, healthy friendship be enough to support them?¡±


    ¡°What? Are you jealous that I was holding hands with another guy?¡±


    Stephen¡¯s face hardened as she half-joked. It fell poorly on him, she realized, and wondered why.


    ¡°Jealous or not, it¡¯s a matter of you getting swept up in Class F¡¯s revolutionary activities. You will have to face its consequences, and I might be compelled to play the villain.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Like you¡¯re not already the villain?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re that confident about yourself, then maybe my concerns are misplaced.¡±


    Though a little surprised and annoyed that Stephen softened so quickly and didn¡¯t fight back, her tone remained as ungrateful as his.


    ¡°They were always misplaced, if you didn¡¯t realize. I told you so many times, but you don¡¯t have to look out for me or Mom. G¡¯night.¡±


    ¡°Figures. Have a good evening, Cecilia.¡±


    As Stephen shrugged and was about to turn away, Cecilia remembered and caught him again.


    ¡°By the way, do you really need to work part-time? Aren¡¯t you a big mobster? A mid-boss at least?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the second-last boss, not the mid-boss. And yes, it¡¯s necessary to work a part-time job. Shouldn¡¯t you be working too?¡±


    ¡°Mom said to make use of school, so I only have a few part-time jobs on the weekends.¡±


    ¡°Cool. That sounds like Aunt Nellie, to be honest.¡±


    Before he turned again, he gave a quick once-over at Cecilia¡¯s figure and left a cryptic¡ªat least to her¡ªparting reply.


    ¡°You look really pretty in your yukata. I¡¯m glad you stopped by here today.¡±


    Cecilia could only remain rooted in place, completely stunned at the two compliments that spilled out gently from Stephen¡¯s foul mouth. Not in the seventeen years she had known him that she thought he would attempt to flatter her at all, so it utterly shattered her own beliefs and convictions about him and their relationship.


    Stephen noticed the shock on her face immediately, though it was not at all subtle, and chuckled again.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask me to be nicer to you just now?¡±


    And with a smirk he returned and disappeared into the back of the shop. What in the world is going on, she thought.


    <hr>


    Though the pair continued to march through the streets on their last leg of the trip to Cecilia¡¯s bus stop, they no longer held hands. To be fair, it was only on the spur of the moment and it supposedly didn¡¯t carry any real meaning. Cecilia couldn¡¯t help but think about it over and over again, albeit quietly in the back of her mind.


    ¡°He was really menacing back there, but is he normally like that? Outside of school I mean, since he seems on edge all the time at school.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah, he¡¯s a real piece of work wherever he goes. It¡¯s a pain in the ass to deal with, to be honest.¡±


    While she stumbled as she was still perplexed over the abnormal conversation with Stephen, Caius didn¡¯t take too much note of her heightened anxiousness. After all, Stephen¡¯s whole reputation was that he was a difficult human being to interact with.


    ¡°From what you told me, your families were separated even before you were born. And yet he never leaves you alone?¡±


    ¡°He comes at the behest of my uncle, Vincent. Apparently, my uncle¡¯s really attached to my mom, so he¡¯s always asking her to come home.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that does sound like a pain in the ass to deal with.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Other than that, Stephen¡¯s not really much more. Just a messenger boy for an annoying relative.¡±


    ¡°Ouch. That¡¯ll bruise his ego quite a bit.¡±


    ¡°I think he¡¯s used to it now. I say that to his face at every opportunity I get. And if I know anything about you, you would definitely do the same.¡±


    ¡°Of course I would. That big dick energy of his needs to be cut down to size.¡±


    ¡°¡­what?¡±


    Slightly exasperated at his choice of words, they turned the corner at a leisurely pace to the sheltered bus stop at the side of the main road. The area was well-lit as an abundance of vehicles and pedestrians chugged along, though this volume was nothing compared to the daytime. The night city was moving on with its business unabated.


    However, their comfortable stroll was put to a halt as they spotted a few familiar girls sitting on a waist-high cement ledge that separated the paved sidewalk from the green park it posed as a barrier for. The soil behind them was filled almost right up to the top, with a myriad of trees and shrubbery beyond. The branches stretched enough outwards to be due for a trimming by the city¡¯s park services.


    The seated girls were in a sour mood, and the one with the malignant eye was especially dumbstruck. Their amazing profiles drew the attention of the men waiting around at the bus stop, though they were intimidated by a frightening bodyguard next to the girls¡ªand incidentally was also absolutely gorgeous in her yukata.


    Noticing the duo, Mayumi quickly stood up from between Scarlett and Ariel, and scurried past Evie to greet the two with reddened eyes and a diluted smile.


    ¡°Hey, you guys are still here.¡±


    ¡°Well, of course. The fireworks were still going on. How¡¯re you faring?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve heard what happened, right?¡±


    ¡°Of sorts. So, how does it feel to be utterly rejected?¡±


    At Caius¡¯ bluster, Cecilia got a little anxious again, but surprisingly Mayumi was quite composed.


    ¡°Utterly un-fabulous, I¡¯d say. Our plans have yielded zero returns.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate, but I told you at the start, didn¡¯t I? There was a good chance it¡¯ll all blow up in your face.¡±


    ¡°Man, why¡¯re you so unpleasant right when you don¡¯t need to be?¡±


    Caius laughed at Mayumi¡¯s pout.


    ¡°Dunno, but you seem to be doing all right here. Was it still too rude to ask?¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah, it was. I¡¯m a pure-hearted maiden, despite my appearances. Being heartbroken still hurts.¡±


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Mayumi¡¯s relative calm was from her slow motions and deliberation. If she fired on all cylinders like she normally did, her hands would be shaking and her words would be stammering. She took a deep breath, bit her lip and bowed in front of Caius.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for dragging you into this. Kato¡¯s right. There was no acceptable reason to involve you, but I did it precisely because I wanted to atone for my mistakes. I realize now that whatever happened in the past is the past. I¡ª¡±


    Caius heaved a long sigh before he shook Mayumi out of her bow, prompting her to look up at him in bewilderment. His expression was neither charming, nor was it vindictive. Instead, he was clearly spent, even lost interest in this whole thing, and his movements were as slow as Mayumi¡¯s.


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s right on that front. I didn¡¯t need to be involved, but it¡¯s not for him to decide whether I do or don¡¯t. I take your kindness at face value and I appreciate your efforts, and I won¡¯t have it any other way. This is the kind of person you are, and if he can no longer treasure that, that¡¯s his problem.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that kinda hurt.¡±


    Of course. To again hear that Kato no longer loved her, and to hear it from the boy she betrayed and rejected, felt like smearing an open wound, exposed pink flesh and all, on the sandy pavement ground. Caius was unrepentant.


    ¡°But he was wrong on one thing. He could only think that because he didn¡¯t trust you to really love him, and I know for a fact that that¡¯s wrong as hell. I would know.¡±


    Implying, of course, Mayumi had never loved Caius the way she did for Kato. Unable to take any more of Caius¡¯ spiteful antics, Cecilia took a step forward and took in Mayumi¡¯s trembling hands.


    ¡°There, there. You can ignore the insensitive idiot. If he¡¯s gonna do that, it¡¯s obvious why you haven¡¯t chosen him, right?¡±


    Light returned to Mayumi¡¯s mismatched eyes as Caius shrugged at Cecilia¡¯s jib, smirking all the while too.


    ¡°Yeah, what a bastard Caius is. What the hell.¡±


    Quietly, Mayumi reached out and hugged her tightly. Mayumi was definitely worn out and had cried her heart out already¡ªand somehow Cecilia noticed that, so she reciprocated the hug gently.


    ¡°Heartbroken girls need something sweet to soothe the heartache, y¡¯know?¡±


    She pulled out the last paper bag of egg waffles that Stephen left with her and Mayumi teared up at the sight of it. It was a classic Yue pastry and dessert, after all. She reached in for a gigantic piece and stuffed it in her mouth, bulging cheeks and smiling brightly for the first time in a long time.


    ¡°Shankyuu, Sheshilia.¡±


    Cecilia smiled back, and inexplicably the tension among all of them dissipated. She then shot Caius a glance, who shrugged ruefully; he was still terrible at having any positivity in his demeanour, exuding only edge even in this situation. Cecilia was a little exasperated at that and almost lodged a complaint at the obvious Tommy impersonator, but Evie interjected right on time.


    ¡°Did you sock him?¡±


    ¡°...how did you even come up with a question like that?¡±


    Caius was incredulous, as was usual with Evie.


    ¡°So you did, right?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yes¡­¡±


    Evie nodded satisfactorily. During the exchange Ariel joined with Mayumi, literally hugging her and also eating the egg waffles¡ªthey were the exact same height and had very contrasting hair colours, which gave off a ¡°twins¡± sort of feel with the two of them glued together. Seeing Mayumi and Cecilia¡¯s sheer surprise, Ariel helped to explain Evie¡¯s incomplete expressions of her thoughts.


    ¡°Evie asked because something like this happened before. Last time, it was Eon who tried to beat up Kato, and Kato returned a few of the punches. Caius is lucky to escape unscathed this time around.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s right. Eon came out with injuries in that confrontation. What a joke that was. Kato clearly had to hold back, or he could¡¯ve straight up crushed him.¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. All he did was deflect Eon¡¯s punches, and Eon got a bunch of bruises from that.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what? Why did Eon have to fight Kato?¡±


    It was Mayumi¡¯s turn to ask incredulously, to which Ariel gave Caius a questioning stare, clearly blaming him for Mayumi¡¯s confusion.


    ¡°Did nobody tell you about it?¡±


    ¡°No, this is the first time I¡¯m hearing this.¡±


    Ariel narrowed her eyes as Caius avoided her glare and fake-whistled as if it had nothing to do with him. Of course it did, and Ariel had to be the one to clean up after his mess. Then again, if Mayumi was staying with them for the year, eventually she would learn of it one way or another. Caius let another passive-aggressive comment drip from his mouth.


    ¡°Thanks, Evie. Nice timing.¡±


    ¡°Ha?¡±


    Grieving at the true cause of the cat getting out of its bag, Caius¡¯ shifty eyes were not lost on Mayumi, and she was hooked.


    ¡°Ariel, what actually happened?¡±


    She really didn¡¯t want to explain right away, but she had no choice. It was probably unfair to Mayumi, too, to keep her in the dark. Strangely, Cecilia watched on with jubilant curiosity, her rarely sparkling eyes egging Ariel on. She sighed, still hugging her old friend close to her.


    ¡°You already know that there¡¯s gonna be a mind-wipe lined up for us after we graduate, right? In order for Kato, Evie and Teto to become Hearts. We also didn¡¯t know about it until very recently.¡±


    ¡°How recent is ¡®very recent¡¯?¡±


    ¡°A couple of years ago, right before senior high. Because of it, there was a huge meltdown of Kato¡¯s own doing. I think he couldn¡¯t accept it as reality, and it all shattered in spectacular fashion.¡±


    Mayumi was a mix of intrigued and confused, while the onlookers who were in the know had their heads down or turned away. Scarlett was especially sad, whose innocent heart was made of pure gold. It was undoubtedly an unpleasant memory.


    ¡°At the time, Kato and Bia were together in all but name. Eon was Bia¡¯s matchmaker, and I was Kato¡¯s¡ªsort of. Unfortunately, at around the time when their not-so-secret relationship progressed to the point where they became fully aware of how close they¡¯ve gotten, we learned that all of us will be subject to the mind-wipe.¡±


    ¡°Wait, hold up. Kato and Bia were together? This is news to me! What do you mean by that?!¡±


    Jumping at the revelation and holding, rather comically, the white-haired cat-like Jupiter sister under her armpits at arm¡¯s length, Mayumi interrupted in a panic.


    ¡°Bia was together with him in the same way that you wanted, Mayumi. The difference was, Kato was and is probably still in love with Bia.¡±


    She slowly let go of Ariel even before she finished her sentence, already dumbfounded by her future sight. Drooping and moping again, Mayumi bemoaned.


    ¡°Ha¡­hah¡­so that was it, huh. That¡¯s how it is. I didn¡¯t know. Things have really changed in the time that I¡¯ve been gone¡­¡±


    It was Ariel¡¯s turn to hold Mayumi together again.


    ¡°It all ended in a dramatic failure, Mayumi, so even without Bia, it wouldn¡¯t have changed today¡¯s outcome; especially because of the way that it played out.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. How did it end?¡±


    Like a yo-yo she was pulled back to reality, though with a few more reservations in her mind.


    ¡°Kato screwed it all up. He used the mind-wipe as an excuse to reject her, and in Evie¡¯s words, Eon socked him for that. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all?! What happened after that?¡±


    ¡°Well, they didn¡¯t get together for real, that¡¯s for sure. Kato¡¯s too busy struggling internally against his new reality to care about my sister¡¯s feelings.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. A snide jab a day keeps Kato away, and in check.¡±


    Caius interjected to agree with Ariel¡¯s not-so-great assessment of Kato, which then fell on Mayumi¡¯s deaf ears anyway.


    ¡°Hah, really? Well, I can¡¯t blame him. His whole world will be erased and he¡¯ll start everything at zero again. It¡¯s not a responsibility that a middle-schooler can reasonably take on.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still being nice to Kato? Being head over heels over him must do that to a person.¡±


    ¡°No, Ariel. I¡¯m saying I dodged a rather fatal bullet on this one.¡±


    They both grinned at Kato¡¯s expense, prompting the others to laugh at the situation too.


    ¡°But hold up. I thought it was Mira who, y¡¯know, should be the chosen one instead of Bia. I thought as much when Mira asked me to come back to Korolev district.¡±


    Suddenly, all those around her except Cecilia turned serious. The first part made sense, but the second part most definitely did not. Evie was the first to speak, and did so almost angrily.


    ¡°¡­what do you mean, Mira asked you to come back?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Didn¡¯t you guys already know? I thought if Mira was the one who came to me, that you guys would be the first to know.¡±


    ¡°How did Mira get you to agree to come back? She must¡¯ve offered you something to convince you.¡±


    Caius said stiffly, and Mayumi was a little spooked by the wariness in the Elites around her. Even her eye saw nothing but a haze, which meant that everyone held very mixed feelings about the issue that seemed to be problematic to everyone but her.


    ¡°Uh¡­she came by several times trying to get me to leave Regia Miriam and return to Korolev, and¡­well, she said she won¡¯t interfere with, y¡¯know, whatever I want to do with the Elites¡­and Kato.¡±


    Mayumi said sheepishly, her face burning up.


    ¡°Just that? I didn¡¯t know Mira had to give you permission in order to flirt with Kato.¡±


    ¡°I mean, she was his chosen one, even back in those days! Y¡¯all know this! ¡®Coz to me, for the longest time, Kato was only a loyal sidekick¡­¡±


    ¡°So you were already aware that she was his chosen one, yet you decided to return at a disadvantage anyway.¡±


    Caius continued to rib Mayumi for no good reason, and she grimaced as she shoved an unfriendly hand into his shoulder.


    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s an advantage, right? Though with Bia in the picture, I guess it was all moot.¡±


    ¡°More importantly, do you remember around what time she asked you to return?¡±


    Ariel asked soberly, pulling Mayumi back to the main topic.


    ¡°Uh, I think it was around four weeks ago, just a few days after school started. At first, I kept on declining her request, but after a week, she kinda got desperate.¡±


    It was right after they decided to head to the Bozz. Ariel had a bad feeling about Mirabelle and her intentions.


    ¡°Desperate? How?¡±


    ¡°Well, initially she didn¡¯t offer me anything, and I¡¯m not gonna move just on a whim, but eventually she agreed to three things; that bit with Kato is the first one. The second one is clearing my delinquency record.¡±


    ¡°You had a delinquency record?¡±


    ¡°Heh. Let¡¯s just say my eye caused more trouble than it¡¯s worth.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about cheating on exams.¡±


    Ariel shrugged at exposing Mayumi¡¯s misdeeds, who in turn shook the platinum-haired girl in her arms with distress.


    ¡°The third was to rehabilitate my mom¡¯s status. In exchange for all of this, I was asked to return to Korolev, join the student council and obey her at school.¡±


    ¡°So you knew we were student council executives already.¡±


    ¡°Had to pretend I didn¡¯t know, but in any case, she herself never showed up, not even once, so she never got me to do anything for her.¡±


    ¡°I beg to differ. You¡¯re already doing everything she wants you to. Signing up for the drama department, leading the anti-neutrality protests, and even with Kato. I¡¯ll bet she wanted you to do all of that.¡±


    Mayumi frowned.


    ¡°Ignoring how that¡¯s possible for a sec, if that¡¯s the case, then what¡¯s her objective?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t figured that out yet.¡±


    Ariel shrugged, to which all the bystanders closed in around her in protest.


    ¡°Wait a minute! Then what was all that about!?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotta explain yourself now!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the master plan in your head, Ariel?¡±


    ¡°...!¡±


    Scarlett was the only one who was more anxious than upset, and for good reason. She knew better than to say anything, and let Ariel easily lie through her teeth.


    ¡°No one brings the illustrious Mayumi back to Korolev for no reason. Just look at the mess she¡¯s already made at school. My gut tells me it¡¯s definitely intentional, but that¡¯s all I can intuit. I¡¯m as clueless about Mira¡¯s plans as you guys are.¡±


    The storm died as quickly as it came.


    ¡°What I¡¯m saying is, be on the lookout for clues, even if Mira isn¡¯t physically here. The direction we¡¯re taking the revolutionaries, we probably need to be on guard with it in regards to Mira¡¯s intentions.¡±


    Ariel simultaneously warned the group and enlisted them to her intelligence network. This mission, though, was to surveil her own boss and elder sister. Abruptly, she tossed the conversation back to Mayumi.


    ¡°Mayumi, you still have a lot of explaining to do.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡±


    She cleared her throat at Ariel''s return throw.


    ¡°Uh, I got a lot out of Mira for me to come back. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want to see you guys, but I have my own business to handle at Regia Miriam. I really did have to let everything go to come back here.¡±


    ¡°Your mother didn¡¯t like it?¡±


    Caius asked first, surprisingly. They knew Mayumi only had a single mother taking care of her, and from their limited experience, her mother wasn¡¯t very friendly or motherly either.


    ¡°Mom was a mobster, remember? But she lost her nomenklatura status in an acrimonious fashion, so naturally she had given up on serving Eternia and hanging on to the social ladder. Disenchanted, to say the least. Whatever she did or was done to her, I¡¯ve come back here to bring it to justice.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    Mayumi gave another sheepish smile.


    ¡°Remember when Kato saved my life? That was the trigger that lost Mom her job, and why I had to move out and away so quickly.¡±


    The group did another double take, with Cecilia almost spitting out the egg waffles in her mouth. Mayumi continued.


    ¡°My birth father is a prominent man from the Liguro family. They were both nomenklatura, but my mother was only able to scale the hierarchy with the help of my father¡¯s more legitimate nomenklatura status. My mother was supposed to be his wife, but a third wheel got in the way.


    ¡°Of course, my mother¡¯s a stubborn, prideful workaholic that didn¡¯t tolerate injustices like that, so while she didn¡¯t lose her nomenklatura status, her vehement opposition to it cost her reputation. From the moment I was born, we lived away from the Liguro family for as long as I could remember, but as we¡¯re technically family, I still know who they are, and my mother continued to work for Eternia alongside them.


    ¡°You can tell what the atmosphere was like. They constantly played politics against each other within the organization, and their whole relationship was fraught with instability and fear. Over the years, and being a single mother throughout, it wore her down into a¡­pitiful state.


    ¡°The problem was that the top brass of Eternia really didn¡¯t like how this was going down. My parents and the third wheel were essentially making light of the entire nomenklatura by being engaged in this kind of petty and scandalous behaviour. Mom was already walking on eggshells because of that, but like politicians, they¡¯re politicians because they know how to play the game, and Mom played it well enough. But when Kato asked Lady Eterna to save me, it cost Mom her nomenklatura status.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that a thing?¡±


    ¡°Because I have the power of clairvoyance. It seemed like neither Mom nor Dad ever told their bosses that their kid had this power. There¡¯s no rule against not telling, but it really stretched their trust in her. It became the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back, when the verdict was that Mom¡¯s to blame for withholding that information. It was hard to argue against it because we lived separately from my father ever since I was born. With enough tardy strikes, let¡¯s say, Mom was stripped of her position and status, hence I was taken away from Korolev.¡±


    ¡°How does that make sense? Just because you had clairvoyance, your mum gets fired from her job?¡±


    ¡°You have to remember that Eternia is as much an alchemical occult society as it is a mafia. While in the modern day there¡¯s not much occult and only alchemy left, it still didn¡¯t sit well with the brass when Mom kept it a secret from them for that long, that I had such a powerful clairvoyance. Maybe Mom was afraid I was going to be subject to cruel scientific experiments, and I respect her for that, but she chose the thug life in the first place, and working in the mafia comes with some territory. So, from the Eternian point of view, it looked like Mom was distrustful of them, so of course they¡¯d retaliate with the same. They essentially exiled her.¡±


    The people around her were silent, unsure of how to even digest Mayumi¡¯s story. For the Elites, it was also the true explanation for her original departure, and the sudden and ruthless nature of it.


    ¡°...so, Mira promised to restore your mother¡¯s position in Eternia¡­as a nomenklatura?¡±


    ¡°Not nomenklatura¡ªjust her reputation so she can rejoin the organization.¡±


    ¡°On what basis does Mira have to convince you that she can do it?¡±


    Caius asked cautiously, unable to fathom how that was even possible for Mirabelle to offer. Sure, she was quite influential within the circles of children of their year, but for the real mafia? Really, only the most important children were involved at this age, and for a child to be in a position of power, only Mona and Gilbert could pass both criteria, and they only held those because of exceptional circumstances unrelated to school. As far as the Elites and her own sisters knew, Mirabelle and her family didn¡¯t have the necessary pedigree to be on their level just yet.


    ¡°It¡¯s already done. That was the collateral I thought was impossible for her to achieve, but she did it. My mother, of course, refused to return to Eternia. It didn¡¯t change her or her depression one bit, but it was justice in my eyes. No matter how much my life was saved by Lady Eterna, that was a done deal made by Kato; he had already paid for it. If Eternia denounced my mother for an infraction she didn¡¯t deserve, then I¡¯d have no reason to return to Korolev.¡±


    ¡°What¡­¡±


    ¡°Mira has enough power to do that?¡±


    Confused faces included the present Jupiter sisters, even if they had some knowledge of Mirabelle¡¯s situation. Still, it was clear that they had no idea Mirabelle was capable of this.


    ¡°This just adds more mystery to the situation than solves it. We knew Mira had her own thing going on, but this is going really far; too far, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Caius asked Ariel, though he almost spat those words out. There was no love lost between Mirabelle and the other men of the Elites.


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    Mayumi asked Caius at Ariel¡¯s hesitation.


    ¡°Mira is student council president for a reason. Undoubtedly, she has some connections to the Eternian establishment within the school, and as a Jupiter family member, that¡¯s not all that out of the ordinary.¡±


    Ariel nodded. The Jupiter family was an old Auxirian noble family that owned land in this border region between Auxiria and Ava¡ªsince the founding of Livia as a Yue colonial settlement. To maintain their de jure noble privileges and to gain benefits locally, they acted as middlemen between Eternia and the Auxirian aristocracy for generations. The family¡¯s responsibilities were true even to this day, though only a select few would become heavily involved in the family business, and Ariel¡¯s immediate family weren¡¯t the only Jupiters around to handle it.


    ¡°Remember around the time you left us, Mira started to disappear from school from time to time? It¡¯s because she agreed to take on some of the family business when she grows up, meaning she¡¯ll work with the mob¡ªnot directly in the mob, but in its immediate peripheries.¡±


    They all nodded at Caius, as the Elites (except Cecilia) were aware of the Jupiter family¡¯s unique role.


    ¡°I¡¯ll also become a similar existence, after all.¡±


    Ariel said steadily, to the surprise of Mayumi and Cecilia. Ariel¡¯s genius was well-known, and being born into such a family meant that her future was predetermined.


    ¡°But Mira¡¯s future role will be very difficult, so she¡¯s been receiving extra tutoring outside of school. I can only imagine what kind of things they teach her in the mafia.¡±


    As the landed gentry and not the palace nobility, the Jupiters¡¯ interests naturally swung toward Livia rather than the imperial capital, which meant they were much closer to the mob than their noble peers. As such, it was inevitable that ambitious children like Mirabelle would need to be taught the ropes by learning directly from the mob.


    ¡°She still haven¡¯t told us what she¡¯s gonna be doing. Is she gonna be a tax collector? Is that it?¡±


    Evie asked. That was one of such positions for someone with a unique and sophisticated pedigree like Mirabelle¡¯s, working for the mob but not directly. These were jobs for those who were in limbo, between being a member of the mob and being an outsider.


    ¡°Not sure. I, for one, will be an archaeologist.¡±


    ¡°Is that even a broker job?¡±


    ¡°I could be a golf club owner too, but either way I¡¯m setting up a storefront of some kind. Might as well do something I¡¯m interested in.¡±


    The Jupiters¡¯ extended family was large, and while Ariel wouldn¡¯t be the one succeeding the household, she was selected to de facto be heading the business. For some time it was a choice between Ariel and Mirabelle, but once Mirabelle decided to do something else for the family business, Ariel was the clear favourite.


    And it was obvious that none of the Jupiters would ever officially join Eternia. By virtue of their family¡¯s place in society, it was most definitely not allowed. Caius heaved another breath before his disgust bled out in his words again.


    ¡°Mira¡¯s scheming something from behind the scenes, and she¡¯s involved us in her games. Do you know what that means? She¡¯s using us as pawns in some under-the-table battle against her enemies within the establishment. I usually don¡¯t care about your family¡¯s connections to Eternia, but this has gone too far. Mira knew full well what would happen to us by bringing Mayumi back here, and she had desperately tried to get her to come back, meaning she knowingly threw us under the bus.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t disagree with that.¡±


    Ariel mused, unable to refute Caius.


    ¡°Sorry but not sorry, Mayumi, but you¡¯re a walking landmine that has already triggered. It was obvious even to us what would happen if you came back, and the two of you even negotiated an agreement on that basis. There was no world where you would come back and let the issue between you and Kato lie peacefully.¡±


    ¡°Uh, mhn¡­¡±


    Mayumi admitted awkwardly. It was true, after all, though it still hurt to have it spelled out so clearly in words.


    ¡°This is proof that Mira tossed us aside in order to reach whatever political goals she has planned for Korolev. She¡¯s been involved with the Eternian establishment at Korolev for years now, and according to Ariel and Mayumi, she should be quite high up in their hierarchy, right? Also, if Ariel¡¯s supposition that merely Mayumi¡¯s presence in school will cause extensive political upheaval and distress, which is already proving to be true, then I have no choice but to believe that that¡¯s the case.¡±


    No one said a word. Caius was right; it was just that no one wanted to say it out loud. Ariel and Scarlett were especially baffled, because even as sisters and fellow student council executives, they were blindsided by Mirabelle¡¯s political manoeuvres¡ªmanoeuvres of an executive who wasn¡¯t even physically present at school. To top it all off, it was Mirabelle¡¯s apparent willingness to risk breaking apart her friends for some vague political gain that drove the uncanny silence that gathered around Caius¡¯ apprehension.


    They would likely play into Mirabelle¡¯s hands, but it was too late to stop it now. They could only watch the revolution at school unravel, with Mayumi at the helm and the Elites by her side.


    ¡°That being said, we¡¯re still very much in the dark. There¡¯re a lot of things we still don¡¯t know, and probably for us, we won¡¯t know before it¡¯s too late. We¡¯ll have to take it up with Kato tomorrow.¡±


    At Mayumi¡¯s eyes that turned anxious, Caius corrected himself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to take it up with him tomorrow. He¡¯s gonna be neck-deep in any problem with Mira in it, so he¡¯ll be solving this problem for us. Does Bia know anything about this?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. We¡¯ve been holding student council together without Mira, but it¡¯s weird how we, too, were kept in the dark about this. Scarlett, did you hear anything related to this about Mira?¡±


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t either. I only know as much as you do.¡±


    The mystery stirred in the air around them, but they had no further leads to Mirabelle¡¯s secret plans. Mayumi, too, fell silent.


    ¡°If Mayumi doesn¡¯t have anything else either, why don¡¯t we leave it at that for tonight? I¡¯ll brief Kato later, and we¡¯ll regroup tomorrow.¡±


    Mayumi shook her head, so Evie canned the conversation as she pointed upwards at the clear night sky. It resumed shining brightly in bits and pieces of gunpowder, reminding the sad group of their original purpose here, from which they had veered far, far away from. It was the last set of fireworks to close out this year¡¯s Equinox. The light and fire was extinguished as with the Elites and their circumstance, and thus the frosty season began in earnest.

 3.14 Still Breathing

    ¡°Why do I feel like everything¡¯s spinning out of control?¡±


    ¡°Beats me. If you think so, then go fix it already.¡±


    It had been almost a week since the Equinox and the end of the advanced classes¡¯ midterms, but only in a few more days was the start of the morning classes¡¯ midterms. This exam period would last almost two and a half weeks, essentially one every other day on average. But for the Eternians and the students out of Class A, it was hardly a challenge for them¡ªfor different reasons, of course.


    Kato and Alice were idling through the remainder of their lunch hour on the balcony of the third floor overlooking the atrium. The rest of the Elites were either studying somewhere for their exams, or they were rehearsing for the drama department¡¯s show. They didn¡¯t even spend time eating lunch all together, with Mayumi and Caius leaving right after the third period bell. Without the full crew, they also dropped by student council and the Jupiter sisters less often, and really only these two had any spare time and patience to do so. It had been like this for a while now, and there seemed to be no end in sight for this arrangement, thus Kato¡¯s anxiety.


    ¡°If I knew how to fix it, I wouldn¡¯t be just sitting here.¡±


    ¡°There you go. You have your answer, so stop complaining.¡±


    ¡°Complaining about things beyond your control is part of being human.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but complaining about things beyond your control to me is not a human right.¡±


    While that seemed callous and very Alice-esque, this was the fifth day of Kato¡¯s feeble bemoaning, so it wasn¡¯t because Alice was short on patience. It was a miracle that she could keep a lid on her bottle for this long. Kato sighed.


    ¡°In that case, have you gotten any info on your enemies yet?¡±


    ¡°No, not yet. I only asked my brother and uncle to look into it the other day, and I don¡¯t expect them to get back to me for a while.¡±


    ¡°And while we¡¯re waiting, you¡¯ll have to sit next to us at all times.¡±


    Though she was already spending one hundred percent of her time with the Elites, still, the threat from the faculty, or those secretly supported in the shadows by the faculty, was unpredictable. While physical coercion was unlikely, they lived in an environment created by and for society¡¯s underworld. Both of them knew what it meant to be a gangster, no matter how civil things seem on the surface.


    ¡°I¡¯m already doing that, right? Besides, you¡¯re my personal bodyguard to start with.¡±


    Alice leaned back into the railings, looking back at the glass wall that was the library in front of them. Her beautiful form drew eyes of various dispositions from every student that passed by them. Most were harmless, just admiration or mildly amorous; though there were one too many gazes aimed at her, let¡¯s say, really nice ass, which was why she turned around in the first place.


    ¡°That was just the one job.¡±


    ¡°And it continues, because of your own intervention. You reap what you sow, Kato.¡±


    ¡°If I may, Miss Alice, but your decision to side with Class F was on impulse, no?¡±


    It was Alice¡¯s turn to sigh.


    ¡°Do you think Mira was able to read this far into the future?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°That Mira set me up with you, expect me to side with your class, and throw the PSC into disarray in order to oust Gil and install Donovan as the school¡¯s security chief.¡±


    ¡°Does it make you feel like a conspiracy theorist? Or betrayed by your best friend?¡±


    ¡°I should be asking you that. While I¡¯m miffed by that possibility, she¡¯s done you guys in more than she did me. I did what I did because I thought it¡¯s what¡¯s best for me, and I still think so now. For you, on the other hand, it¡¯s not as black and white as that, is it?¡±


    Kato took in a deep breath as he hung his head and arms over the ledge, away from her. Alice¡¯s words were true and they hurt, but he didn¡¯t want to show that to her just yet.


    ¡°That, I¡¯ll have to settle it at some point. We all have to.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°And what will you do if she admits to exactly what we¡¯re speculating?¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll think about that when I get there.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know, huh? I¡¯m not blaming you here. I wouldn¡¯t know what I¡¯d do either.¡±


    Chatter and noise from the atrium below that radiated upwards, and the tall, fully-leaved trees jutting up from the ground floor, absorbed their quiet voices that were otherwise out in the open.


    ¡°Then how do you feel about Gilbert and how he¡¯s involved in this? He¡¯s your ally once again, even though he¡¯s sworn not to be.¡±


    ¡°Nothing. I know from the start he¡¯s a pragmatist. That was only a declaration of not being emotionally taken after me.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°And what? I still have the hots for him? For the record, I never had any to start with.¡±


    ¡°Not that. I mean what you think Gilbert¡¯s intentions.¡±


    ¡°What? The conspiracy that Gil wanted to oust himself from the PSC as soon as possible? In order to put a wrench into Mira¡¯s and the faculty¡¯s plans? I think that¡¯s a stupid reason. Being Marshal is a very privileged position. He won¡¯t hand it over that easily to his enemy, assuming that enemy is Donovan.¡±


    As uncooperative and harsh a human being she was, she was placed in Class A for reasons beside her connection to Gilbert. More than a year of being Gilbert¡¯s fianc¨¦e would give her enough inside perspective on things around school.


    ¡°Exactly. I didn¡¯t believe him when he mentioned that, and I don¡¯t think he intended to send you over to Class F so I can guard you in his place either. While it¡¯s true that that¡¯s a good reason, I loath to think that this was ever his intended first course of action.¡±


    Alice combed her fingers through her voluminous hair.


    ¡°So, what would the other reason be?¡±


    ¡°Something happened on the backend. Something moved behind the scenes enough for him to budge on it. Or rather, he was forced to make this decision based on a new forecast as a result of that change.¡±


    ¡°And we don¡¯t know what happened behind the scenes that made Gilbert¡¯s position untenable.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we do know. Well, we have a clue.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡±


    It only took a moment for Alice to remember it, but Kato answered anyway.


    ¡°Karl¡¯s got back to me this morning. Remember I asked him to look into Mayumi¡¯s mom?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Was it really because of Mira?¡±


    Right after the von Habsburg household all returned home, Evie immediately explained the situation around Mayumi¡¯s past and Mirabelle¡¯s interference, much to the shock of Alice. Kato, who was already half-prepped by Gilbert, was instead unsettled by Mayumi¡¯s half of the story, essentially corroborating Gilbert¡¯s assertions about Mirabelle.


    ¡°Satsuki Clarisse Hanamiya. Forty-four, Yue, born in this city to middle class parents working for Eternia. She was a top achiever, and while she was in school, she courted one of the sons of the Liguro family, Vincent Liguro. With his family¡¯s influence and her abilities, Satsuki very quickly joined the nomenklatura even before they were set to marry. However, it emerged that Vincent was seeing another woman behind her back, and even more absurd, he got both women pregnant at the same time. Eventually, Vincent chose the other woman as his wife and irreparably destroyed his relationship with Satsuki.¡±


    Alice nodded. They already knew by now that those children were precisely Mayumi and Stephen. Their physical similarities only increased as one studied their faces more closely, and their hair were of the exact same quality.


    ¡°Satsuki¡¯s a very logical and stubborn person with little empathy for others, a result of her experiences and her independent-minded parents¡¯ conservative influence¡ªanother way of saying she never received much love from her parents, and it affected Mayumi in certain ways too. Her harsh personality produced excess pride and spite, and since Satsuki felt betrayed by her lover, she sought to ruin him within Eternia. It was stupid to fight the Liguro family, but whatever they fought over, it brought both of them the ire of Eternia¡¯s bosses. They were expected to behave as nomenklatura, after all. You knew what happened next. I indirectly got her mum expelled from the nomenklatura.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but where does Mira come into the picture?¡±


    ¡°Their decision to expel her was based on a number of testimonies, but the critical one came from Keith de Lafayette, Gilbert¡¯s uncle who was the heir apparent of the Lafayette Group. He died suddenly to unfortunate natural causes, and Gilbert was pulled up from the weeds to succeed him.¡±


    Alice remained silent. She showed nothing but a glazed expression.


    ¡°Mira was somehow able to overturn that testimony and invalidate the brass¡¯ original verdict. So, while Satsuki won¡¯t be restored to her nomenklatura, she¡¯s no longer persona non grata and essentially rehabilitated.¡±


    ¡°While we don¡¯t know those details and we¡¯ll probably never know, it did have knock-on effects, and the effect on Gilbert is what¡¯s mysterious. If he thought his uncle¡¯s legacy was a nuisance, then whatever Mira did should¡¯ve benefitted him and him being Mira¡¯s ally makes sense¡ªbut then there would be no need to give up the PSC. On the other hand, if he was on his uncle¡¯s side, so to speak, then Mira should¡¯ve made an enemy out of him if it did force him out of the PSC, yet he still claims Mira¡¯s a friendly force to both him and Mona. In both scenarios, there are parts that don¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least we know it¡¯s very likely that Mira triggered something in Gilbert¡¯s surroundings that made him move the way he did.¡±


    ¡°All but confirmed, basically. Do you have any clues from Gilbert¡¯s side?¡±


    Alice turned closer towards him, who was still hanging over the ledge.


    ¡°Unfortunately, no. I asked to be kept out of their power struggles, and he kept that promise.¡±


    ¡°Damn, useless.¡±


    ¡°If I wasn¡¯t this kind of a person, I wouldn¡¯t be standing next to you right now.¡±


    He tilted his face towards her elegant form. He did feel really lucky to befriend Alice. He thought her way of thinking was, in some ways, a mirror of his own, sharing similar values and convictions. As unlikely as their demeanours suggested at first, they got along very well¡ªa little too well to the people around them.


    ¡°Even with this, we¡¯re no closer to solving the problem.¡±


    ¡°Solving the problem? You think you can solve the problem? It¡¯s about surviving the onslaught, not solving the problem. The faculty is looking for an opportunity to make an example of me, and that¡¯s not gonna change.¡±


    ¡°I know. And I still don¡¯t know whether to believe in Gilbert or not. If he has a stake in this as Satsuki¡¯s situation suggests, then he¡¯s likely a power player here too, albeit a weaker one in his current state.¡±


    ¡°That I¡¯m sure he is, but what choice do you have? Have Mayumi and the rest of Class F to put a full stop to the current anti-neutrality protests? It¡¯s too late now. The dissent is in full swing, and even without us down there making the rounds or performing, the chants and confrontations aren¡¯t stopping. It spread utterly and completely to the lower classes. Look.¡±


    She pointed below at the crowds gathered at the ground floor of the atrium. It was exactly as she described: chants and staring contests between the outnumbered PSC and the laymen. No one had thrown the first stone yet, but in recent days almost every lunch period devolved into a series of clashes between the protestors and the PSC. Pens, chairs, clothes, and even textbooks lay on the ground after the battle, and only the bell saved the fight from escalating into violence.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t help that Mayumi is starring in Auxirian Idiot as the main character. She was casted as a revolutionary while she already is one, and it¡¯ll only galvanize the masses further, Kato. Everyone¡¯s looking forward to the musical.¡±


    That was also very true. At a concrete pillar not too far from them was a poster advertising the drama department¡¯s performance of Auxirian Idiot at the golden hour of the approaching talent show. A glamorous Mayumi put on a brave and determined grin at the poster¡¯s audience, her one visible eye sparkling in the dark backdrop of the 60s-style paintbrush canvas. It was hard to not be captivated by her effable face, which she consistently disbelieved despite evidence to the contrary.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°So the revolution will continue, even without Mayumi here in person. I guess I was right after all. She led our school down the path of destruction.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still okay for you if everything goes as the faculty planned, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯ll happen and things get a little tighter in terms of freedoms, but that¡¯s about it. Compared to real high schools, us students aren¡¯t supposed to have all of this power anyway.¡±


    ¡°Well, yes, I don¡¯t really care about the school¡¯s rules one way or another. What I¡¯m worried about is that it¡¯ll be the excuse to take you away from me.¡±


    Alice instantly blushed, but was aware that he was merely speaking frankly and loyal to his friends to a fault. She duly admired that part of him, and at the same time unaware of herself, she held the same loyalty for her own close friends.


    ¡°W-what, you miss me already?¡±


    ¡°Think of it from my perspective. Why else would I be coming to school for? To hang out with the people I care about.¡±


    It was so obvious but it didn¡¯t click until he said it out loud. Everyone had a reason for attending the Eternian school, Korolev Senior, but Kato¡¯s reason was definitely not the reason for almost everyone else, which was why it slipped her mind. Even for herself, she was initially here only due to her now-broken engagement to Gilbert.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not a very common reason to come here. You¡¯re one of a kind.¡±


    ¡°Same could be said about you. It¡¯s also your reason to be here, right?¡±


    She felt a warm, fuzzy feeling settle in her chest. He understood her, but only because he felt the same and she had half-admitted as much. Yet, she was still overjoyed by that, even if it was purely coincidental and woefully insignificant. She never dreamed that her heart would ever react in such an innocent manner¡ªas if she was a pure-hearted maiden¡ªbut here she was, denying it with all that her willpower would allow. There was no need to answer, though she did want to pry into one more thing that she couldn¡¯t take her mind off of recently.


    ¡°Did anything happen between you and Bianca?¡±


    ¡°Me and Bianca? What kind of thing?¡±


    She stole a glance at him from the side, and he was unperturbed. His focus was on the ruckus on the first floor. Apparently, a shouting match was escalating as students from Class D and E had confronted the protesters from the lower classes of both their noise and their political views.


    ¡°The Act of Neutrality only serves to prevent violent politics in the public domain of the school! You can be as political as you want inside of your own classroom! What gives?!¡±


    ¡°Did you even read the articles to the drafted Act? It specifically mentions banning anti-Auxirian rhetoric! There¡¯s nothing neutral or protective about it! It¡¯ll erode our ability to speak out when we really need to!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in a place of education, not in the streets! Look at what you guys did and are still doing! If you want to disturb a communal place of learning, go do it somewhere else!¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯ll be the Public Safety Committee who¡¯ll determine if someone¡¯s speech is anti-Auxirian! Do you not see the danger in letting the PSC to determine if words coming out of your mouth will end the academic career you feel so strongly about?¡±


    There were some philosophical exchanges, too.


    ¡°This is Korolev and Eternia! This school and society has rules and order for everyone to abide by, and everyone¡¯s allegiances are as clear as day! Those who work against the order like you are mere traitors!¡±


    ¡°The order is not one monolithic gospel to adhere to! Society marches forward with progress and development, and if we don¡¯t rise up to meet new challenges, then the very order you claim to pledge allegiance to, will fall to these challenges!¡±


    ¡°You dare to challenge the existing order? It¡¯s because of the existing order that you were born in an era of peace and prosperity, along with the entitlement you have for these things you take for granted! You have no idea how much work and effort went into running a stable society by your forefathers and their successors, because you¡¯re one of the unwashed masses who have zero knowledge or experience in maintaining this order!¡±


    ¡°If the existing order becomes something that no longer serves the people it¡¯s supposed to serve, then to hell with it! You¡¯re the benefactor of the system, so of course you¡¯d say that! What of the outcasts who aren¡¯t allowed to benefit from the system? Let them die? We¡¯re human beings!¡±


    And of course, as with any uncontrolled mob, it broke down quickly.


    ¡°You faggots are just a bunch of brainwashed Yue separatists who want to break away from Auxiria! You were born on Auxirian territory and speak a native Candoran language! No patriot will forgive your treachery and insolence!¡±


    As an aside, all the major languages of the continent of Candor had official recognition in one capacity or another, hence why public education continued to be carried out in their region¡¯s historical languages, rather than strictly imposing Standard Candoran. In the long-term it worked against cultural assimilation, essentially reinforcing separate ethnic identities, but it maintained the short-term stability of the confederation. In any case, it was spun in a different way in Auxiria proper, Candor being presented as a brotherhood of languages and cultures rather than the supremacy of a single ethnocultural group.


    ¡°Yeah, and fuck you bastards sucking up to the Auxirians because your wealth and power depends on them! You¡¯re the treacherous lapdogs of a foreign master here, not us!¡±


    While Kato was an avid reader and thinker of political thought as much as the next young man who had innocent ideals of the world that they wanted to wish upon their home country, he barely blinked at the rowdiness of the crowd below. Alice was definitely not interested, even if she understood the nuances of the current political discourse; a result of a privileged education.


    ¡°That night, you used the room we booked at Livia Tower to get yourselves up to the roof. I don¡¯t think you did that in order to run into Gilbert and Mona, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. I thought we¡¯d watch the rest of the fireworks up there. It¡¯d be a shame to let the money go to waste.¡±


    ¡°Then what did Bianca say about it?¡±


    ¡°Nothing much. Like I said, we just made use of it. It¡¯s the last Equinox we¡¯ll have together, after all.¡±


    Alice was suspicious at his dodges. Despite that, she was surprised at her own calm, too. She expected herself to shake with anxiety, but instead her curiosity overwhelmed the mild jealously that was sat in the corner of her mind; that was because she had another card to play, another button to push.


    ¡°You sure about that? Bianca¡¯s essentially your¡­ someone very significant from your past, right? Teto wouldn¡¯t have sent her to you otherwise.¡±


    To be perfectly honest, Kato was half-spacing out during their whole conversation, now watching the masses clash and the PSC intervening to separate the two groups. Now that Alice spelled it out loud, he was reeled back to the present, standing physically and mentally next to the gorgeous specimen of a blonde, wavy-haired supermodel. She was just missing one very important asset, he thought.


    ¡°Where did you just stare at¡­?¡±


    He finally noticed her cheeks glowing crimson and her bellicose expression was clearly a ticking time bomb about to blow up in his face. He stole a glance at her chest for merely half a second and she noticed immediately. He had to hand it to her.


    ¡°N-nowhere. It was nothing. And I¡¯d explain Teto¡¯s decision like this: she¡¯s more than just my twin sister. We¡¯re almost the same person, if you can believe it.¡±


    The fuming from Alice halted with a slam of the brakes. It wasn¡¯t often that you lived together with your close friend and his younger sister, so actually Alice had a good bearing on what kind of person Teto was, and strangely she was extremely fond of Teto. It didn¡¯t occur to her why that was the case until Kato said as much. Teto was more than a just spitting image of him.


    ¡°Your twin sister?¡±


    ¡°Yes, she¡¯s my twin. She¡¯s as old as I am, technically, but her body is a year or two younger.¡±


    ¡°How? Why didn¡¯t you explain this to me in the first place?¡±


    She blurted out her thoughts as she got annoyed at this seemingly crucial detail about his family that Kato declined to share with her for weeks now. She was about to approach him menacingly, but he also got up and away from the balcony to match her posturing, to which she instinctively stopped at it.


    ¡°Because while it¡¯s interesting, it¡¯s also an insignificant detail once you know it. There was a serious complication when we were born, and she was put into cryogenics for a year or two, until they fixed whatever was wrong with her. Obviously, I¡¯ve become the older sibling, physically speaking.¡±


    ¡°¡­what are you, anyway?¡±


    She shook her head with disbelief, thinking her own life was absurd enough, but the Eternians never ceased to amaze her. Kato shrugged.


    ¡°We were raised to become Hearts. There¡¯re gotta be catches somewhere.¡±


    ¡°But you were orphaned before Eternia picked you up, no? We¡¯re you born with a silver spoon, too?¡±


    He rubbed his chin at the sharp observation. No matter, their backstory was already corroborated by the Elites and Karl.


    ¡°Of course. Apparently, our parents were long-serving clerks to a local seigneur, so they had a lot of privileges. But when the West Yunia Company went under, a lot of the gentry suffered and even saw armed unrest, including wherever I was from. The seigneury was caught up in it and most of the lord¡¯s family and employees died, including my parents.¡±


    What Kato recounted was actually a true story, but for Evie, not for Kato and Teto.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    That financial disaster happened not very long ago. The Hellenic West Yunia Company defaulting caused a wide-reaching economic crunch felt almost everywhere in Candor and Eiria. The disintegration of a grand aristocratic cartel¡ªas the West Yunia Company and its partners really was¡ªand the collapse of the economic system upon which everything rested ignited widespread violence against the business-owning nobility, who bore the brunt of the discontent because of this guilt by association. By this and the aegis of Eternia, the new bourgeois class of property owners, like Alice¡¯s family, escaped much of the physical destruction laid upon the nobles, though just as many families lost their wealth all the same.


    Stories like Kato¡¯s were not uncommon and there were few who didn¡¯t suffer from the greatest economic collapse in recent history. Livia and Lien were one of the few, which attracted migration and fleeing capital in search of safe havens. This siphoning of skilled labour and money allowed Livia to stay afloat and even thrive during the disaster.


    ¡°And you know the rest. We escaped that burning house and ended up as orphans.¡±


    Kato pointed to his head as he continued.


    ¡°Anyway, we were supposed to be the same person, so we share the same soul¡ªor so I¡¯m told. Because our soul was split apart, Teto got the weaker half at birth, so she was put into stasis until she recovered. We don¡¯t have to worry about all the theories, but besides sharing a soul, we also share our collective experiences and memories.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that really disruptive? That¡¯s the same as having another person in your head.¡±


    ¡°You get used to it. You can consider the two of us being split personalities. That¡¯s the closest explanation to what we experience. We don¡¯t share specific memories, except for a few here and there, but mostly it¡¯s the experiences and feelings towards them that are shared.


    ¡°For example, if I make a really good friend with somebody, like you, Teto also feels the same friendship between you and me, and has my understanding and perspective on that friendship. Likewise, I feel like I know her close friends just as much as she does, even though I¡¯ve met them briefly and only a couple of times. This is the collective experience we share.¡±


    Alice¡¯s head was spinning. It was all too farfetched for her to retort.


    ¡°She won¡¯t know many of the nuances or details, nor do I know the minutiae of Teto¡¯s daily interactions with her friends. Some of her memories can stick, especially if they¡¯re strong, but most of the time it¡¯s actually hard to recall any specifics unless she or someone else thoroughly recounts it for me. For example, she¡¯ll know that I¡¯ve had this conversation with you, but all she¡¯d know is that I explained this situation to you, and likely won¡¯t have any context as to how our conversation got here and where it went afterwards.


    ¡°To answer your question, I think Teto felt a big change in my side of our shared memories. Remember, it¡¯s not just the knowledge of the experience that¡¯s shared, but also the feelings and emotions too. In fact, it¡¯s mostly those, and not much of the knowledge. Given how I was feeling at the time, she probably thought the best person to send to me was Bia.¡±


    ¡°Why was she the best person to send, and not me?¡±


    Alice let slip the last three words that were her inner thoughts, but it was too late to take it back. Her face instantly burned with embarrassment, prompting her to turn to hide it. On the other side, strangely, Kato turned his attention back to the ruckus on the ground with a satisfied expression, as if he got what he wanted.


    ¡°Honestly, the best would have been Teto, but I know why she¡¯s distracted from us right now. That night, her group of friends dispersed acrimoniously, too.¡±


    Hearing his non-answer, she wanted to take that burn back. Badly. And in her fury, she blurted out another impulsive objection.


    ¡°Then why wasn¡¯t I choice number two?¡±


    Kato smiled wryly. Shouts and a loud bang reached their ears, but neither of them was distracted by it.


    ¡°What other answer can I give, except to say that you should¡¯ve been number two?¡±


    Only then did she realize how stupid her question was, because there really was no other answer regardless of its truthfulness, yet irrationally she wanted to hear it all the same. Something dropped in her stomach as she subconsciously recognized that Kato was still hesitant to open up to her about deeper parts of himself; parts that concerned his true feelings for the girls around him.


    ¡°So, that¡¯s why Teto sent Bianca to you.¡±


    It was because Kato could open up to Bianca in a way that Alice would struggle to do so. This realization left a sour taste in her mouth as she was emotionally unwilling to accept it, and the frustration was clearly colouring her porcelain face.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the long history between us, I think it was best to send nobody.¡±


    She was reminded that she had only met this diehard group of friends really, only several weeks ago, and instantly regretted the thinly-veiled jealously that she displayed. She was now infinitely ashamed of herself for the emotional rollercoaster she took herself on, and buried her face in her hands.


    Then, another thought occurred to her. In the midst of her busy head-spinning everyday life, she allowed a very important detail to slip her mind¡ªthough it was more likely because she had only seen her once since the end of the last school year. She was almost certain that there was something going on between Mirabelle and Kato, but it was Bianca who had a past involvement with him that everyone recognized. How was that possible?


    ¡°I made a fuss about it to Teto at the time, but now that you explained it to me, I think her judgment is correct.¡±


    ¡°Hah?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Under her own pressure, again words came streaming out of her mouth before she was able to think twice about it. Actually, it was a protective reaction to that pressure, almost as if she was afraid of something¡ªafraid of herself.


    ¡°Her judgment is a reflection of mine. And while it might have been something I wanted, I¡¯d never assume it¡¯s correct.¡±


    Kato shook his head amusedly as he gave her a lopsided smile, somewhere between disbelief of and belittling her opinion of his little sister¡¯s judgment.


    ¡°That makes three of us, then. Why not? Bianca seems receptive of you, even if you have some history with her. Looks like a good time to patch things up and move on. Closer, too, if you want.¡±


    He sighed.


    ¡°No one¡¯s told you yet, right?¡±


    ¡°Actually, Evie explained this to me the other day.¡±


    ¡°Then you should already know the end of that story. The lesson learned is to maintain the status quo within the Elites, and that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been striving for.¡±


    He didn¡¯t tell her it was something he promised Bianca he¡¯d do. That part, he didn¡¯t want to mention.


    ¡°But clearly, the rest of the Elites aren¡¯t doing that¡ªespecially Mayumi, even though in the end she failed her mission.¡±


    ¡°And where has that taken us?¡±


    He twirled his finger in the air, highlighting the isolation of the Elites for the past week.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the way you¡¯ll do things, then you¡¯ll always be a move behind everyone else. Rich for someone who asked me to not leave any regrets by taking action, but you¡¯re making the same choices I had.¡±


    ¡°I see your point, but I¡¯ll bite the bullet on this one. I¡¯ll regret it when the time comes.¡±


    Seeing him withdrawing from the topic and turning his eyes down towards the noisy crowd again, Alice was roiled with a mix of anxiety and uncertainty. She really wanted him to pursue this loose end in his life and not be emotionally held down by it forever. She really meant it, even if meant that Kato would start to drift away from her. But of course, that worked against her desire to become Kato¡¯s closest one, which she found out recently to be a daunting, near impossible task.


    Truthfully, she acted like this because she was afraid of what the consequences of becoming closer to Kato were. It was easier on her heart to keep the status quo around her, while quietly watching the world change around her¡ªthe easy way out. She already realized the contradictions in her words, because she knew she¡¯d also regret sitting idly by. She laughed ruefully.


    ¡°Then, what will it take for you to make a move? A coup by the faculty?¡±


    ¡°How does that have anything to do with Bia?¡±


    ¡°Not her, I¡¯m just talking about you. From what we know, Mira¡¯s acting upon the will of the faculty, or so it seems. At this rate, it¡¯ll only put us in opposition to Mira. You don¡¯t think you won¡¯t have any reservations when you have to fight against her? And what the fates of her sisters, including Bianca, will be?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Like earlier, he didn¡¯t know the answer to that question. However, he got a sinking feeling that he was slowly being dragged into the fight that was the power struggle in this school and what this represented in the real world. If he couldn¡¯t prevent his participation, then he¡¯d need to steel himself to be ready for it.


    The scene below only served to solidify this assessment of his situation, so Alice was probably right. There was a world where Class F would come into conflict with the faculty¡¯s agenda¡ªif they weren¡¯t already¡ªand he and Mirabelle might end up on the opposing side of the conflict, not to mention Bianca and the rest of the Jupiter sisters. He sighed at the possibility of it, and the fractures that could bring and have already brought to the Elites. The path to return to peace was diminishing with each passing day, so he could only patiently await its reckoning and brace himself for the eventuality of his own intervention. He had responsibilities to attend to and things to lose in this fight, after all.

 3.15 Outlaws / When We Were Forever Young

    Tuesday, October 18, 1887.


    ¡°Mayumi, are you really going to keep this up?¡±


    ¡°Keep what up?¡±


    ¡°Avoiding everyone.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do the same if you don¡¯t want to, Caius.¡±


    ¡°Ahem. I¡¯m here too, y¡¯know.¡±


    Eon interjected stiffly. They sat all the way to the side, on the edge of the stage floor of the auditorium. There were less than two weeks until the talent show, and with the due date fast approaching, the crew needed to rehearse with the real deal on a real stage. Together, they watched Trisha, who was on the auditorium floor looking up at the elaborate setup at the stage¡¯s centre and directing its choreography that was unfolding before an empty audience.


    ¡°Why are you here, too? You don¡¯t have to do, y¡¯know, the same thing I am.¡±


    Of course, Mayumi was giving Kato the cold shoulder ever since they came back from the Equinox. It was hard for anybody to get back into a normal routine after being rejected. Though it was unsurprising, it didn¡¯t explain why Caius and Eon followed suit so resolutely. In fact, both of them had not talked to Kato since the Equinox.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it cool to have just the original three of us hang out once in a while?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what¡¯s happening, though. Celia¡¯s been with us the whole time, too. I can understand if Caius is doing it, but you¡¯re not even in the drama department. You don¡¯t need to be here, dude.¡±


    ¡°Then are you gonna be ending this cold war?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not, then I¡¯m gonna continue to be here, champ.¡±


    Mayumi sighed, unable to answer. Eon had been joining them for rehearsals after school, and he had gotten special permission to do so from Mr Verne through the two stars of the show, Caius and Mayumi.


    ¡°Then, are you still practicing for the talent show with them?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but that doesn¡¯t change anything because we already settled on something to perform. I always hold up my end of my commitments.¡±


    ¡°How do you practice with them¡­silently?¡±


    ¡°You just do.¡±


    Eon shrugged, unconcerned with the state of affairs. Whenever Alice or Kato or Franco tried asking him questions on things outside of their little band¡¯s practice, Eon would ignore them. It worked, but it was unendingly awkward for the other people involved. She shook her head in exasperation, disagreeing with his determination to do this on her behalf.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mayumi. Just leave Eon to his discretion. What I wanna know is if we¡¯re really gonna be doing that thing.¡±


    ¡°That thing, eh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that thing.¡±


    ¡°We decided to do that thing already, c¡¯mon. Getting cold feet is not allowed, and definitely not you, Eon, who knows the plan.¡±


    That thing was a plan that only Mayumi could think of, and it was a nasty thing to do, academically speaking.


    ¡°As a user and an abuser of my abilities, there¡¯s no risk in what we¡¯re gonna execute on. Get in, do the thing, get out in under five minutes. If we arrive right when the school opens and get to it pronto, no one¡¯ll even notice. Even if someone were to turn on a Teller sonograph, it¡¯ll only work out for them if they do it within half an hour after I finish the job, or else the characteristic mana fields will dissipate into the natural background, making it no longer detectable by the sonograph.¡±


    ¡°And the more living things present, the faster the fields dissipate. That¡¯s why I¡¯m coming.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think the pace of natural coherence will change that much based on just one more human body present.¡±


    Mayumi slapped Eon lightly on the cheek for being cheeky, as Eon¡¯s participation was not just for attendance but for insurance if anything went wrong. Three Elites were better than two.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe we¡¯re gonna try to cheat on a midterm. What has the world come to?¡±


    ¡°I told you, I¡¯ve done this many times in the past. It¡¯s fine.¡±


    To be specific, they were planning to cheat on a very specific midterm for Cecilia¡¯s sake. After revealing to the original Elites that she was likely going to do poorly on the math midterm two days from now, and then proving it to be so on a mock midterm, they decided to use Mayumi¡¯s future sight to cheat for the answers to a few of the questions¡ªenough to pad her marks above seventy-five points.


    Normally, she did well with schoolwork because of the need to keep up her marks to avoid being demoted to a lower class. But now that she was in her third and final year, there was no next year to promote or demote to any longer, and with it the incentive to keep up that tightly with academics, hence her immediate regrets now for neglecting her studies.


    For the record, Mr Verne almost ruined his own musical by forgetting to tell Cecilia to pull her tardiness streak together, but luckily, Cecilia decided to trade her original role of Whatzshecalled for St. Timmy, which was a much less exhausting and much more replaceable role, to Mr Verne¡¯s fortune.


    So, it was now entirely on Cecilia to dodge academic probation by doing more than just passing the midterms. If she was put on academic probation, she would be barred from extracurriculars until she fixed it after finishing the next set of morning classes¡¯ midterms around three months from now. That meant missing out on the talent show and of course her role in Auxirian Idiot.


    ¡°Hey, you guys! Celia¡¯s in trouble! Come!¡±


    As they were leisurely resting, an abrupt appearance by a hurried Risa snapped the Elites back to the attention of the drama department around them. Surprised and worried, they followed their hairstylist to the back of the stage.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t catch the first part, but the argument looked super-bad, knowing it¡¯s Liam who¡¯s involved. Flora¡¯s watching too.¡±


    Only moments later, they joined the other hairstylist, who was half-hiding behind a wooden prop and looking on at the site of the quarrel. On one side was led at the front by Liam, with his two compliant followers in tow. On the other side was Cecilia on her own, as the arbitrator between them, Anne, didn¡¯t seem to be on her side.


    ¡°Look, all I¡¯m saying is that my team won¡¯t be able to use the new Matsushita autolight for the show. It¡¯s way too complicated for us to learn a new standard for the cata-paper inputs in time for the show and to run it well, y¡¯get what I mean, Anne? I warned you that at the very start, before we made the buy, ma¡¯am.¡±


    Grinning, there was not one iota of shame on Liam¡¯s face as Anne continued to ask questions to clarify the situation. On the other side, Cecilia frowned in silence as she let the situation spin out of her control, as if she didn¡¯t want to be here for the belligerent exchange.


    ¡°And yet you agreed to purchase it anyway?¡±


    ¡°I recall that it was her two main character friends who signed off the receipt, no?¡±


    ¡°I expected you and Cecilia to sign the receipt, though. Why did that not happen?¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t look like our schedules would align to allow both of us to go to the store in Sharpsand Cape. I guess we were running out of time, so Cecilia went with her friends to get it as soon as she could. Good on her.¡±


    Anne looked over to Cecilia, who nodded in agreement with his characterization. It was true, after all.


    ¡°And you can¡¯t make any free time for yourself to go with her? It¡¯s not a complicated task. Have you done everything to accommodate making this trip?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all busy with our own lives, too, madam manager. If we have to move unmovable things when it can be resolved through an easier way, why not?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why hasn¡¯t this problem been brought up sooner?¡±


    ¡°Well, the new autolight was advertised as a faster and simpler replacement to the previous generation of autolights, so the team thought it would be easy to use. If even the original manufacturer is advertising it like that, then we didn¡¯t see any major issue with coming by on our usual schedule. I still have the flyer, by the way. It wasn¡¯t until a lot later that we realized it took more time than advertised. Isn¡¯t that right? Kenny? Joshua?¡±


    Anne clicked her tongue at the weaselling answers that Liam gave, as his lackeys nodded hurriedly in unison on Liam¡¯s cue. She could tell he was hellbent on avoiding responsibility for this incident. It wasn¡¯t the first time she had seen this from him.


    ¡°Then what are you gonna do about it?¡±


    ¡°Well, this is where I hope you can lend my team some guidance, ma¡¯am. We can continue using the new autolight, but I can¡¯t guarantee the result¡¯ll be satisfactory. The other option is, of course, to use the old autolights this time around. We all know how to use the old lights, but it¡¯ll take some more effort to set up all the correct sequences. Both options¡¯ll be time consuming, but I have more confidence in the second option. And that¡¯s why I wanted to bring this up to you, y¡¯know?¡±


    ¡°What, because you can¡¯t figure it out yourself, you have to make me do your work?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Anne. I¡¯m just letting you make the decision. I¡¯ve voiced my opinion at the very start, and things have turned out more or less as I¡¯ve said it would, eh? Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    He smirked at Anne first he peeked over to Cecilia, and it made Cecilia want to crawl into a hole to hide herself from this standoff.


    ¡°And if I make a decision here, you¡¯ll do your job fully and cleanly, without fuss or trouble, is that correct?¡±


    ¡°Indeed it is, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°I have one more condition for you. Rather, it¡¯s an order for you for wasting my time with this¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªWow, Anne, I¡¯m a victim of the circumstances here, too, y¡¯know?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, because the result is the same: wasting my time. Now, right after this talent show, you and the third-years in the lights team will transition completely to the PSC. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Oh, what? We already decided that that¡¯s gonna happen, no?¡±


    ¡°You understand exactly what I mean. Now, go with option two and get your ass on it. Immediately.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, manager. I knew you¡¯d make the right decision.¡±


    He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up, but Anne responded with rage in her eyes and a menacing step forward.


    ¡°Get to it already.¡±


    ¡°Yuppers.¡±


    He strolled away lightly, goons in tow and still holding that satisfied smirk on his face. Anne¡¯s fury, however, was not yet extinguished, and she turned upwards to the depressed blonde girl next to her after Liam and his friends were out of earshot.


    ¡°Are you happy now? Have you caused enough trouble yet, Cecilia? What¡¯s next, you¡¯re gonna suggest we use a crane to fly people across the stage, hm? Is that it?¡±


    Cecilia was just as inert as she was before, though less spooked as there was one less person harassing her.


    ¡°I initially also was against using a new autolight because I knew this piece of shit would not do his job properly. Granted, the new autolight does have much better capabilities, but using it in this show is, as I thought, impossible. Yet, you insisted that we need to use the new ones, and now look where this got us.¡±


    She was quite vindictive, as she usually was towards Cecilia, but unlike usual, Cecilia didn¡¯t make any thin retorts or excuses. Or rather, she was too absorbed in her own thoughts and depression to pay any heed to Anne.


    ¡°You see what happened? You wanted to change something that¡¯s, from his point of view, in his territory, so he fucked you over with his procrastination and gave you a nice spell of verbal abuse. If he continued, he would¡¯ve fucked us all up, without a functioning lighting sequence for the musical. If I wasn¡¯t here, who¡¯s gonna fix this problem, huh?¡±


    Even after all of this, she only got angrier, and seeing that Cecilia was still despondent, in a bout of temper she slapped her across the cheek, finally bringing Cecilia¡¯s stunned eyes to her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get what he sees in a lousy and idiotic woman like you. If you¡¯re this pathetic, please transfer yourself down to the lower classes, where you belong.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, what gives?!¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Mayumi and Caius both launched themselves toward the two, followed closely behind them by Risa and Flora. Their yells seemed to have snapped Anne out of her rage, and she allowed them to put distance between herself and Cecilia.


    ¡°What was that for, Anne?¡±


    ¡°Did you need to slap her?¡±


    Risa hugged Cecilia gently, while Flora turned to Anne.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take care of her from here, Anne. It¡¯s all resolved now, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Then, I¡¯ll be going now.¡±


    ¡°Anne, wait!¡±


    As Anne abruptly turned to leave at the behest of Flora, perhaps uncharacteristically accommodating, Mayumi stopped her heatedly, refusing to let her go.


    ¡°Liam¡¯s clearly in the wrong here! We were there when Celia asked him to come with her, and he tried every excuse to not go with her. He even suggested signing the receipt after she brought it back, but he was nowhere to be found the next day, so I had to co-sign it.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°¡¯And?¡¯¡±


    ¡°What of it?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Mayumi didn¡¯t like Anne very much, though that wasn¡¯t an uncommon sentiment among the drama department anyway.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°Even if Liam did all of that, even if he was to blame for all of this¡ªhow would it change the outcome here?¡±


    Mayumi stopped, momentarily stunned by Anne¡¯s cold but reasonable reply. In her fluster after witnessing the slapping, she forgot about the real situation at hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t. Even if he co-signed it, he would still procrastinate on the basis that it was ¡®too hard¡¯ to learn within a short timeframe. This confrontation would¡¯ve still happened, but with one less trivial detail for him to use as ammunition.¡±


    She was right. Anne did shut him down immediately after he tried to use it to paint himself as the victim rather than the instigator.


    ¡°Then¡­ if that¡¯s the case, then do you need to slap her? What was that for?¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    Anne frowned, but she didn¡¯t falter.


    ¡°That, I¡¯ll admit, was just frustration on my part. There¡¯s no real reason for it except for my gripes with Cecilia. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡±


    With a deprecating snort, Anne turned to walk away once more, not held up by anyone this time. Mayumi could only be impressed and yet dismayed at Anne¡¯s quick admission and anticlimactic departure.


    ¡°Can you let her stay with Risa for the time being? She¡¯s not gonna be responsive for a while.¡±


    She smiled gently at Caius and Mayumi, mostly at the former who was just as agitated by the slap and tried to get Cecilia to talk.


    ¡°Why is she¡­¡±


    ¡°I can explain. Let them be in peace for a minute. Caius should already know this story, though I¡¯m not sure if you paid any attention back then to remember it.¡±


    Flora moved them to another secluded corner of the stage before she began her story, somewhat apologetically. Caius was still apprehensive.


    ¡°What do you mean, I already know this story?¡±


    ¡°In our first year, there was a case of a kid who was bullied big-time by some third-years of the Victor faction. It was bad enough with the persistent bullying, but when they tried to frame him for a mistake he didn¡¯t make, the drama club went ballistic. I don¡¯t even remember what he was blamed for, but it had something to do with breaking the onstage props, because all I remember from that was that he for sure didn¡¯t break any of it¡ªhe was with me, Risa and Celia at the time of the incident.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t remember something like that. There was so much of that going on at the same time that I didn¡¯t care to remember every single altercation.¡±


    Flora shrugged lightly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t blame you. It was from this that we became friends with Celia, though we wished it could¡¯ve happened in a better circumstance. During that incident, Celia stood up for that kid because it was obvious that the kid wasn¡¯t in the wrong. He was right there with us. But the drama department wasn¡¯t a place to uphold justice back then, so the Victor faction almost got away with it. The only thing that won us the day was Donovan stepping in and appealing to the rest of the department on our behalf.¡±


    ¡°¡­what?¡±


    Mayumi was shocked, not because of Donovan himself but of the implications of this turn of events. Flora nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Yes. Donovan repeated the exact same defence to the seniors of the club, and they begrudgingly accepted the evidence. Even though Celia made the same arguments, none of them accepted it merely because¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªbecause Celia was a nobody.¡±


    Caius gritted his teeth and spat out those words.


    ¡°It was cruel to Celia, but she¡¯s still braver than any of us. She stood up for that boy, even though we knew the state of affairs back then. I was too scared to do anything, and by not doing anything, I felt like I betrayed the trust of that kid and Celia herself. I didn¡¯t say anything until Donovan prompted me to testify.¡±


    Flora said ashamedly, knowing full well that she was partly at fault for Cecilia¡¯s predicament.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Flora. Celia understood that you were in no position to speak up. Fortunately, Donovan did the speaking, right?¡±


    Mayumi tried to soothe Flora¡¯s anxiety, but she shook her head.


    ¡°It would¡¯ve been enough if it ended here, but it didn¡¯t. Donovan fought against the seniors in place of some nobodies, and because of that, Celia too became a target of continued bullying and harassment by the rest of the Victor faction. They didn¡¯t take being upstaged by first-years very well, so they made their lives miserable, and after a while the kid broke down and left the school entirely.¡±


    Flora enunciated sombrely as her three listeners grimaced. It left a very terrible taste in their mouths.


    ¡°Celia could take it because she has an iron heart, but the kid clearly couldn¡¯t take it. It made Celia feel like it was her fault that the kid was forced out of Korolev Senior, so now y¡¯see the guilt she¡¯s been carrying that she never should have needed to carry in the first place.¡±


    She pointed to the gently sobbing Cecilia in the distance, and shrugged again helplessly.


    ¡°Y¡¯know how Celia¡¯s a quiet thinker and sometimes spaces out, right? That part of her came about because of that trauma. I hate to say it, but she needs quiet time like this to herself or she¡¯ll be down for days, and it¡¯s especially hard when Anne berates her. The result here¡¯s on the tamer side of things.¡±


    Caius subconsciously rolled his fingers into a fist.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen her like this before. She can be awkward, but she has her own will, and it¡¯s surprisingly strong. You¡¯re saying this happens on a regular basis?¡±


    ¡°If she seems strong-willed to you, then I¡¯m glad she¡¯s found somebody worth showing her strengths to. Then again, not many people can endure as much abuse as she had. She doesn¡¯t get any rest at home either. It¡¯s really frustrating that neither I nor Risa can do anything more than this.¡±


    ¡°At home?¡±


    ¡°She has a troubled household, I¡¯ve been told.¡±


    Mayumi curled her lips. She was unsure if Flora meant it was the Liguro family¡¯s fault for that, or otherwise. If it was the former then she would feel much worse about it, but luckily in actuality it wasn¡¯t the case, though Mayumi had yet to know.


    ¡°I¡¯d assume it¡¯s pretty bad. She always uses the dorm showers¡ªand everything else too¡ª before she goes home. I thought it might be a coincidence, but if it¡¯s been like this for the third year, I think they¡¯ve gotta be related, no?


    ¡°In any case, if you can give her some time to herself, she¡¯ll be up and running in no time. ¡®Kay?¡±


    Flora gave them another apologetic smile before she began to make her way back to Risa and Cecilia.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Eon rubbed his forehead, thoroughly exhausted even as a pure bystander.


    ¡°We¡¯re in more than just a bit of a pinch here, huh.¡±


    ¡°Flora¡¯s right. I always wait for her to finish her business at the dorms before we head home, but I didn¡¯t know it was because it would be because of a troubled household.¡±


    ¡°Well, we don¡¯t know yet if that¡¯s actually true or not. That¡¯s still speculation on Flora¡¯s part.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d agree with Flora¡¯s speculation, though. In fact, it¡¯s exactly the truth.¡±


    Suddenly, an imposing presence caught the attention of the Elites as one surprise appeared after another. Additionally, Mayumi put on a glare as well at the approaching man that resembled her quite a lot.


    ¡°What are you here for, Stephen?¡±


    ¡°We all have troubled homes, but Cecilia has it the worst out of us¡ªthe three of us. That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying.¡±


    While he added to his initial remark, he ignored Mayumi¡¯s question and instead continued walking towards Cecilia. Distracted by it, Mayumi called out to him, wanting him to explain why ¡®the three of us¡¯: Cecilia, Stephen, and herself.


    ¡°Wait¡ª!¡±


    But he was gone in an instant without another thought for them. Dusty wind eddies trailed behind his brisk walk, awing the Elites into silence. They followed him quietly, completely unsure of what he was here for.


    Though Risa and Flora were taken aback by his appearance, they nevertheless yielded Cecilia¡¯s field of vision to him as he crouched down to her eye level. They didn¡¯t know about his relationship with Cecilia at all, but his red armband clipped over the top of his cleanse tag was more than enough reason to give way.


    ¡°Cecilia? What are you¡­Cecilia¡ª¡±


    ¡°Stephen?¡±


    She mumbled listlessly, unable to fathom why he was here. It wasn¡¯t that he wouldn¡¯t make any contact with her at all at school, but if he did, it would be about anything but the two of them. This was quite literally the first time at school that he addressed her personally. He turned upwards to Flora.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Anne?¡±


    ¡°S-she¡¯s gone. She said some nasty things to her before she did, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Was the issue resolved cleanly?¡±


    ¡°If by cleanly you mean there are no more problems left to deal with, then yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay, I know what to do. I¡¯ll have a word with her later.¡±


    Stephen turned to Cecilia again, who was still awed by his calm aura¡ªbut only relatively speaking. His tone was absolutely still harsh by any standard definition of the word.


    ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re doing?¡±


    ¡°¡­what I¡¯m doing?¡±


    ¡°Or rather, do you know what you¡¯re getting yourself into?¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t get what you¡¯re trying to ask.¡±


    Her expression fell, but surprisingly it didn¡¯t break Stephen¡¯s composure. He remained eerily stoical.


    ¡°I told you before at the Equinox that taking the same path as your friends from Class F will bring hardship. You haven¡¯t forgotten about that, have you?¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t understand why he was bringing that up at a time like this. Did her confrontation with Liam have anything to do with Class F and their near-insurrection against the Assembly?


    ¡°As long as you understand that, you have to accept the consequences, like right now, get it? So, do you have the resolve to stick to them and see yourselves through to the end?¡±


    More confusion filled her expression, trying to look for a logical answer from Stephen¡¯s rigid frown. He insinuated her hunch as much, but right now she couldn¡¯t imagine how they were connected. Her head began to spin as her efforts to grasp the meaning in his words were dragged through the stresses of anxiety and tears from mere moments ago. It only served her to understand even less, in addition to bringing any coherent thought processes to a grinding halt.


    ¡°Give yourself some rest and think about the answer later. If you have an answer¡ªany answer¡ª then the next time you find yourself under fire like this, call me, and I will help you.¡±


    Somehow, Stephen noticed her strenuous efforts and stood up abruptly, attitude unchanging. She looked up at him, shocked again at the lack of the usual hostility and the unconditional offer of support. The five others around them were just as speechless, though for slightly different reasons. Sparing a vague glance at the Elites, Stephen began to walk away in the direction of sudden shouts and noises from one of the auditorium exits¡ªthe same one that Liam¡¯s group left through and the one Stephen entered from.


    ¡°What was that about¡­?¡±


    Caius muttered in disbelief. While he was stricken by Cecilia¡¯s circumstance, he was also very concerned by Stephen¡¯s earlier implications. Was it really because she was affiliated with them that she was getting bullied by Donovan¡¯s goons in the PSC? It hardly made sense to put this much effort into it, if they really wanted to clandestinely isolate Class F¡¯s personal connections; that itself had to be made known to the victim in the first place. Coercion still needed a clear goal in mind to start with. It made even less sense that Cecilia would be their target when she was Donovan¡¯s pet favourite.


    ¡°Are you guys okay? Did Stephen do anything to you?¡±


    Trisha arrived in a hurry and short of breath from the choreography practice. Flora replied.


    ¡°No, he didn¡¯t. What happened?¡±


    ¡°You hear those voices outside, right? It¡¯s a standoff between Liam¡¯s and Stephen¡¯s people. Do you know why they¡¯re confronting each other?¡±


    ¡°No idea¡ª¡±


    Flora began to shake her head but Mayumi cut her off, though she was talking more to herself than Trisha.


    ¡°Stephen¡¯s angry that Liam tried to blame Celia for the incident with the new autolights.¡±


    ¡°¡°He is?¡±¡±


    Everyone turned to Mayumi in astonishment, including Cecilia herself. Of course, that would have made sense if the situation occurred in a normal school among normal students, but this place had neither. Mayumi pointed to her lame right eye.


    ¡°I saw the whole thing in my future sight, including the standoff they¡¯re having outside.¡±


    ¡°Was that why you were quieter than usual? Well, I¡¯m not complaining about it.¡±


    ¡°But I still don¡¯t understand why he would do such a thing; not that I know any of his motives to start with. Anyway, that¡¯s what happened outside the auditorium.¡±


    Trisha heaved a big sigh.


    ¡°What a bother. I knew Don¡¯s departure for the PSC wouldn¡¯t be a smooth transition.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°For one, there¡¯ll inevitably be people who want to double-dip in their extracurricular participation, but in reality can¡¯t commit to both things wholly. A few exceptional students can manage that, but not all can. It¡¯s a nuisance when that sort of trouble comes up, like right now with Liam. I have a hard time with training those people, too, when they don¡¯t show up enough to practice.¡±


    She frowned at her own words helplessly as she continued.


    ¡°Like Anne, I¡¯m also on the receiving end of cleaning up after loose ends from the staff shuffling. For example, remember how our year doesn¡¯t have enough talent? With experienced members leaving for the PSC, the shortage of them makes the training a lot harder.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re doing just fine, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Trisha chuckled ruefully and shook her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s because I have to work my ass off to get the plane off the ground, so don¡¯t take my efforts for granted, Caius. Next time, I won¡¯t have enough in me to make a second miracle happen. And luckily, Mayumi¡¯s as talented as a professional, so I didn¡¯t need to teach her anything at all. Bless you, Mayumi. If she didn¡¯t, I really wouldn¡¯t be able to re-teach the female lead¡¯s parts.¡±


    ¡°Peace, peace!¡±


    Mayumi grinned at Trisha, who grinned in response, dispelling the cloudy atmosphere and returning the scene to normal. One of them, however, remained deep in thought. Next to her, Eon was already musing about the sequence of events they had just witnessed.


    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±


    ¡°Meaning of what?¡±


    Stephen slammed his palm on the marshal¡¯s desk, at which Donovan sat comfortably.


    ¡°Why are you gonna be on the ground with me?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I just thought I should be able to carry out an investigative operation as a marshal, so I want to get some field experience wherever I can.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a covert mission. I don¡¯t want more people on it than I actually need.¡±


    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t get too upset about it. It¡¯s an operation that I¡¯m very interested in, so I want to contribute in any way I can.¡±


    ¡°You can contribute by sitting here and waiting for my reports.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t be doing just that, my friend. I have a reason why I want to join you in your stakeout. Care to guess why?¡±


    Stephen snarled at Donovan¡¯s polished, toothy smile.


    ¡°You don¡¯t trust me to operate against both my half-sister and my cousin.¡±


    ¡°Close, but incorrect. On that note, though, I do have a good idea of what happened behind the scenes with your family, Gilbert¡¯s and the student council president, so that does come into my consideration of your loyalties. I have to give you that much, right? Anyone in their right minds would think this way.¡±


    Donovan¡¯s face shone without a shadow of ill will, yet his words were the direct opposite. Stephen narrowed his eyes at what Donovan revealed to him to keep him in check, though it was not an unexpected turn of events. That bit of information would eventually percolate through the underworld anyway.


    ¡°Then why not purge the rest of us from the PSC?¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, I only have a hunch. I won¡¯t remove talented people purely on the basis of rumour or presumption. You get me?¡±


    It felt as if Donovan was threatening him. The implication was that if those rumours or presumptions became reality at any level, then Donovan would have no qualms about letting the final blade of the guillotine to fall on the remainder of Class A in the PSC.


    ¡°Then, what have I got incorrect?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve overheard a few conversations about which exams Cecilia¡¯s struggling with, and collected some interesting clues. Not something we can use in a court of law, but they¡¯re very good leads, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    He took out a small stack of ruffled papers from a file package and threw them onto and across the table. Stephen instantly recognized what Donovan threw down.


    ¡°Cecilia¡¯s mock midterms. You scoured for these from trash bins?¡±


    ¡°Well, I had other people do it. It wasn¡¯t that hard, actually. Where do mock midterms come from? Either the teacher made some in advance, or they took select questions out of the textbooks. It was only a matter of trailing these circumstances that we got our hands on these.¡±


    Donovan explained in a suspiciously roundabout manner, but nonetheless he got up from his seat and pointed to a few of the mock midterms.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one on here that warrants any attention, and it¡¯s the math midterm the day after. I¡¯ll join you in the science room next to my homeroom first thing in the morning, all right?¡±


    Stephen clicked his tongue, upset that Donovan was insisting on meddling with the operation, though if their positions were reversed he would be doing the same thing.


    ¡°Suit yourself.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a real reason to deny his request in the first place. After a certain incident Donovan just referenced, it was clear to Stephen and the rest of Class 3-A in the PSC that they were counting down their remaining days in the sun. It was only natural that the new kids on the block would take over operations. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Class 2-A would eventually be purged from the PSC, too.


    Then, a thought occurred to Stephen as he remembered a certain detail that was reported to him earlier in the week and triggered by Donovan¡¯s flowery explanation earlier, and he scowled.


    ¡°Your men went through Cecilia¡¯s locker to steal these midterms?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. What could have given you that idea?¡±


    Donovan grinned, though, affirming Stephen¡¯s suspicion. It wasn¡¯t only the student council who had master keys to locks within the school.


    ¡°It must feel exhilarating to wield powers like these.¡±


    ¡°Come now, every iteration of the PSC that came before me used their lawful authority to fulfill their duties; including yourself. The responsibilities I¡¯ve been entrusted with are no different.¡±


    Stephen was not impressed, so Donovan continued.


    ¡°Say that the unwashed masses are correct in that the people in positions of power are abusing it for their own greed. Then, what should the contemporary system be replaced with? A democracy like in Royal Candor?¡±


    Donovan sneered, obviously viewing the political agitation of the common people with contempt.


    ¡°You should know already, Stephen. A system is a set of rules, and they¡¯re put in place to not make society equal and free, but to perpetuate the system. A perpetual system brings stability and therefore, legitimacy. In the long term, any transient dissatisfaction is meaningless because it¡¯ll be forgotten once the moment passes and the system restores the day-to-day normalcy.¡±


    ¡°And you think that principle holds in our current crisis? It¡¯ll restore normalcy?¡±


    ¡°If the system is perpetual, then of course it¡¯ll regress to the normal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s literally nothing but sophistry.¡±


    Donovan laughed out loud. He enjoyed going on casual philosophical tangents like these once in a while, and Stephen even entertained him for half a thought.


    ¡°The masses¡¯ demands are nothing but pipe dreams. You¡¯re allowed to dream, but they¡¯re dreams for a reason. As long as humans are selfish, as is their nature down to their primal instincts, then we¡¯re destined to chain ourselves to inequality and injustice, no matter how virtuous a society claims itself to be.¡±


    He finished off the latter half of his thought before switching to another topic on his mind.


    ¡°Now, I have a different question for you. What was the scuffle with Liam about?¡±


    Stephen stiffened.


    ¡°Nothing important. We just don¡¯t see each other eye to eye.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d remind you that whatever¡¯s happening in the drama department stays in the drama department.¡±


    ¡°I did nothing to the drama department, now, have I?¡±


    ¡°No, you haven¡¯t, but your favouritism towards your family is not lost on me. You expect me to believe that my men got bruises for no particular reason, do you?¡±


    ¡°Sure, why not. I¡¯ve never hid my disdain for Liam and his lackeys. In any case, they were the ones provoking me first.¡±


    ¡°Provocation that included your cousin as the main subject?¡±


    ¡°You can read between nonexistent lines all you want. I¡¯ve never let any provocation go unsettled before.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, Stephen. I¡¯m saying that your cousin herself is the provocation. If it was anybody else, it wouldn¡¯t be a provocation to you, now, would it?¡±


    ¡°So have it be anybody else, and have Liam come up and spew the same garbage to my face. See what my response would be. Liam¡¯s clearly the one making the issue about my cousin. I don¡¯t care if the subject was her or not¡ªhe¡¯ll get a fistful if he wants to pick a fight.¡±


    Donovan heaved an exaggerated sigh as Stephen continued.


    ¡°By the way, Anne has corroborated my account of what happened in the auditorium earlier. I¡¯d suggest cleaning up your act before looking for ghosts.¡±


    For the first time, Donovan frowned at Stephen, who remained unimpressed. Donovan was duly reminded that he wasn¡¯t someone to make light of.


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll take that into consideration, and have Liam be less troublesome to you.¡±


    Stephen extricated himself from the marshal¡¯s desk as Donovan quietly shrugged away his staunch defences, evidently uninterested now. However, in the moment he also knew that Donovan had put him on a mental hit list. It was only a matter of time before he would have to join Gilbert in the shadows, but until then, while he still had the privileges of the PSC, he was determined to see through his plans to the very end.

 3.16 Somewhere Now

    Private vehicles were not very common in Livia. Not only were there not enough space at individual homes to park, but the roads and infrastructure themselves were tiny and in tight demand. Bussing, taxiing, subway or light rail were the prevalent modes of transportation for the average citizen.


    Mayumi and Cecilia were glued together standing in a crowded bus, one hand on a hanging handle above, the other hand around the other¡¯s waist. The air smelled of gasoline and sweat, and their duffel bags hung in front of them to ward off pickpockets. The weather was not yet cold enough to turn on any space heating, nor would a packed bus have a need to in the first place. Some of the windows were even open.


    ¡°Hey, Celia, are you all right now?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just about.¡±


    Mayumi gently patted her on the back. It was way after rehearsals finished and school had closed, and because of that, they were on their way back to their district¡ªPrince Edward¡ªto grab dinner together. While Cecilia would get an earful from her father once she returned home, it wasn¡¯t a problem if Mayumi showed up. For some reason, her father disdained interacting with her friends and classmates, and he generally left her to her own devices anyway.


    ¡°Anne was really troublesome, wasn¡¯t she? She really needs to keep a lid on her anger. She¡¯ll lose all of her eyebrows young at this rate.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of eyebrow to lose.¡±


    ¡°She slapped you at the end! It¡¯s like she thinks she¡¯s hot shit and can get away with going overboard, but in the end she¡¯s just jealous of you. You¡¯re Donovan¡¯s favourite, not Anne.¡±


    Cecilia gave a helpless smile, knowing Mayumi was ranting to make her feel good, though that remark about Donovan didn¡¯t help.


    ¡°And don¡¯t get me started on Liam. He literally just wants an excuse to not do the work he¡¯s responsible for. He¡¯s a real scumbag.¡±


    They got off the bus at the same stop in the middle of Prince Edward district. Needless to say, there were too many people and too many high-rises in a sea of brick, mortar, glass and steel. Restaurants of all kinds lined the street-sides, and they reached for their usual go-to as they passed through the gap in the metal barrier between the road and the sidewalk.


    The restaurant was by no means high-end, but it wasn¡¯t pitifully low-end either. Customers had their own booths, and it wasn¡¯t as busy as other establishments; perfect for people on the go like these two. They could get their business done within half an hour. It served the usual Yue style cuisine so ubiquitous in Livia and neighbouring Lien, but terrifyingly scarce just beyond the city limits.


    ¡°Pork chops in corn sauce with spaghetti, cold lemon tea, no sugar.¡±


    ¡°Minced meat in tomato sauce with fried rice, hot honey lemon.¡±


    Frighteningly, Mayumi always picked corn sauce to go with pork chops when there were more suitable options like gravy and black pepper. Corn sauce usually went with deep-fried fish fillet.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Celia? You¡¯re still feelin¡¯ down about Liam and Anne?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no. It¡¯s not about them, really¡­¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re still feeling down about something, huh?¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    It was hard to avoid a person as perceptive and as cheating as Mayumi, with her personality and clairvoyance respectively. Fortunately, Cecilia didn¡¯t take it as a demerit, and in fact it made it more convenient than a nuisance¡ªthough it was likely only because Mayumi wanted to genuinely be friends with Cecilia, and would only push her buttons at the appropriate times. If it wasn¡¯t the case, she would have felt an immense and overbearing pressure from the all-seeing eye.


    ¡°How are you able to recover from that so¡­brilliantly?¡±


    ¡°Recover?¡±


    ¡°Not just that. For you to be able to take action in the first place is super impressive already.¡±


    ¡°Take action?¡±


    Mayumi gave her a questioning look as Cecilia asked quietly, inaudible in the noisy restaurant if they weren¡¯t seated in their own booth. Cecilia rested her chin in her hands with her elbows on the table as she lost herself in Mayumi¡¯s curious expression and her own thoughts.


    ¡°Well, y¡¯know, for you to come back after seven years solely to confess to a love you¡¯ve held for just as long, you don¡¯t seem as devastated as I imagined. If I was in your position, I would¡¯ve holed up somewhere for a few weeks before being able to see anyone at school again. You¡¯re so clean, Mayumi.¡±


    Hearing such frank characterization from an outsider, Mayumi couldn¡¯t help but give a self-deprecating laugh.


    ¡°Heh, what was that? ¡®Clean¡¯? You sound like you¡¯re ten years older than me.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. I¡¯ve always been on the older side of things.¡±


    Cecilia pouted for a moment, but instantly returned to her deep thoughts and continued.


    ¡°What makes you strong? Strong enough to both start and end it all?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, how should I say this? I appreciate the sentiment, but I only seem strong because I was given a shove. Remember, it was Mira who asked me to return in the first place. If I was never reminded of it, I would never have returned to Korolev.¡±


    ¡°But you wanted to do it, right? You only ever do things you want, and that¡¯s why you never half-ass anything. I can¡¯t be like you in that way.¡±


    ¡°Haha, do I look that amazing? I¡¯m flattered.¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s cheeks tickled pink at the praise, and in it Cecilia saw why people¡¯s blindspots were always themselves. It didn¡¯t surprise her, but it did make her feel¡ªnot exactly belittled, but¡ªeven more beneath Mayumi as a person, and more importantly, as a girl. Mayumi was the kind of girl Cecilia always wanted to become. For real, if she was in Kato¡¯s position, she would¡¯ve taken this humble and kind-hearted girl for herself in a heartbeat.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the confidence in myself to commit to anything. It makes everything I do half-assed, and I end up causing problems for everyone, like with Anne and Liam.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry, Celia, but I think you¡¯re giving me a little too much credit. I¡¯m not as strong as you think I am.¡±


    ¡°If not, then you¡¯re at least stronger than me plenty. That, you have sufficient credit for.¡±


    Mayumi smiled gently, mirroring Cecilia¡¯s pose.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a competition. It¡¯s all relative, y¡¯know? I may seem strong today, but that¡¯s because you didn¡¯t see me when I wasn¡¯t strong.


    ¡°Remember what had brought this all on? My half-assed commitment to Caius¡¯s feelings. If I had the guts to tell him I don¡¯t see him that way, then everything would¡¯ve resolved itself. I might be together with Kato today, or I might have suffered a rejection just as terrible, and the Elites could¡¯ve disbanded a long time ago.


    ¡°All I¡¯m doing right now¡ªas you say, not half-assing everything¡ªis to absolve myself of the crimes I¡¯ve committed. That¡¯s why I¡¯ll continue to love Kato, even if he¡¯ll never love me again. If I let go of this feeling, I feel like I will lose myself and repeat these mistakes over and over, and I can¡¯t be doing that, now, can I?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this¡­to remain who I am. To remain true to myself. That¡¯s why I did whatever I could to get Kato to be true to me, to seek and accept his and the Elites¡¯ judgment for my sins.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you¡¯ve strung everyone along with you for the ride?¡±


    ¡°Well, of course. I did say I have unfinished business with the Elites. All of them.¡±


    ¡°Are they finished, yet?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I may have sounded like a condescending preacher just now, but as you know, I¡¯m avoiding Kato right now just to keep myself sane. Even if I don¡¯t need to hole myself up, I¡¯m just as every bit a coward as anybody else. Does that seem strong to you, Celia?¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s smile faded as her eye fell, and Cecilia felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she realized that she had misunderstood Mayumi. Her front was her way of coping with her inner turmoil, and Cecilia had mistaken it for strength because it was the opposite of her own way of dealing with her cowardice. She firmly grabbed Mayumi¡¯s hands with her own.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t realize sooner. I didn¡¯t mean to make you talk about things that were difficult for you, Mayumi.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t mind it, Celia. I¡¯ll need to talk about it at some point and articulate it to myself, or else I¡¯ll explode. I should be thanking you.¡±


    ¡°Kato doesn¡¯t deserve a wholesome soul like yours. Can I be your husband, Mayumi?¡±


    Cecilia brought Mayumi¡¯s hands to her own face, cuddling it softly. Mayumi giggled.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve heard that from a girl.¡±


    Mayumi caressed Cecilia¡¯s face in return, brushing away the loose hair strands that so often fell over the front.


    ¡°So don¡¯t beat yourself up over things like with the autolights, or with the kid you stood up for in first year. There¡¯re plenty of unfairness and injustices in the world, but only one of you, so take care of yourself. And if that¡¯s the kind of person you are and strive to be, then don¡¯t doubt yourself and go for it. You might have to suffer the consequences of those actions, but I¡¯d take those any day if the only alternative was to lose yourself.¡±


    Cecilia¡¯s eyes widened. She could hear echoes of Stephen¡¯s words in Mayumi¡¯s.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re so obsessed with Auxirian Idiot in the first place, right? In essence, Tommy¡¯s finding a purpose for himself and his existence, but at the end of his journey he wound up back where he started: in his hometown. He couldn¡¯t throw himself away, as much as he tried to in the underbelly. He returned, battered and ruined, but in a way better headspace compared to when he initially left Sunnyville. He found out who he was, and decided it was worth sticking to himself, than to pretend to be someone he isn¡¯t. What about you, Celia?¡±


    She was stunned. She still couldn¡¯t believe how succinct Mayumi was with her words, and people thought Cecilia¡¯s demeanour was already mature beyond her years. She could feel the full weight of Mayumi¡¯s past in her simple question; carrying with it the pain and struggles of a typical edgy teenager like Cecilia herself¡ªa pain that Mayumi had endured and came to her own answer for.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know yet. But thanks to you, I want to make it somewhere now. I can¡¯t be running away from it forever.¡±


    Mayumi grinned. She could see light returning to Cecilia¡¯s gloomy eyes and it warmed her heart. If her experiences helped anybody just a little bit, then it gave meaning to her taking the long, beaten path down life.


    ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡±


    <hr>


    The students in the music room were stunned. At the back of it were several desks pulled in from the neighbouring classroom to make a well-formed row for the judges of the talent show¡¯s auditioning panel to sit at, and they were taken aback, even disgusted, by the unexpectedly splendid performance that had just unfolded before them.


    ¡°How was that possible?¡±


    The usual sea of chairs and music stands were put aside to one wall to make space for the auditioning hopefuls in the centre, where many, many have fallen to the wayside under the tense and often unreasonable scrutiny of the panel. Mona was one such extreme judge, but her five other prot¨¦g¨¦s were no slouches either. They were determined to make the talent show a success, so they held no quarter for sloppy or repeated performances.


    Case in point, usually only one or two students were truly capable of speed painting or mural work, so these types of performances were easy to provision. However, other types of performances, like the display of a band, had many more applicants and it was a fierce competition to choose the single one that would occupy that area of talent showing. No self-respecting talent show would display the same talents more than once, so there was no room for discussion. Even a star-studded group of students could be culled, if they were only second-best in their talents that year.


    However, the music students of Class B eventually¡ªalmost last minute in fact¡ªdecided to not participate in the talent show this year, allowing the talent show to squeeze in an extra musical performance. Usually, the music, drama, and art departments were provisioned their own time slots separate from the plebeians, so the panel allowed another performance from the general student body of the same type as the ones that these departments decided to make. With the music department taking a break, someone else had to replace them.


    And so the five Elites in the spotlight, Kato, Alice, Eon, Yui and Franco, had a much better chance to get themselves into the talent show. The two stars of Class F were in front on guitar, the silent one on bass, the half on support and percussion, and the idiot on drums. And they made an impressionable performance in front of the Mona faction¡¯s elites and the Class B jury who were lined up on the side.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this¡­¡±


    Because of the presence of the Class B jury, there was no way the AC could deny, neither genuinely nor with ulterior motivation, that this was more than qualified to replace the music department¡¯s ticket in the talent show. Their band leader and coincidentally the student council treasurer piped up immediately.


    ¡°Mona, I believe they can perform just as great as, if not better than, us in the talent show. You don¡¯t have any complaints about this level of play, do you?¡±


    ¡°No. If Madam Chancellor says so, then I have no complaints. And even to amateur ears like mine, this is already way more than what¡¯s expected of high school students.¡±


    Mona was, while unsurprised, still infuriated with the fact that Kato was able to pull this off. Her face twitched with indignation, emotionally unable to accept that someone she hated had definitively made the cut.


    ¡°I want to add that the drums need some work, but it¡¯ll already be nitpicking at this point. There¡¯s no problem with this performance.¡±


    While Bianca gave a little jab at Franco, whose head drooped in reply, what she didn¡¯t explicitly state was even more amazing, and because of how amazing it was she didn¡¯t want to aggravate Mona¡¯s already agitated state further.


    Alice was a straight-A¡¯s student through and through, and was a bona fide student of music on top of that, so to say her skills were unparalleled would be understating it. Bianca herself considered Alice to be her peer, and Bianca was considered Korolev Senior¡¯s second-most talented music student behind Mirabelle.


    Kato was a technical genius to start with because of his physical superiority and his herculean training to become a Heart, so it was a cinch for him to learn all of Alice¡¯s techniques when it came to playing the actual instruments. His physicality simply didn¡¯t allow him to play the wrong notes, tempo, or dynamics.


    Eon, while never been a music student, was a straight-A¡¯s student like Alice, and had the natural talent to pick up new things easily. It wouldn¡¯t immediately reward him, but in time he could become an expert at the craft of his choosing.


    Without Caius on keyboard, Yui had to at least fill in on supporting the crew with backing tracks and percussions like xylophones and triangles, which Caius would have been in charge of.


    And finally, Franco had the same crazy level of physical superiority as Kato to lean on as a crutch to get the technical abilities on par with his to-be peers. He didn¡¯t have any particular talent towards music, and he lived a normal, average life without a draconian martial arts training regimen to sharpen his technicals, but it was still more than enough to get a passing grade.


    ¡°So? Is it decided? I¡¯m gonna leave.¡±


    Eon said frankly as he packed his bass up and into its case, and handed it over to Alice in front of him. Wasting no time, he immediately picked up his school bag and slung it over himself as he marched towards the classroom door without a word or glance back at his friends. You could say he stormed off silently.


    Alice didn¡¯t even flinch at Eon¡¯s cold attitude as it was the case for some time now, while the panel and jury were too busy with themselves to pay attention to the slammed door. As annoying as Eon¡¯s attitude was, there was no going around this issue. The three of them were the original Elites, so it was natural for Eon to side with Mayumi¡ªthough it was more than just age-old brotherhood that motivated Eon, nor was he entirely on the other side.


    ¡°Sorry, Alice. I¡¯m going to go after him for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    In a similar fashion, he left his guitar in Alice¡¯s care as well, who was at a loss as to what she should do in this cold war. She stood firmly on Kato¡¯s side as she was closest to him, and it was painful to watch Kato¡¯s desperation like this with no method of intervention.


    ¡°Observing, my ass. Eon clearly has some stake in this debacle.¡±


    Remembering their conversation some time ago, Eon never actually said he would observe, and only observe. On the other hand, he truly didn¡¯t have any skin in the game, and he didn¡¯t know what he could do to salvage the situation even if he had any. His remarks were more of a description of what happened the previous time, than what Eon wanted to do.


    While Alice was frustrated at her powerlessness and Eon¡¯s pompous attitude, she was glad that this time around he was able to find what he could do other than just observe. It was part of why he was staying on with them to play in the talent show despite the rift between them and Kato¡ªafter all, it was only after Kato¡¯s pleading that Eon agreed to help out on his plan. In other words, Eon thought it had a chance to work.


    ¡°Eon!¡±


    They were already at their lockers by the time Kato was able to catch up to him. It was technically after school, but only classes had finished; clubs were still ongoing, which meant that there were still some students loitering in the atrium.


    ¡°Eon, you¡¯ll get them to do it, right? Get them both to watch us in the talent show.¡±


    A little out of breath because Kato rushed over without thinking, he stopped and clutched a locker handle next to him. Eon was already dumping his belongings into his locker, and was almost ready to depart for the auditorium.


    ¡°Well, yes, of course. That¡¯s what I agreed to, right? I¡¯m playing in the band to give them a reason to.¡±


    The eyes behind his polarized glasses were strained and red, almost as if he had been tearing up just now, but of course the glasses obscured it from Kato and all he could make out was that he had a pained look on his face.


    ¡°Thank you for putting up with me, Eon. Truly. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d do without you to¡ª¡±


    Then, Eon instantly slammed Kato against the locker and held him by the lapels. His victim was shocked, more at Eon¡¯s reaction than the physical entanglement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking say anything here, Kato. Wait until you¡¯ve done all that you could, before preaching to me how grateful you are of me. I don¡¯t deserve any of it, and you don¡¯t need to preach.¡±


    Kato remained silent, just as he was asked to. He watched Eon let go of his grip and slowly take off his glasses, revealing a pair of rainbow-coloured eyes that were swelled from crying, and bloodshot from fatigue and a lack of sleep.


    ¡°Seriously. You needa chill on that goodie-two-shoes act of yours, even though I know these are your true feelings. It hurts us, but not in the way it normally goes. It hurts us, because we¡¯re not as good as you at it by a long shot. We¡¯re terrible friends.¡±


    Eon confessed miserably. He looked down at their feet and continued quietly under his breath.


    ¡°It hurts us because we don¡¯t deserve your friendship, a friend as loyal as you. We hate ourselves for not being able to meet your expectations, and we hate you for choosing us to be your friends. We can¡¯t bring ourselves to meet you eye to eye because you¡¯re so high above us, and we can¡¯t bring ourselves to forgive you for our own selfish reasons, even though you¡¯ve done nothing objectively wrong. This is all so fucked up. So fucked up. How can you be so loyal to us, Kato? Why are you such a good friend? The best estranged friend?¡±


    Right at his last utterance, a reference to the song they just played together, Kato somehow knew what happened earlier. Eon had cried in relief when Mona passed their audition.


    ¡°How could you be like this? With Caius and Mayumi here and now, and the same seven years ago? How could you still be¡­?¡±


    Eon clumsily wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. He was an emotional guy, but he was never teary. He backed off from Kato, leaning on the opposite locker in a dejected slump.


    ¡°¡­the same faithful friend that you are, back when it was about me and Bia?¡±


    The penny dropped for Kato. He now understood why Eon snapped at him with such a raw outburst. He clenched his fists to wear down on the restlessness in his throat that compelled him to speak out. There was no further discussion to be had here. He would hear it out after everything was over.


    Eon went back to his locker to close and lock it shut before he marched brusquely in the opposite direction from where they came, towards the auditorium, leaving Kato behind in a daze. He slipped down to the floor, running his fingers through his hair in distress. He desperately hoped that his plan would work out, or else he wouldn¡¯t know how to face Caius, Mayumi, or even Eon ever again.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what this is about, huh, Madam Chancellor? I didn¡¯t know Eon carried a torch for you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he did.¡±


    Bianca said curtly, to which Mona next to her spared only a fleeting glance before taking her leave, peeling herself away from their snooping from behind a concrete pillar. Mona was about to sink another bite into her nominal adversary, but thought better than to get involved at this stage of the game. Curiously, she was somewhat interested in their situation, both personally and pragmatically, because of Mirabelle¡¯s presence in all of this, so she decided to remain a silent bystander for now.


    ¡°Wait. Does it have anything to do with what happened back when you¡­?¡±


    Alice trailed off, unsure of how to put into words to refer that particular incident she had not seen nor was a part of, but nonetheless Bianca nodded sombrely at the Rinian girl who also joined their peeping squad. The rest of the Elites remained in the music room to pack up.


    ¡°Are you going to do anything about it?¡±


    ¡°Do anything? I haven¡¯t done anything about it for years now. Well, I¡¯m looking out for myself, just like Mayumi is. In that vein, I¡¯m also as terrible a friend as what Eon had described.¡±


    Bianca gave a wry smile and began to leave as Mona had, and Alice followed suit. There was no reason for Alice to remain either, as she felt Kato was indescribably unapproachable at the moment. Right now, he was a Kato that she knew of only through stories told by him and his peers; not the one he presented to her of his own volition. Strangely, she didn¡¯t want to truly get to know it because it would presuppose that she fucked up somewhere along the line, too.


    ¡°Is Eon really going to help us out?¡±


    ¡°Of course, he is. He¡¯s got a reason to. You only know the grade nine story from Kato¡¯s perspective, right? And only the end of the story, too. A lot happened before that, and Eon was way more than just loosely involved, as much as he tries to make himself out to be. From Kato¡¯s perspective it makes sense, as he saw them as two separate, though sequential, incidents, and for the record, I did as well. But to some others involved, they might not see it that way.¡±


    ¡°What? What happened?¡±


    Aghast, Alice pressed for an answer, but to no avail.


    ¡°That¡¯s a story for Eon to tell, not me.¡±


    ¡°Haaaaaah? That¡¯s not fair, Bianca! Now I want to know more! Tell me!¡±


    ¡°Ahahaha! Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s just an old war story at this point, and there¡¯s actually very little in it on anyone still here with us, except Eon. It¡¯s really all about him, so if you wanna know, you¡¯ve got to ask him. It¡¯s really for him to tell from start to finish.¡±


    ¡°You make it sound really trivial, and you know that, weirdly, the more trivial something is, the less inclined he¡¯ll be with telling you about it. As an irascible person myself, that idiotic part of him is quite irascible, I daresay.¡±


    They both laughed as they locked arms, striding across the atrium towards the music room once more. Somehow they had become a little closer despite their conflicting positions, and Alice wondered if this was the average Tuesday for the Elites. Living, breathing, and walking together, yet full of contradictions and differences. Alice wanted to understand, so she held Bianca¡¯s hand snugly, affirming her desire to be a part of them.


    On the receiving end of Alice¡¯s feelings, Bianca welcomed it warmly. Perhaps she was open to her because of her earnest sincerity, a feeling that infinitely reminded her of Kato. At the same time, even though Alice was slated to become a nomenklatura who would retain her memories of Kato, Bianca didn¡¯t mind that Alice was particularly fond of him, as many others also had and failed, including herself. That lowbrow, ugly perspective probably made her a terrible friend, but she was also past being crushed under that ugliness. She already had regrets and suffered the consequences, and she was determined to continue to bear them, old and new.


    That was why she insisted on maintaining the status quo; in exchange for her own continued internal strife, she could grasp the arm Alice had extended to her, instead of being separated from each other like Mayumi. Funnily enough, it amused her that even though their approaches were complete opposites, neither her nor Mayumi¡¯s rewarded them with what they wanted. It might be an act of fate that the two of them were chosen for these roles, because she was wholly aware that the main heroine¡¯s challenge had yet to come.

 3.17 The Working Class Hero

    0700. Behind Korolev Senior.


    Although there was only one open entrance to the grounds of Korolev Senior on a normal day, the school building itself had many entrances besides the great front steps. There weren¡¯t that many nooks and corners, but shrubbery was plenty and this was where they gathered one by one, trickling onto the school grounds independently to dissuade the attention of any casual observers.


    The two boys yawned, however, in contrast to the two girls on high alert. They were about to commit a petty crime, after all¡ªat least in the eyes of the school. Cecilia constantly wondered what kind of disciplinary action the school would make in response, as this was more than just mere tardiness. Terrifyingly, the others gave it little thought.


    ¡°Do you really wanna come with us? We can do it on our own, Celia.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no. This is something that¡¯s being done for me. I have to take responsibility for that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying! There¡¯s less chance of discovery and a better fake alibi if you weren¡¯t here!¡±


    ¡°We went over this already, Mayumi. It¡¯s not a secret that we¡¯re all friends with Celia here, especially not to Class C, so it doesn¡¯t matter if she¡¯s here or not.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    Caius interjected to silence the objecting Mayumi, tucking in his knapsack close to him as they crouched in a circle among the cramped bushes. The fresh morning air stung his nose and was itching to get inside as quickly as possible, but there were a few more pieces to the plan to put in place before they could enter.


    While school opened at six-thirty every day to invite morning-going students to come and prepare for class or to attend extracurriculars, not all classrooms were accessible from the get-go. Though there were no limits to accessibility technically speaking, in practice they were limited to whoever had the keys arrived and unlocked the classroom first. If you had a homeroom teacher who consistently arrived at school just before the bell, then tough luck¡ªyou wouldn¡¯t be able to use your homeroom for any of your morning routines.


    For extracurriculars, generally the responsible teacher would make a commitment to arrive first and unlock all the necessary rooms, but oftentimes these efforts could be delegated to a trusted student. Kato was doing exactly that for the third music room for a few weeks, and the Elites themselves were in their fourth floor mini-studio since.


    They held five keys in total: one for Class 3-F homeroom, one for their fourth floor studio, one for access to the rooftop, one general master key for the regular classrooms, and one master key for office equipment and electronics. One of them was not necessary as the other Elites were likely almost there on the fourth floor to start their daily routine, but the others were necessary to secure their insurance.


    ¡°In essence, all we need is Mayumi to be near Class 3-C¡¯s classroom, probably best from the girls¡¯ washroom across from it, and start using her future sight to write down answers into her notebook. To make sure we avoid being suspected and discovered, we have to prepare for certain contingencies.¡±


    Caius tossed each of them a walkie-talkie¡ªthe same set of electronics from when they used it to crush Class 3-F¡¯s Ethan Henderson and his extortion streak against Yui. Caius¡¯ father was a reservist and had a whole platoon¡¯s worth of personal squad equipment; since they lived in a detached house, there was enough space to reliably store them.


    ¡°The ultimate evidence against us is a positive readout from a Teller sonograph. We have to ensure that no such machines are running, however unlikely they are to be running at this time of the day. In any case, the discretionary use of self-originating alchemy is prohibited on school grounds, and future sight is in such a category, so on top of using it to cheat on an exam, we¡¯d better cover our tracks completely.¡±


    On a side note, because there was no realistic way to prevent Mayumi from using her future sight besides sealing her in a closed off white room with a Teller sonograph equipped with an exorbitant amount of cata-papers, schools had to implement rules around Mayumi instead. Usually, that meant Mayumi always had her own set of exams to write, different from her peers, and a Teller sonograph running for the duration of the examination.


    ¡°Mayumi will go in first through a back door and lay in wait in the said washroom. The point is to not have any witnesses or evidence of you being here at all.¡±


    He motioned to Eon¡¯s guitar case on the grass turf.


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go in through a different back door to start work on the third floor immediately. It¡¯s a lot more work, after all. Eon will then enter from the front and sit on the fourth floor, as if you¡¯re going in for practice as usual. You¡¯ll put this away in the studio, but instead of practicing with the Elites, you¡¯ll be patrolling the fourth floor.


    ¡°Finally, Celia will enter from the back through another different door and begin patrolling the second floor. Neither I nor Celia has as solid an alibi as Eon¡¯s to loiter on these floors, so we likely can only make limited patrols. If Celia was going to patrol the third floor, she could use the library as an alibi, but the third floor is exactly where she should not be when Mayumi does the deed, so that can¡¯t be helped. We¡¯ll just have to be careful. I can stick to my homeroom, and Celia can stick to the second floor washrooms.¡±


    A Teller sonograph¡¯s detection range varies from device to device, but most desktop versions can only measure laterally in a fifty feet radius, like a circular disc, with the depth limited to about seven to nine feet. At first glance, it might seem like only patrolling the third floor was needed, but the detection area¡¯s disc could be oriented onto another axis, meaning the classrooms directly above and below could also house Teller sonographs. Technically, larger sonographs had larger, different detection ranges, but they could only form contingencies for the portable versions. If the enemy had larger sonographs, which was very unlikely for a mere secondary school institution, then hats off to them.


    ¡°The three of us will perform a first sweep of the floors around the area of Celia¡¯s homeroom, double check, and report if any classrooms in the vicinity have anyone in them operating a Teller sonograph.¡±


    There was a problem, and that was if the would-be snoopers locked themselves inside a classroom. They had already pilfered a general master key from the student council¡¯s office, but there was only one of it, so it could only follow one person. Plus, if there really was an ongoing stakeout, they would immediately alert each other the moment they unlocked the door. While they could call off the exam-cheating, they would have another problem to deal with: to explain why they were there and have stolen a master key. So, even with a master key, using it came with its own headaches. Honestly, there were many, many things that could go wrong.


    ¡°If no one¡¯s seen us, then we continue patrolling. However, if anyone did see us, those of us who were seen would have to retreat to their base and wait a few minutes before setting off to patrol again. It¡¯ll be way too suspicious for us to be out in the hallways for too long, continuously peeking into classrooms like stalkers.¡±


    This was more for Cecilia and Caius himself, as they were patrolling the second and third floors. The fourth was supposed to be mostly vacant.


    ¡°Mayumi will normally take a few minutes to copy down a question and a skeleton answer to it, so for a good chunk of the exam, she¡¯ll need about ten to fifteen minutes of time. By seven-thirty, we¡¯ll be done with it, and for another thirty minutes, we¡¯ll have to continue to patrol before the affected mana fields dissipate into the ether, though technically we can relax as soon as she¡¯s done. It¡¯s more for insurance than anything else.¡±


    The residual fields would linger for a while, but by themselves they were way harder to trace to Mayumi¡¯s future sight. They were like footprints, but had been thoroughly washed out any details of the outsoles. For this, they already had the perfect alibi.


    ¡°So, are we clear with the plan?¡±


    Mayumi, Eon and Cecilia stared back intently and nodded in unison. They spent the last week scouting out the area and preparing this operation, so they were as anxious as they were determined to see this through. Caius nodded in return.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.


    <hr>


    As they had planned, Eon had walked through the front doors just as he did on any day, made a detour to his locker to put down his schoolwork, and headed to the fourth floor with his guitar case. The other Elites weren¡¯t there yet, but they would be shortly.


    While Eon stalked the floor and peered into each of the dark and empty classrooms, he pondered for a moment whether their plan was going to succeed. According to Mayumi, this was mere child¡¯s play for her back in Regia Miriam, but there was a reason why this was the Eternian school. Thankfully, Eon was in a position to salvage any impossible situation that could come up, but it would be at an immense cost to Eon, so he was adamant that they prepared as much as possible.


    Each swinging metal door had long, vertical rectangular glass windows on the doorknob¡¯s side, while sliding doors had standard square windows situated in the centre at eyes height. Each classroom had at least two doors, and most, if not the whole of the classroom was supposed to be viewable from these doors¡¯ windows, as classrooms were purposefully engineered to do so as a preventative measure against accidents or suspicious acts. Students were not allowed to obscure these windows, real accidents could be discovered quicker, and students had less uncovered corners of the school to do stupid things.


    Lights on or off, they would be able to see anyone using a portable Teller sonograph as the school¡¯s were motorized and not battery-powered, meaning they absolutely needed to be plugged into a socket, and a regular classroom had a limited number of sockets for obvious reasons. And while the sonograph itself was typewriter-sized, small enough to be partially concealed with effort, it consumed too many sheets of cata-paper to not be noticeable. It would print out rolls upon rolls of dot-matrix cata-paper, at around twelve sheets per minute of operation. In other words, it was supposed to be quite a conspicuous operation.


    It wasn¡¯t a surefire guarantee they could see it operating, and anyone on an intentional stakeout who gave some thought ahead could take appropriate countermeasures, but it was the best they could do on their own. They were in fact more worried about someone using the device in a science room by coincidence rather than a deep-state conspiracy against Mayumi.


    ¡°The coast is clear on the fourth floor.¡±


    Meanwhile on the second floor, Cecilia did the same to the area beneath her homeroom, which consisted of a few other second-year classes and classrooms belonging to the humanities department. There were also a few club rooms to peek into, which on the surface seem like better stakeout locations, but actually these smaller rooms had even less sockets available. The best stakeout locations were probably the janitors¡¯ storage rooms, but those were places even the student council didn¡¯t have the keys to, so unless the school had a direct hand in such a sting operation, or their enemies in fact stole them from the faculty, they needn¡¯t worry about these rooms.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°The second floor should be clear.¡±


    Caius made a sweep of the third floor, but for a much wider number of classrooms than what was required from the second or fourth floors. He took the liberty of using the general master key to quickly verify the regular classrooms without lights on. If worse comes to worst, he and Eon would have to lean on Ariel¡¯s grace to worm out of any sticky situation.


    ¡°The third floor is clear.¡±


    However, by the time he finished one cycle, there was already a trickle of students filtering into the school. People came in the morning for various reasons, and since the library was on the third floor, it definitely was a legitimate destination for these early-risers. Caius would have used it as his hideout if his own classroom wasn¡¯t closer to the epicentre of the crime.


    As Caius retreated to his classroom, he spotted Kato and his household across the atrium¡¯s opening climb up the spiral staircase. He paused for only a second, but he continued to stride for his classroom. His task at hand was to do almost the same sweep of this area five minutes later, after which any student who could have seen him on the first round, should have made it to their destinations.


    However, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little lonely, even jealous, that the other Elites were continuing with their music practice and putting a show on their own. He wanted to participate in it just as much as the rest of them, but at the same time he couldn¡¯t find it in him to face Kato again, or to reconsider his allegiance to Mayumi. He knew that his feelings would never be reciprocated, yet he felt compelled to forge down this fruitless path at the expense of everything else¡ªincluding his most loyal friend.


    Ah, I¡¯m still madly in love with her, he admitted to himself. The rational part of his brain told him to let go of the past, but alas, every time Mayumi¡¯s face surfaced in his mind, his heart twisted once more and was again convinced against it. As he sat down in his usual seat in his empty homeroom, he wondered if he would ever break free from this curse.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be starting now.¡±


    Mayumi began using her eye, warping her consciousness into the familiar low-resolution tunnel vision of her future sight. Although looking more than a minute into the future required immense concentration and skill, she was more than practiced to do it¡ªnot easily, though, as the recoiling fatigue would show. Even if it was an ability she could only use sparingly, she still was not a notorious cheater back in Regia Miriam for nothing, using her future sight to both cheat on tests and crush her enemies within the school.


    While self-originating alchemy was forbidden in any school, it worked analogous to a prohibition; if you could get away with it, you did. Alchemy was forbidden to prevent students from blowing up the school, but her future sight didn¡¯t have any physical effects, so without a Teller sonograph, it was impossible to levy any accusation against her. The only difference in Korolev Senior was that it was a little more likely to be spotted.


    She dove a few hours into the future, a formidable feat by any metric, and waded into the nearby 3-C homeroom to check the class writing its exam. As if she was the all-seeing game master floating a pair of invisible eyes above the class, she could see clearly the questions and answers on the exam of every student. Like a videocassette, she fast-forwarded to near the end of the period and paused, where she could peek at everyone¡¯s near-complete exams.


    It was a simple operation. Mayumi would pick out a question, survey the class for their answers, and pick out both the question and the most common answer among them. In most cases, having knowing the question in advance was already a massive advantage, but having the most common answer also had its merits as a way of deciphering what kind of answer was expected.


    However, as hard as she might try, using her power for something so specific was very difficult. Though her visions were much clearer than an average person¡¯s dreams, the cognitive latency and forgetfulness effects were roughly equivalent to awakenings from dreams during the final phase of REM sleep. While it was easy to accurately recall select conversations or eye-catching scenery, it was hard to recall things that normally required calm and concentration¡ªlike the details of a written examination. Dreams were a sea of turbulence in one¡¯s mind, after all.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    For good or for ill, though, Mayumi practiced this for years. To account for the inevitable forgetfulness effects of waking up from a dream, she would usually memorize one sentence at a time, return to reality to write it down, and dive back into her future sight to the same location in space and time to read off the next sentence. Since each of her forages to the future were instantaneous to the outside world, she could be seen writing answers in her notebook continuously, but Mayumi¡¯s consciousness would experience close to an hour of dream time in order to copy down a few questions. It was like clockwork.


    But of course, it took a toll on her person to dive back and forth continuously like that, and for that far into the future. It didn¡¯t get any easier as she got older, and experience could only extend her resistances to the backlash fatigue so far. It was still much better than when her eye was destructive and incomplete, but it didn¡¯t mean it was sunshine and rainbows now. Her hands trembled and sweat flowed out profusely. The migraine you would usually get from sleeping in for too long was hitting her like a truck, threatening to break the concentration required to dive again and again three-and-something hours into the future.


    A few minutes later, as Mayumi was writing down a draft answer for the first question, both Caius and Cecilia got out of their hideouts to patrol the halls again. Caius would take much more time to do a once-over, so their sweep timings would be out of sync after this. Eon remained on the balcony of the fourth floor, ever vigilant of randoms in the wrong places at the wrong time.


    ¡°Still, nothing¡¯s here on the second floor.¡±


    Peeking into the fifth dark and locked classroom, Caius was about to leave for the next one until suddenly, the lights turned on and revealed more clearly the science lab it hosted. More importantly, though, two familiar students were visible in the lab, and Caius was instantly doused in cold sweat. This was exactly what they had feared.


    One of them returned to the other¡ªpresumably from turning on the lights¡ªwho was busy with something behind a stack of textbooks on one of the lab counters. Each countertop had sockets and sinks, and by the looks of the occupied socket the other man was operating motorized equipment.


    ¡°Everyone, this is code orange. Emergency. Stop what you¡¯re doing and come to the third floor, now.¡±


    Caius murmured into his walkie-talkie, though clearly frantic from the shaking in his voice. If this was a false alert, then getting Mayumi to come over to confirm that wouldn¡¯t cost them anything but a couple of minutes; she would use her future sight to peek into the classroom and try to infer what they were doing. If it was truly a conspiracy against them came true, then they would¡¯ve already captured enough evidence already, and any more mana field disturbances wouldn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Impressively, in under fifteen seconds, Mayumi had bolted from the washroom stall, sprinted to where Caius was and hissed into his ear. She was obviously irritated by the dizziness from using her future sight. He pointed to the door¡¯s rectangular window.


    ¡°Look. It¡¯s Liam and Stephen behind that stack of textbooks, operating some kind of machine. It¡¯s gotta be it.¡±


    She didn¡¯t like a single word coming out of his mouth. Mayumi immediately smudged her face to the window to try and peek into the science lab, and at the same time use her future sight to peer further into it; into areas out of sight of normal eyes. It really was like a cheat. In no time, she peeled away to face Caius in sweat and terror.


    ¡°They¡¯re operating a Teller sonograph.¡±


    So their fear had come to pass. At the same time, Eon and Cecilia arrived together by coincidence, both catching their breaths.


    ¡°It¡¯s code red. The operators are Liam and Stephen.¡±


    Caius explained curtly as they huddled close together, still whispering in hushed tones even though there was literally nobody else around. Cecilia hung her head in despair as she was already overwhelmed thinking of what could happen to Mayumi for cheating. Eon¡¯s face was etched in stone, clearly perturbed by the worst-case scenario unfolding in front of them.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    Mayumi asked the other three, but none had a good answer to say aloud. It wasn¡¯t that they hadn¡¯t planned for this, but their available courses of action from here on out were rather limited and costly. There was only one real way to move forward at this point. Eon nodded at Mayumi, to which she also nodded solemnly.


    ¡°We¡¯re going with a raid, obviously. Are you all ready?¡±


    The other two nodded, though Cecilia¡¯s eyes widened in horror. They were about to do things that would normally get them suspended, but because this school was run by students, there was always an avenue around the norm. It was just a matter of hitting the mark, and they were about to gamble on it¡ªjust like with everything else they did.


    ¡°Eon, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s.¡±


    Eon stripped away his glasses to reveal his rainbow-coloured eyes and initiated his own future sight as Mayumi did the same.


    It was their trump card. Compared to Mayumi¡¯s, Eon¡¯s clairvoyance was so much more powerful that it would overwhelm Mayumi¡¯s on the Teller sonograph, not unlike radio interference. Now, they just needed to make sure that any measurements from before Eon used his clairvoyance, were removed and shredded.


    Unlike Mayumi¡¯s clairvoyance, however, from the start Eon¡¯s abilities were whole and complete. It was not destructive on his body, it didn¡¯t create long-term health complications, and it could truly be activated at will. The reason he wore polarized glasses was for tuning down the ultra-sharpness in image quality that his clairvoyant eyes gave, and to filter out the vibrant visualization of the sixth sense¡ªthe mana fields of the ether. In a sense, his natural vision was essentially the holy grail of Teller sonographs.


    However, he still suffers from the backlash of using his abilities, similar to how Mayumi becomes fatigued, but many times worse because his powers were simply too potent. It was not uncommon for him to be bedridden after using his powers.


    He did not enter visions through dreamlike trances. The accuracy and quality of his future sight were many times greater than Mayumi¡¯s, and there were no side effects upon returning from the trance. In fact, it was no different from watching a television programme, complete with freely manoeuvrable three-dimensional vantage points and timeline controls.


    While Eon was also forbidden from using future sight on school grounds, because of the sorry state he would get himself into for using it in any significant capacity, the most he would get from the school was a light reprimand. Compared to Mayumi, who had a very sketchy academic record that was rather thoroughly documented, he could take a few hits before the authorities realized what was going on, they concluded together.


    Quite importantly, Eon¡¯s powers could see beyond the event horizon. This meant that observable events dependent on random chance, such as revealing cards from a randomly shuffled deck, was something Eon could see straight through, unlike with Mayumi. It was a game-breaking power, though causality was usually preserved by knocking him out unconscious depending on how much he saw and how much knowledge he gained; the greater the deviation was from the predetermined arrows of time, the longer he would remain comatose.


    Luckily, he needed not to look beyond the event horizon this time around. There were only a few predetermined future paths to take, and Eon needed to peek into the consequences of the decisions they were about to make¡ªand Mayumi was doing the same.


    They considered having Mayumi to arrive even earlier to scout out the entire place using her future sight, but doing so for each and every room for at least an hour and a half into the future was just too much for her to handle. Just inspecting the few neighbouring classrooms were enough, they thought, before Mayumi would be too tired out from carrying out the actual deed.


    Only a second later, they both returned from their dream worlds drenched in sweat. They stared at each other as they panted exhaustedly at using their powers, and when they noticed each other glancing at Cecilia at the same time, mutual understanding flashed across their eyes. Eon¡¯s consciousness was struggling already, and he had a few minutes left before he would collapse from the backlash. They both saw only one path forward that would favour them, and they quickly approached Cecilia together.


    ¡°¡­is something wrong?¡±


    She questioned hesitantly as the two of them loomed over her; figuratively since Mayumi was much shorter than Cecilia. They both nodded at her, and Mayumi put a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take care of all the rest. For you, we need you to do just one thing, and only you can do it. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll work out, okay? We saw it already, so you just have to do it.¡±


    After a minute of whispers, Cecilia recoiled at Mayumi¡¯s explanation of her mission, but it made complete sense. It was the best and only way out of what they got themselves into. She didn¡¯t realize what Stephen meant by the consequences of hitching onto the Mayumi wagon, but she did now, and curiously she found that she had no regrets doing so. Cynically, at the end of any trials, really only Mayumi would be punished for pulling a stunt like this, so Cecilia was comfortable to be merely an accessory to Mayumi¡¯s Armageddon; though she worried deeply about how it would manifest. It also called into question why she agreed to do this in the first place, but it was too late to muse about that. For the first time in a long time, she felt alive off the theatre stage, as if she was finally the star of her own story.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it.¡±

 3.18 The Death of St. Timmy

    Fifteen minutes ago.


    ¡°Urgh¡­¡±


    A tired yawn escaped Liam¡¯s mouth as he watched his discontent comrade tinker with the Teller sonograph in front of them. A barrier of textbooks was erected to shield the instrument from sight of the doors as they sat quietly on tall stools around the lab counter. Unfortunately for his comrade, Liam had no intention of aiding him in operating the sonograph.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    And so, Stephen fumed silently as the sonograph began running, spitting out the dot-matrix paper that were the readouts from its probing of the ether.


    Actually, they had been on stakeout for the past exam week, making this routine a little tedious for the two of them. Donovan had ordered these two to stakeout on all days of the third-years¡¯ midterms, just in case. Surprisingly, however, Donovan himself was supposed to come in today, having noted this day being the most likely to find evidence of wrongdoing, and yet he was absent. A curiosity for Stephen, who found himself continually sidelined from the day-to-day operations of the PSC. The organization was slowly being taken over by Class C, and with Gilbert ousted, he could only watch as he anticipated this to be his last job with the PSC.


    Good riddance, too, he thought. While the Gilbert faction might have lost a lot of ground, they were far from down and out. It was up to him, as Gilbert¡¯s right-hand man, to step up and rein in their faction. Sure, they lost a critical lever of power in the school, but with the manoeuvres he had been seeing behind closed doors, including his own manoeuvres, he couldn¡¯t help but be thankful that events turned out better than he imagined. Equipped with twenty-twenty hindsight, he now considered Gilbert¡¯s ousting as a great opportunity rather than a devastating loss to their faction.


    That conniving witch¡­ what does she have planned for this school?


    He cursed under his breath as he recalled the mastermind behind the events in the past month, but at the same time all of this was only possible with her interference. If even Gilbert was willing to dance underneath her thumb, then he had got no other choice, either.


    There was another development in Class A that concerned him, namely the formation of a third faction from the internal rifts in Mona¡¯s, and then absorbing those who left or purged from Gilbert¡¯s. It was an inevitable effect of the current state of affairs. Continued protests led to doubt and questioning of Gilbert and Mona¡¯s leadership of Class A, while the failed siege of Class F had practically blown Gilbert¡¯s coalition into smithereens. These latest developments behind the scenes had worked in a way that allowed this third faction to finally take hold: the breakdown of Gilbert¡¯s authority.


    However, even with Gilbert losing hold of the class, there was still more than enough Class A students who were diehard allies of Gilbert. That was the great reach of Gilbert¡¯s personal charisma. He was a character of integrity, worthy of respect and devotion.


    Additionally, Stephen was relieved that he was able to purge suspicious or unreliable personnel from their faction, making it much harder for an attacker in the future to put on needless pressure and defeat them. Furthermore, he, Gilbert, and Mona were seeing much more ominous movements in the abyss behind them, and it probably transcended their own real life responsibilities, too. He had to admit that that fear had cowed them, and the future problems they foresaw were truly greater than what their capabilities could handle. They were confident that they and their inner circles had more than enough abilities to survive; they didn¡¯t make it to Class A just for show. However, it seemed like the sun had truly set on Class A¡¯s supremacy, even if they were originally just pretenders.


    ¡°Hey, is it working yet?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can tell it is because it¡¯s printing shit out.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right.¡±


    It had been a few times already and Liam was still as unenthused in his tasks as the first day. Stephen essentially performed all the work necessary to get the sonograph running properly, whereas Liam floundered about lackadaisically. It even took a mind or two of Stephen¡¯s to get Liam to stack the simple barrier of textbooks, for crying out loud.


    After the machine started operating, they would then sit in silence for the remainder of the pre-class morning, with the occasional dimwitted remark from Liam, waiting for the first period bell. Of course, they were in different classrooms on different days, based on which around the Class 3-C homeroom were empty in the morning.


    ¡°Don said today¡¯s the day. Is there anything different we oughta do?¡±


    ¡°No, our jobs are the same. Collect the data and hand it to him after we¡¯re done here.¡±


    ¡°I see. Wake me when you need me for something, ¡®kay?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Not like I¡¯ll need your help for anything, Stephen thought as Liam face-planted on the countertop. In any case, Liam didn¡¯t seem to sleep soundly, yesterday waking up quite often in between to ask useless questions. Stephen wondered what quality Donovan saw in this pathetic man that would make him fit for a stakeout mission like this.


    Speaking of Donovan, Stephen really was distracted by the fact that Donovan didn¡¯t show up. He couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the issue, and it weighed on his psyche like a cloud of metallic dust¡ªa sensation so odd that it sent shivers down his spine. As such, he was well aware that Donovan had the chops to qualify as a leader like Gilbert, and therefore Donovan¡¯s absence on this critical day gave him a terrible premonition about what was to transpire. Stephen knew the extent of his abilities, and his absolute limits were that of being merely a right-hand man to a superior dignitary. His unease was justified. He couldn¡¯t figure it out on his own.


    ¡°Dammit¡­¡±


    <hr>


    At the same time, on the fourth floor.


    In a familiar audio-visual studio, the remainder of the Elites of Class F had gathered under a rather sombre atmosphere; instruments were laid out on the carpeted floor, and none of the wannabe musicians heeded any attention to their practice. Instead, they merely idled with apprehension, not unlike awaiting the return of a particularly difficult exam.


    ¡°Well, what do we do now?¡±


    Alice was the first to break the cold silence. She sighed as she watched her friends remain utterly distracted by Eon routinely entering and exiting the studio¡¯s foyer as he patrolled the floor. There was no practice to be done today.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just wait. In any case, we¡¯re fine as we are for the talent show, right?¡±


    When no one spoke up, Yui was the first to give Alice a soft, apologetic reply. Yui looked on worriedly at the other two men, especially Kato, who sat quietly as they stared off into space. Even the ever-positive Franco, who was sat behind the drum set, was uniquely forlorn.


    ¡°I suppose. After our audition was successful, we could go on stage as-is, I guess.¡±


    Alice mused as, like Yui, watched Kato intently. She was, admittedly, almost just as distracted as they were.


    ¡°If there is any consolation, Alice, I think you can take it a little easier on yourself from now on.¡±


    Yui walked over to whisper to Alice, who slacked her shoulders in fatigue. It was true. It wasn¡¯t easy to teach almost complete newbies and get them presentable in such a short time span. That in itself was indicative of Alice¡¯s abilities.


    ¡°Jeez¡­¡±


    Alice quietly stormed out of the recording room and into the foyer, grabbing Yui by the hand and pulling her along. The other two didn¡¯t pay any attention to them leaving.


    ¡°From what you know of them, do you think it¡¯s even possible for them to recover? Even with our performance?¡±


    ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°What? I mean what I mean.¡±


    It was Yui¡¯s turn to ponder curiously.


    ¡°I think it depends on what you mean by ¡®recover¡¯. To you, what scenario can be considered ¡®recovered¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Well, I just want things to go back to normal, right? What else could I mean? And why do you seem so calm about this¡ªrelatively speaking, that is.¡±


    Yui laughed lightly. It was a cute laugh made by a cutie, and Alice didn¡¯t realize Yui had the charm to pull it off until now.


    ¡°I¡¯m not their long-time classmate for nothing. While I¡¯ve only observed them from afar until recently, I¡¯m quite aware of the nature of the drama they constantly get themselves into. I don¡¯t think any of the other long-time classmates would think otherwise, either.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying this is normal?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s normal for friends to get into fights with each other, right? Close friends have fights, because that¡¯s how much they care about each other.¡±


    Alice held her tongue for a short while, but before she was able to continue, Yui started again, which a much more severe expression than moments ago. She hadn¡¯t answered Alice¡¯s initial question yet, and while she intended to, she changed the subject into a bizarre direction first.


    ¡°I heard you intend to stick yourself back into your family business in order to become a nomenklatura on your own.¡±


    ¡°Not only that, but you heard that from me myself.¡±


    Alice dropped a pinch of sarcasm in her retort, immediately softening Yui¡¯s expression again.


    ¡°What concrete steps have you taken so far to achieve that?¡±


    ¡°Huh? What does that have to do with Kato and them?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see the reason later. So, have you done anything about it yet?¡±


    Alice was unconvinced, but her situation wasn¡¯t some secret anyway, so she answered.


    ¡°I¡¯ve made some initial moves. I called some old classmates and acquaintances back in Breisgau that I can trust or are useful to me in the future when I join the business. I guess you can say I¡¯m building my power base, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting. It does sound like a good opening move. Then you should understand that feeling.¡±


    Yui sat down on a cushion chair, and Alice followed her lead. She continued.


    ¡°We know why Mayumi came back to us, right? That Mirabelle had asked her to come back.¡±


    Where was this going? Alice thought.


    ¡°It probably means that there¡¯s some hidden power struggle going on among the power players in our grade, though I think you know of this already. With Mirabelle kicking things off, everything will undoubtedly change.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but I still don¡¯t see the connection to my situation¡­¡±


    ¡°When you made contact with your old classmates again, that¡¯s a signal of the start of something new, correct? Something that¡¯ll inevitably change the trajectory of your life.¡±


    ¡°Well, of course. That¡¯s what¡¯s gonna happen the moment I choose to become a nomenklatura.¡±


    ¡°In our case, we¡¯re also seeing the start of an inevitable change in the trajectory of the Elites, because they¡¯re making the same kinds of choices that you are.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Are you saying they¡¯re joining the nomenklatura too?¡±


    A stupid question rolled off her tongue in haste, but Yui caught it gently.


    ¡°No, not that, but they¡¯re making big decisions relative to the Elites, all right. Not just Mirabelle and Mayumi with their secret agreement, but Caius and Eon too. Eventually, I expect Kato will get roped into this and make a big decision too.¡±


    ¡°What big decisions?¡±


    ¡°Decisions reconsidering their relationship with the Elites, of course.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Alice was a little stumped. Yui was talking about this in quite a roundabout way. While it was quite a serious thing to declare, was it that serious to not have it stated from the start?


    ¡°Caius is, for certain, making a decision on that. Eon is likely doing the same. Mayumi already made a decision about it, and it stands to reason that Mirabelle and Kato are involved in this, the former being the instigator, and the latter suffering the consequences.¡±


    Alice stiffened at the remarks about Mirabelle and Kato. Certainly, that must have been a given, but having it said aloud was a different matter. Yui took a deep breath, sparing a glance at Kato¡¯s figure through the gigantic glass window of the recording room.


    ¡°While Mayumi has likely already decided, I have a feeling that no matter what Kato does here, Caius and Eon will follow Mayumi¡¯s lead. Very likely, there¡¯ll be an irreparable split in the Elites, and we won¡¯t return to the ¡®normal¡¯ that you¡¯ve seen so far.¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s so¡­ selfish!¡±


    Yui smiled gently at Alice¡¯s justified outburst, who was half in disbelief.


    ¡°Remember how I asked you about you joining the nomenklatura? That decision wasn¡¯t a simple one for you, was it?¡±


    ¡°¡­no, it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same degree of significance here. They¡¯re all going through something similar, again, and it never ended with going back to normal.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    When Alice seemed to still be unconvinced, Yui continued.


    ¡°When you decided to join the nomenklatura and started taking steps towards that goal, you¡¯ll be changing your situation and the situation of the people around you, right? In your future, you¡¯ll eventually be entangled with your old classmates more and more, your relationship with Gilbert was already irreversibly changed, and even your relationship with Mirabelle or the Elites be transformed by second- or third-order effects of those. Maybe with more time spent on building your network, you¡¯d have less time for the Elites, and so on.¡±


    Maybe it was good for Yui to have taken the windy route to this explanation after all, Alice thought, otherwise she would have started shouting by now.


    ¡°Okay, I think I get where you¡¯re coming from. Thanks for bearing with me. In that case, are the prospects really that grim?¡±


    Yui smiled again in reciprocation, grateful that Alice realized she was imposing herself a little bit.


    ¡°It was the same before.¡±


    ¡°Not this again¡­¡±


    Alice sighed in exasperation, realizing she was once again, out of the loop. A little stung by the fact that Yui knew much more about the Elites than her, she started again glumly.


    ¡°So, which side will you choose? I think it¡¯s easy to guess that the Elites are fracturing into Kato¡¯s and Mayumi¡¯s groups. I¡¯m obviously following Kato, but you¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to ask. I¡¯ll be following Kato¡¯s lead, of course.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I just thought you might¡¯ve had more history with Mayumi¡¯s group.¡±


    ¡°Everyone in Class F has a history with the Elites. It just so happens that I was more involved with Kato than Mayumi.¡±


    Yui let out a light giggle, thoroughly composed throughout this ordeal. Alice was once again surprised by the different sides her friends possessed. Yui was a lot stronger when it came to emotional adversity, something you couldn¡¯t tell from her outward appearance. Yui seemed to have picked up on Alice¡¯s wondering gaze, and replied gently.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a character flaw of mine. If my sense of self-preservation wasn¡¯t this strong, I wouldn¡¯t survive in the ghetto.¡±


    Then, suddenly, the door outside swung open with a slam. That was when they both realized that Eon had not returned for quite a while since he left for another round of hall monitoring. In addition, it was not Eon who had blasted the door open.


    ¡°Hey, guys! Do you have a sec? It¡¯s sort of an emergency!¡±


    A slightly strange combination of words spilled from Scarlett¡¯s lips, confounding the two allies of Kato sitting there together, wondering what would qualify as ¡°sort of¡± an emergency. Nodding to the pair, Scarlett quickly scanned the area for Kato, to which she rushed over to the studio¡¯s door, opened it and shouted into the room.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Oi! Mira¡¯s back! She¡¯s calling for you guys to come to the student council room!¡±


    All the occupants were momentarily stunned. They did not expect this to happen, and given the current situation, there was little doubt that this absolutely had something to do with Mayumi.


    <hr>


    The science lab, ¡°Chem 1¡±, next to 3-C homeroom.


    The door opened slowly and quietly, and while it prompted Stephen¡¯s attention, he did not immediately react. Seeing it was Cecilia who entered, he froze in place, surprised.


    Cecilia spotted Stephen just as quickly, and as she was prepped with Mayumi and Eon¡¯s plan in mind, she didn¡¯t need to hesitate. She put a finger over her mouth, motioning to Stephen to continue to remain silent. As she treaded quietly toward him, she motioned for the others still outside to enter the classroom.


    When Stephen noticed that Mayumi, Eon and Caius were also stealthily treading into the classroom, quietly shutting the door behind them and then shielding themselves behind the lab counters that circled the classroom, he almost let out a shout. However, he was stopped again in his tracks by Cecilia, continuing to make eye contact with him as she approached.


    Stephen wasn¡¯t stupid. While he was quick to resort to physical resolutions to problems, this didn¡¯t seem like a possible selection yet. He held his hand and tongue, waiting for Cecilia to reach him while not waking Liam from his sleep.


    Cecilia planted herself on the opposite side from Liam, with Stephen in the middle, so that at least she was out of view for a few moments if Liam were to feel some strange presence and wake up. She motioned for him to put their heads together so that they can whisper to each other.


    He had to hear her out. The presence of the other three really only meant one thing, and that Donovan¡¯s prediction had come true.


    ¡°Please, save me.¡±


    Cecilia uttered these simple words so tenderly yet so clearly, Stephen was stunned for a second, momentarily not recognizing her voice at all. An understandable response, as they have only ever had acrimonious exchanges. He almost could not believe his ears, but it only took another second to be snapped back to the present. He stared into her eyes, which were soft yet determined. Normally, he had no reason to accept this unbelievably selfish request, but he was not in a normal situation, not attending a normal school, and nor did he have a normal relationship with his cousin.


    She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, and she continued, determination unwavering.


    ¡°We¡¯re family, big brother.¡±


    That was all that was needed to spur a response from him. He almost grabbed her by the lapels, but he held himself back so as to not disturb Liam from his sleep.


    ¡°Only when it¡¯s convenient for you.¡±


    They weren¡¯t in a position to chitchat idly, but he allowed that one to come out in order to not have his anger manifest physically.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll take care of whatever happens in this room. You need to stop Don on the other side of this door¡ª¡±


    She pointed to another door just a few paces away, which led into the neighbouring classroom, which was also another chemistry lab: Chem 2. Many of the classrooms on this floor, the science floor, had interconnected classrooms for obvious safety reasons.


    ¡°He has another Teller sonograph running. Take the result papers printed so far, and slide it through the door I¡¯ll hold half-open. I¡¯ll handle it from there.¡±


    ¡°Is force the only way?¡±


    There was no hesitation in his final question, and there weren¡¯t any in her reply either.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Stephen knew enough to know what this meant. He correctly assumed it was a plan that Mayumi came up with using her future sight. Normally, he would have loathed trusting Mayumi¡¯s judgment, but given the bigger picture now, he was no longer held down by the responsibilities of his position at school or at home. It allowed him more freedom to act according to what he personally wanted to do, which was to mend things with his estranged family¡ªboth Cecilia and Mayumi.


    Glancing backwards, he noticed the two other boys, Eon and Caius, had surrounded themselves around Liam. There was now no doubt that they were also resorting to force. On another lab counter, not too far away, was Mayumi with goggles, gloves and a surgical mask on, carefully and quietly handling a large glass tray that was specially made for handling liquid chemicals, which was a dead giveaway on Mayumi¡¯s plan of action.


    Not even half a minute later, Mayumi somehow was able to prepare the two or so litres of sulphuric acid without incident or waking up Liam, a feat that was incredible on its own. The master key for office equipment they had stolen earlier was able to open the storage cabinet for dangerous chemicals.  Mayumi nodded in their direction, signalling to them that she was ready for the next, most volatile phase of the plan. Stephen turned back to Cecilia, looking for one last confirmation from her. She returned his somewhat intense gaze with a curious one in response.


    ¡°We need to talk later.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±


    Stephen could already pick up a hint of the irritating scent of the sulphuric acid, so there was no time left. Without a second look back, Stephen left swiftly for the nearby door to the neighbouring classroom. He held onto the doorknob silently, giving Cecilia and the other three a chance to mentally prepare themselves for a moment before they acted. The time for action was mere moments away.


    Click!


    In the silence, the opening of a heavy metal door would definitely catch the attention of all who could hear it, though by itself still might not enough to wake one up from their slumber. However, a couple of other things had to happen at the same time, making quite a bit of noise too, so there was no avoiding waking Liam up.


    As if on cue, the moment the door clicked upon opening, Liam stirred from his sleep, groggily raising his head from the countertop. Seeing this happen, Caius immediately grabbed the pile of printed cata-papers from the output bin of the sonograph.


    ¡°Urgh¡ª!¡±


    Skreeeeek!


    With a grunt, Caius ripped the currently printing sheet from the output roller, and scurried in the direction of Mayumi before Liam realized what was going on.


    ¡°Hey¡ª!¡±


    Liam was only reacting reflexively to the unfamiliar sounds, but they were not going to take any chances. At the moment Liam began to come to and take a look at his surroundings, Eon, who was standing directly behind him, kicked the chair out from under Liam as he grabbed at his waist, pulling him off the chair and onto the ground.


    Thud!


    They both tumbled to the ground in a tangled mess, with Liam landing on top of Eon, though Liam had the more difficult fall since it was completely unexpected for him.


    ¡°Hey! What gives¡ª!¡±


    Liam started once more, but Eon had swiftly swapped places and sat on top of him by the time he figured out he had fallen and started flailing his hands. Eon, on the other hand, did not relent or say a word, focusing on keeping Liam¡¯s body and limbs grounded.


    In the meantime, Caius had already reached Mayumi and threw the stack of cata-papers into the wide-open tray of sulphuric acid, producing an incessant volume of fumes from the chemical reaction. Caius immediately backed off the moment the paper touched the acid, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt. Mayumi, with proper protective wear, only needed to back off a little bit as she stood on the side of the counter nearer to Cecilia¡¯s position. A short while prior, at the moment when Stephen opened the door, the noisy things Mayumi had to do was to make her way to the front of the classroom to switch on all of the classroom¡¯s fume hoods, including the one above the tray she was using, so that the acidic plumes could be safely, and noisily, ventilated away.


    While they were just about tangled on the ground and the first gusts of fumes billowed, Stephen had already held up his part of the bargain. Cecilia held the door half-open for only several seconds before a stack of cata-papers slid into grabbing range, and she wasted no time in snatching it from the ground and moving out right away, leaving the door to close shut by itself with a heavy metallic thunk.


    Cecilia dashed across the empty classroom towards the smoking tray, but stopped halfway to toss the stack to Mayumi, who stood in position just convenient enough to catch it. Like a basketball player, she caught the pass gracefully and carried the momentum into the open tray, prompting another wave of toxic fumes to fill the vicinity of the tray.


    Because of building codes and regulations, science classrooms always had windows outside for safety purposes. Cecilia and Mayumi both rushed to the glass windows to open them fully, sending in gusts of fresh air into the room as toxic fumes left in the opposite direction.


    ¡°Stop this¡ª!¡±


    Without skipping a beat, Caius quickly made his way to a squirming Liam in Eon¡¯s clutches. He grabbed both of Liam¡¯s legs and lifted them off the ground, securing the knees underneath his arms. Eon, ever the master of un-subtlety, slapped Liam across the face so that he could get off of him, turn around and do the same thing with Liam¡¯s arms. He pulled them up and off the ground, and secured them underneath his own arms. They were now carrying Liam in the air by the limbs, and it was certainly disconcerting for the passenger who did not expect this to happen.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? What the fuck is going on?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t only the physical hindrance that the two had brought upon him, but the faint smell of acid in the air spooked him enough to paralyze his thought process and dampen his resistance. The next claim from the boy ¡°above¡± him only drove home this fear.


    ¡°There¡¯s an acid spill! We¡¯re getting you out of here!¡±


    Eon lied with a wide grin on his face. In no time, they took Liam out of the classroom and into the hallway, closing the locked door behind them.


    ¡°We¡¯d only need to clean this up, and it¡¯s all good.¡±


    Mayumi muttered as she watched the masses of mould-like carbon form from the acid reacting with the cellulose of the paper. It would take a few more minutes for the paper submerged in acid to eat through all of it and the reaction to come to a stop. They could only watch over this, and watch for any movements at the door to the neighbouring classroom. Meanwhile, Cecilia also got herself into appropriate protective wear.


    ¡°Is this all over?¡±


    ¡°If things over there have gone down the way I saw it, then it¡¯s all over. You¡¯ll be safe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be¡­¡±


    Cecilia was immediately alerted by the subtle implication in Mayumi¡¯s words. She was as perplexed as she was anxious. Sensing it, Mayumi made her way over to Cecilia and began to explain.


    ¡°I might as well tell you what exactly¡¯ll happen afterwards.¡±


    <hr>


    Some moments ago.


    Upon opening the door, Stephen immediately scanned the dark, unlit classroom for his target. Stephen knew his mission was a battle against time. The moment he opened the door was when his window of opportunity started counting down.


    A little more than several paces away from him, near the centre-front of the classroom, was Donovan seated at a counter, alone operating a Teller sonograph shielded by a wall of textbooks from the hallway door of this classroom. There was no further confirmation needed. There was only a mere split second before Donovan would realize the reason for Stephen¡¯s arrival.


    Donovan had not joined Liam and Stephen, nor told them about it, on purpose. He decided that on the day that evidence could most likely be collected, he would operate on his own. That way, Stephen would be half a step behind Donovan if he ever realized what was happening, and to make things difficult for Mayumi if she ever tried to peek into these classrooms. While it was certainly within her capabilities to survey both classrooms, it was rather difficult for her, with the limited manpower at her disposal, to deal with both sonographs at once. If one was brought down, the other¡ªnamely Donovan¡ªcan escape with the evidence. That was how he imagined it would play out.


    So, the sudden arrival of Stephen threw him for a loop. He did not expect him to show up at all, much less in this frantic fashion. He thought he noticed another student behind the door, holding the door open, but couldn¡¯t catch the student¡¯s face in the darkness. All this sudden and mysterious turn of events only led to one logical conclusion, and it was that Mayumi¡¯s future sight had somehow led to this situation.


    In the moment that Stephen found Donovan, that spark of that slight understanding glinted in Donovan¡¯s eyes, which Stephen immediately realized and had to give mental credit to. Donovan was no lightweight at all. He wasn¡¯t a potential faction leader for no reason. So, there was only one way forward.


    Without another moment¡¯s hesitation, Stephen charged towards Donovan at a frightening speed, deftly using his feet to launch his whole body forward. Suffice to say, Donovan being adroitly seated on a stool was at a disadvantage when it came to responding to this frontal tackle. Because it was the morning, most of the stools were still neatly lined up at the back of the classroom, giving Stephen a clear runway to his target.


    ¡°¡­urk!¡±


    Shoulder and body connected, sending Donovan several feet off and away from the stool and onto the ground. There was no way for Donovan to counter that tackle, nor the follow-up kick in the abdomen that sent him into the base of a counter a little farther away. Stephen had splendidly rendered Donovan immobile for several seconds, which was just the window he needed to grab the output from the still-running sonograph, run towards the door held open by Cecilia, and toss it back into the other classroom. The door swung shut after the cata-papers disappeared behind it, and Stephen breathed a sigh of relief. Primary mission accomplished.


    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±


    Stephen was immediately met with a chokehold from behind as Donovan hissed into his ear. Of course, Donovan wasn¡¯t going to let this go lying down. Stephen had to manage the aftermath of this gamble, and perhaps surprisingly, it was not something he would object to. In fact, a grin formed on his face despite the pressure on his neck closing in.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d get something useful out of my last day in the PSC, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°You really do have the guts, huh? Well, unfortunately, there¡¯s nothing else left I can do at this point, so let¡¯s have at it, shall we?¡±


    Donovan growled with such an emotionless voice that you could not believe it, given his public persona. Stephen, however, was not perturbed. From what Donovan said, it was safe for Stephen to assume that he knew exactly what Mayumi was going to do, and now that Stephen had succeeded in removing the evidence, Donovan had lost on that front. So, why not have an honest brawl here and now¡ªwas what Donovan was suggesting.


    No, not merely suggesting: they were in the midst of it already. The act of brawling in a science classroom filled with dangerous chemicals and expensive equipment would definitely not go over well with the school¡¯s authorities, but Stephen had been the one to throw the first punch. In almost any scenario, the majority of the blame, and therefore punishment, would go to Stephen.


    That was exactly why Stephen felt it was good to go through with this fight. It was a done deal, so why not see it through using his fists, like how he resolved most of his problems? As long as neither student went out of their way to rip off the opponent¡¯s cleanse tags, which were actually quite difficult to undo and take off even at rest, punishment, physical or from the school, would not be severe.


    As an aside, recently, the school had begun redistribution of plastic fasteners, the same types of fasteners you would use tying up large parcels or packages. They were like mini-belts, pulling on one end to tighten the plastic ring around the wrist with the cleanse tag underneath. Many students had snatched up these fasteners to keep their cleanse tags securely on-person, and were especially useful for those in the PSC, who would expect to get into fights on occasion. There was virtually no chance for an opponent to aim to remove the cleanse tag in a brawl.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡ªmind¡ªif¡ªI¡ªdo!¡±


    To break his chokehold, Stephen stepped backwards and knocked Donovan¡¯s feet from under him, sending them both to the ground. Without support, Donovan¡¯s arm momentarily relaxed, and allowed Stephen to extricate himself and roll away to a safe distance. They both recovered on their feet quickly, glaring menacingly as they circled each other.


    ¡°Do you really wanna throw down?¡±


    There¡¯s nothing in it for you, was what was in Stephen¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Now that it¡¯s got to this point, I¡¯m not gonna pass up a chance to call everything I do here in self-defence.¡±


    Donovan expertly evaded his underlying implication. Whatever his motivation, he wouldn¡¯t spell it out so easily.


    Then, without warning, Donovan stepped forward and thrust his right arm towards Stephen¡¯s eyes, fingers stiff and straight ahead. Not only did it obscure Stephen¡¯s vision as it approached, but if any part of Donovan¡¯s strike actually landed, the fight would end right then and there, and probably with lasting damage and complications to his eyes for the rest of his life, even with the protection of a cleanse tag.


    That was when Stephen realized he was not having a merely street brawl. Sure, there were no rules in a street brawl, so unsavoury tactics like this one was completely acceptable, but in almost every instance, no one was trained specifically to make such moves. However, Donovan¡¯s were most definitely not ones picked up from the mere experience of street fighting. It felt like the lethal intent and underhandedness from his opponent were a level deeper than run-of-the-mill street fights.


    Stephen instantly pulled backwards. A thrust like that had limited range and difficult to follow up on if it missed, so as long as he was able to dodge the thrust, he had time to recover. Reconsidering his tactics in this moment, Stephen moved to the offensive by crouching slightly and bringing his arms and fists up shielding his face, and charged forward at the Donovan.


    Donovan, in response, turned to face him with his left shoulder just in time to soften the force of the charge, and then made a swift hook with the opposing arm, swerving around the guard Stephen formed with his arms. The hook connected with the neck, sending Stephen tumbling to one side. However, since Donovan didn¡¯t commit to fully blocking the charge, the momentum of it and his swing sent him in the opposite direction, again creating space between the two.


    They got up and circled each other again, as if the first clash had no effect. This time, Stephen stepped forward first, and this time, he connected a very brutal uppercut by intentionally taking a pummel to the left shoulder, and the breath had been momentarily taken out of Donovan. As he was immobilized for a split second, Stephen sent him flying with a swinging kick, sending him over the counter and falling to the floor like a ragdoll.


    However quickly Stephen made it around the counter to get to Donovan, he would probably be met with a surprise attack, so he backed off slightly and waited for Donovan to get up. Sure enough, it only took a few seconds for him to reappear from behind the counter. The circling continued.


    It was Donovan¡¯s turn again to attack first, and this time, he took large, almost exaggerated swings with his arms. He steadily forced Stephen backwards until he was almost backed into a counter behind him, and then he suddenly changed his swings into thrusts, prompting Stephen to instinctively block the jabs. The moment Stephen brought up his arms as guards again, Donovan charged with his body into the defence and sent Stephen falling over to the other side of the counter.


    Donovan continued on the offensive, nimbly jumping on top of the counter to follow after him. As Stephen tried to get up from the fall, Donovan dived forward with his knee aiming for the head, allowing gravity to provide the necessary pain to the strike.


    ¡°AAAAUGH¡ª!¡±


    The knee struck Stephen¡¯s head at full force, sending him to the ground once more in excruciating pain. An exposed head smashing on ceramic floor tiles was by no means light damage. With Stephen on the ground, awareness temporarily paralyzed by the pain, and Donovan on top of him, the fight was essentially over. Stephen had lost.


    ¡°I¡¯m a little, disappointed, Stephen. Is this all, you can muster?¡±


    Donovan was not going to let up. As he held his body down with his weight, he repeatedly sent punches into Stephen¡¯s face, almost rhythmically between his breaths, to keep him down.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your, pathetic defiance, now, huh? Where, is it?¡±


    Donovan sneered, blows unrelenting. Stephen¡¯s face was bruised and bleeding all over, his nose broken, and his eyes losing its focus. He was no longer in a state to fight anymore, but the beating continued for an additional, very cruel, half a minute. The cleanse tag would protect him from any real, lasting damage, but not everything in this moment. The pain was real, and blood flowed from his nose and mouth.


    ¡°C¡¯mon now. Talk, boy.¡±


    Donovan got off and crouched beside him, hoisting Stephen¡¯s head by his hair. Stephen heaved heavy breaths and was slowly losing consciousness. There was no more meaningful resistance he could put up.


    ¡°Go¡­ eat¡­ shit.¡±


    Donovan threw the limping head to the ground, clearly dissatisfied with the turn of events even though he had soundly won the fight against Stephen. The impact sent another shockwave of pain through Stephen¡¯s head, but through sheer willpower he somehow retained consciousness.


    ¡°You¡¯re a real piece of work, huh? You decided to turn against me at the most crucial moment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you didn¡¯t expect it, did you? Not with how things outside school had played out.¡±


    ¡°I must admit, she moved much faster than I had thought. I lost this time.¡±


    ¡°You should¡¯ve never included me in this stakeout mission.¡±


    ¡°It was necessary to sniff out your priorities. On that front, I¡¯ve gained valuable information, at the very least.¡±


    ¡°You think you can get away with this mess?¡±


    ¡°If you think about it, from my perspective, this isn¡¯t a mess, really.¡±


    Their exchange was put to a close as the hallway door opened, revealing Eon, Caius and Liam at its opening.


    ¡°This is as far as this goes!¡±


    Caius shouted into the room as Eon flipped the lights on, illuminating the scene of the crime. Liam stood by dumbfounded, clearly having no idea what had happened. Donovan stood up to reveal his own bruised face and a bloodied right hand.


    ¡°It sure is, Madam President.¡±


    Though Caius had been the one to speak up, Donovan saw a fourth figure standing behind him, and knew it was her to respond to.


    ¡°Why, you¡¯re quite obedient today, Don. What¡¯s gotten into you?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s always been the same old me. So, what brings you here today?¡±


    ¡°To clean up this mess you made, of course.¡±


    ¡°My colleague here was saying the same thing about this being a mess, but sadly, I have no idea what you guys are talking about.¡±


    ¡°Then, do you think I should just let this all go?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ll come with you, to file a complaint. I¡¯m the one who should be calling this a mess.¡±


    ¡°As I thought.¡±


    Eon and Caius rushed to Stephen¡¯s side, quickly assessing the injuries he had taken. It was quite extensive on the face, but otherwise the rest of his body was still very much healthy. Without any words, they expertly picked Stephen up by the armpits and helped him limp his way out the classroom, and headed towards the infirmary on the first floor. The two others watched them go just as silently, and it wasn¡¯t until they left for a short while and Donovan shooed Liam away that they resumed conversation.


    ¡°They seem to know exactly what the sequence of events is. They didn¡¯t need any kind of verbal communication.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they just have really good synergy. I would know.¡±


    Donovan scowled. There was no way they¡¯d come out and confess that they used Mayumi¡¯s future sight to see everything that happened up until this point.


    ¡°Shut up. Don¡¯t give me that crap.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m really not. Me being here¡¯s also just a coincidence.¡±


    Donovan ignored her, patted himself down and fixed himself up. Once his collars were back in spiff order, he made his way to the door as well. He was surprisingly calm for how much emotion he was showing just mere moments ago.


    ¡°Whatever you say. After you, Madam President.¡±


    Mirabelle aimed an unreadable smile at Donovan, who promptly ignored that as well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind if I do.¡±

 3.19 Charlatans and Saints

    In the musty, business office-like student council room, the interlopers plus some of the student council executives sat at the main conference table near the front door. At the head of one side was Stephen, followed by Mayumi, Caius and Cecilia. Out of them, Mayumi was calm and collected, showing no hint of worry or anxiety. The other three were slightly nervous, as they weren¡¯t the ones who saw the future directly, but having been prepped by Mayumi beforehand, they were also in a position of comfort.


    Only twenty minutes ago, Stephen was on the verge of blacking out from the injuries he sustained, but the cleanse tag had reversed much of the injuries in short order. While his face and head was still swollen, sore and in pain all over, physically all was well enough, and his faculties were in good order.


    Seated opposite them were Class C¡¯s Donovan and Liam. The former was just as confident as the future seer on the other side, and unlike Stephen, his injuries were well recovered by now. Liam, however, was rather depressed. It was not because of anything to do with the student council, as they were the ones filing a complaint. Rather, he was anticipating some kind of reprimand later from Donovan for his poor handling of the situation, i.e. sleeping on the job.


    At the end of the table sat Mirabelle Jupiter, the up-until-now-absent student council president who made her surprise triumphant return today, plunging straight into mediating a dispute. Ariel sat next to Mirabelle, notebook in hand and ready to take minutes as Bianca stood behind her, bearing witness to the proceedings.


    Outside the student council room in the hallway were some of the Elites, only able to peek through the narrow, elongated window of the front door, to which Scarlett was standing guard with them. While either party was allowed to bring a few people with them inside to witness the dispute mediation, neither chose to do so.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear your complaint then, shall we?¡±


    Mirabelle started off in the direction of Donovan, smiling lightly at him.


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s see. Well, there is the issue of obstruction of PSC duties by the three hooligans over there. How about we start off with that?¡±


    As mundane as it sounded, this was in fact a serious rule that brought severe consequences when broken. Donovan laid back into his chair and put his hands behind his head, seemingly content.


    ¡°Then, could you explain in detail the obstruction that had occurred and you claimed to warrant remedial measures?¡±


    ¡°Simple. Early morning today, we, the PSC, were conducting a mission in which operating Teller sonographs was critical to its objective. During the operation, Ms Hanamiya, Ms Nightingale, Mr Koziko, and Mr Evans, students with no affiliations with the science faculty, somehow entered a locked chemistry lab, Chem 1, and proceeded to manhandle my colleague, Mr Mitchell, in order to remove him from the premises, which they¡¯ve successfully done.


    ¡°At the same time, they removed the printed readings from the output of the Teller sonograph and dumped it in a pool of sulphuric acid, presumably to erase evidence of any wrongdoing on their part¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hey, watch what you¡¯re saying there, punk¡ª¡±


    Stephen tried to interrupt, but Donovan cut him off and sped ahead of him.


    ¡°I¡¯m only giving a plausible explanation as to why they must do so¡ª¡±


    ¡°Silence. Mr Liguro, please do not disrupt the speaker. Mr Avgothia, please refrain from making judgments on why something happened. We are currently interested in the sequence of events only. We¡¯ll have a discussion on opinions afterwards.¡±


    As Stephen glared silently at his opponent across the table, Donovan shrugged, duly composed.


    ¡°Sure. So, the Teller sonograph¡¯s printouts were completely lost as a result. While all of that was going on, Mr Liguro came into the next door lab, Chem 2, where I was, and after removing the readouts from my Teller sonograph and dissolving them in acid too, started a brawl with me. The rest was as you witnessed, Madam President.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the sequence of events as Mr Avgothia and Mr Mitchell sees it, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±


    They both answered together.


    ¡°Do you have any problems with the version of events presented by Mr Avgothia?¡±


    ¡°Putting aside whatever that was being done by the PSC, yes, we agree with the version of events presented by him.¡±


    Though still stern in his expression, Stephen agreed readily, which was somewhat of a surprise to Donovan. Normally, one would try to skew the presentation of the facts of the sequence of events, even manipulate or obfuscate them, but it seemed as though they were giving up on doing anything like that.


    Usually, one did that in order to gain an advantage in the next round of the dispute settlement, which was to lay out where the wrongdoings were. If a set of facts were accepted by both parties, then they couldn¡¯t quote-unquote take it back if they later realized one of those facts was going to contradict their later arguments. Naturally, Donovan grew suspicious of Stephen¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°Then, Mr Avgothia, can you explain the grievance in which these sets of events have caused, to which you seek remediation for?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite simple. The act of forcefully removing Mr Mitchell from his station, and then proceeding to destroy evidence, is nothing more than blatant obstruction of justice. You all do realize that deliberately ruining a Teller sonograph¡¯s readouts is essentially equivalent to tampering with recorded evidence, such as closed-circuit television video, right?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt that that¡¯s problematic.¡±


    Stephen stated ambiguously. He did not specifically agree with it this time, obviously, as Donovan was giving his opinion.


    ¡°Given the nature of Ms Hanamiya and Mr Koziko¡¯s abilities, specifically their precognition, there¡¯s always the possibility of them cheating, and the Teller sonograph is the only deterrence against such behaviour. Therefore, there¡¯s more than plausible motivation for these two specific individuals to aim to destroy readouts from such a machine.¡±


    No matter how you looked at it, that deduction was sound and commonsensical, and it was in fact exactly why they were doing this in the first place.


    ¡°In addition, the crime they¡¯re trying to cover up is to cheat on an exam. While this school is quite eccentric in its operations, academic integrity is something it doesn¡¯t deviate from. In fact, such transgressions were always met with extreme penalties. If you, Madam President, do not hand out a punishment of sufficient severity, then I must escalate this incident to the faculty for redress.¡±


    And so, the prosecutor¡¯s claims came to a close. Mirabelle nodded in understanding, switching over to address the defendants.


    ¡°Mr Liguro, those are the charges against Ms Hanamiya¡¯s party. I find nothing wrong with the presentation or soundness of its claims. Do you have anything to say for these charges levied against Ms Hanamiya¡¯s party?¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s party, which included Caius, Cecilia and the absent Eon, continued to remain silent, having already decided that their strategy was to allow only Stephen, who wound up as an accomplice to Mayumi¡¯s party in this incident, to speak on their behalf. It was, of course, awfully suspicious to leave the microphone to Stephen, the least informed of the circumstances.


    ¡°They wish to plead not guilty to all charges.¡±


    After dropping something unreasonable yet unsurprising, Donovan sneered.


    ¡°Not guilty with the evidence in front of you?¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t cheat, after all. There¡¯s no evidence of that.¡±


    Not anymore, that was.


    ¡°The charge is the obstruction of justice, in relation to attempted cheating on an exam and covering up such attempts. Whether the attempt at cheating was successful or not, is irrelevant.¡±


    So Donovan wasn¡¯t going to be that na?ve. Stephen knew it, but he tried anyway. He would have to go for the jugular, as Mayumi instructed.


    ¡°Mr Avgothia is correct. As it stands, I must hand you a guilty verdict and the corresponding punishments thereof.¡±


    Mirabelle said again calmly, apparently completely satisfied with the current situation. Stephen¡¯s expression was as harsh as ever, unyielding and unwavering. He opened his mouth in response.


    ¡°Then let me present my version of the events that led up to the incident this morning.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Led up to the incident¡¯, you say?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Madam President. For certain, Mr Avgothia, in his capacity as the Marshal of the PSC, has ordered an investigation into the potential cheating that could come from the precognitive abilities of Mr Koziko and Ms Hanamiya. In light of that, Teller sonographs were procured in secrecy from the science faculty.


    ¡°Mr Avgothia seemed to be extremely wary of my cousin, Ms Nightingale, of cheating on an exam because of a tip he received from Regia Miriam All-Girls Private Academy. In fact, he received a whole case of Ms Hanamiya¡¯s¡ªand other¡¯s¡ªpast exam papers from his contact in Regia Miriam, in order to build his case for the operation, and to put a working plan into place.¡±


    Donovan narrowed his eyes, suspicion rife in his grimace. Spilling trade secrets was extremely damaging to not only the reputation but the operational efficiency of the PSC. Analogously, if a spy¡¯s operation was busted by the enemy, then all of its methods and secrets would not only be laid bare, but rendered useless because the adversary could now come up with countermeasures for the future.


    ¡°With it, he showed me that Ms Hanamiya had the ability to surreptitiously cheat on exams for other students, and since she and Ms Nightingale were friends, it was plausible that her abilities might be used for Ms Nightingale¡¯s sake, given her recent grades. Then, during this exam period, he put me and Mr Mitchell on stakeout duty in the vicinity of the Class 3-C classroom with a Teller sonograph in order to capture Ms Hanamiya¡¯s use of her future sight.


    ¡°However, I must insist that, while the presence of Mr Koziko and Ms Hanamiya may appear to support the basic scenario that Mr Avgothia had put forth, in that they simply wanted to cheat on an exam, this narrative is missing one crucial piece.


    ¡°It was obvious¡ªto you as well, Madam President¡ªthat there were two sonographs in operation at the time. Ms Hanamiya and her friends at the time had only invaded Chem 1 to disable one sonograph¡¯s operation. It turned out that they were only to remain in Chem 1 or outside in the hallways until they met up with you, Madam President. Then, what do we make of the second sonograph, operated by Mr Avgothia? If they really have used their future sight, then they must have a plan to dispose of both sonographs in operation¡ªand in operation so close to each other.¡±


    Stephen stood up from his seat, trying to emphasize the point he wanted to drive home.


    ¡°Well, there was a plan for that. At the same time they invaded Chem 1, I personally raided Chem 2 for the second sonograph, resulting in the altercation between me and Mr Avgothia. The reason for this was that I was the real mastermind behind this incident.¡±


    Suddenly, Donovan slammed the table with the palm of his hand and pointed a furious finger at Stephen, while Mayumi and the others behind her blinked at the snappy interruption. The claim was absurd on any day of the week.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play silly games with me, Stephen.¡±


    However, it was Mirabelle who cut him off. Donovan shot a glare at Mirabelle, but she already peeled her attention away from him.


    ¡°Mr Avgothia, the defendant is speaking. Mr Liguro, please continue.¡±


    Stephen, in a reversal, became the calmer one, unperturbed by the intimidation.


    ¡°I¡¯ve orchestrated a scenario where I made it seem like they were cheating. However, they were merely acting upon my instructions in order to secure a free stage for me to fight Mr Avgothia. The burning of the readouts was just something akin to smoke and mirrors; something to match the story that Mr Avgothia was looking for.


    ¡°What I was really after was the physical removal of Mr Mitchell from Chem 1, whom I knew was a staunch ally of Mr Avgothia and would do everything in his power to prevent it from happening. The extra manpower provided by Mr Evans and Ms Nightingale was key.


    ¡°In essence, Ms Hanamiya and her friends were mere accessories to my plans, made possible because of Mr Avgothia¡¯s fixation with finding evidence of this presupposed cheating on a friend¡¯s exam. Additionally, to obtain their co-operation on this matter, I was about to compensate them on extravagant monetary terms. I can say it definitely swayed their decision to aid me. I was the sole perpetrator of this whole incident, and I¡¯d want Madam President to treat it as such.¡±


    Mirabelle nodded, still very much calm and smiling lightly, never breaking with her character. Donovan, on the other hand, was visibly incensed.


    ¡°Impossible. Even if you say this was all your doing, it doesn¡¯t mean they also didn¡¯t intend to cheat, and then took on your offer to act according to your so-called plan.¡±


    ¡°While that¡¯s true, it makes your initial claim that Ms Hanamiya and her friends were obstructing justice much weaker, does it not? It¡¯s true that they physically carried out these acts of sabotage, but I was the one who gave those orders. I put it to you that I was the one obstructing justice, and from within the PSC as well.¡±


    ¡°But it wouldn¡¯t matter who gave the order. The mere act of sabotage of an instrument specifically used to prevent wrongdoing on their part is sufficient cause for doubt.¡±


    ¡°Including my apparent betrayal of PSC duties, it¡¯s an essential part of the charade to get you to fight me seriously. Without properly disrupting the operation in front of you, there wouldn¡¯t be a reason for you to accept my challenge.¡±


    ¡°How would you know that for sure?¡±


    ¡°Well, you were the one who wanted to conduct this surveillance operation. Reasonably speaking, if I sabotage it in your face, I¡¯d presume you¡¯d be quite angry with that. The fact that you did accept my challenge, was reason enough, right? For the record, they didn¡¯t know about the second sonograph you were operating. Of course, I can¡¯t exactly ironclad prove that, but I believe my involvement would make it likely to be seen as truth. After all, only with my leadership in this conspiracy that this specific series of events could have transpired, right? And I admit to it.¡±


    Donovan fumed in silence. There were definitely holes in Stephen¡¯s version of events, but unfortunately for him, it was still a sound scenario as a whole. If he continued challenging them, it would just come down to hypotheticals after hypotheticals, ending with a judgment call by Mirabelle to determine whose claim was closer to the truth. Additionally, there was little to gain now that one of the parties had essentially taken responsibility for the whole incident¡ªStephen.


    In the broader Yue cultural sphere, society operated on a very rigid finger-pointing principle. When something terrible happened, the blame¡ªor the credit¡ªhad to be laid down on somebody; and once someone claimed it, it was theirs to keep. Of course, for credit, they needed to claim it convincingly, but for blame, anyone could claim it without question. Once accepted, it was extremely difficult to overturn, and for certain, no one was going to investigate further on someone who pleaded guilty on a charge.


    This was why prosecutions in Yue were often swift and had a very high success rate. The setup, the claims, and their settlements were already determined in advance of the actual trial. If the truth was obvious underneath the wraps, or if one side succumbed to social pressures, then it was a foregone conclusion how the trial would play out, and no one would want to change it after they came to a consensus.


    So, even if he escalated this to the faculty now, they would uphold the same principle. They would heed Stephen¡¯s admission of guilt and be done with it. Realizing that he didn¡¯t have any more cards to play and was defeated, Donovan clicked his tongue once and smoothly cleared away the fury in his expression, as expected of a member of the drama department. He turned to Mirabelle with a slight air of indignation.


    ¡°Madam President, is this what you expected this all to amount to?¡±


    ¡°Why, this version of events is not all that out of the ordinary, is it?¡±


    This time, Donovan nodded as if he confirmed something. He turned rather uninterested in the whole affair now and calmly leaned back into his chair again.


    ¡°It seems I¡¯ve made a mistake to have stood my ground and fought. All right, then let¡¯s hurry this up. What¡¯s your verdict, Madam President?¡±


    Donovan realized he had lost the moment he chose to fight Stephen, giving them the excuse they needed to spin their own story and admit guilt on their own terms.


    Unnerved by the sudden change in the pace of the dispute mediation, and it also obviously coming to an end, Liam muttered under his breath to Donovan with fright.


    ¡°W-wait a second, is this¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    He shut down his lackey with a single utterance. Mirabelle continued, slightly amused by Liam¡¯s trepidation.


    ¡°Then, with Stephen claiming responsibility for this incident, the initial charges against Ms Hanamiya and her party are hereby dropped. The student council will assume the prosecutor¡¯s role, and levy the following charges against Mr Liguro: attempted assault to cause bodily harm against another student, and conspiracy to carry out such an offence as the primary perpetrator. Contemporaneously, the student council will include Ms Hanamiya and her party as accomplices to the aforementioned charges for their role in this incident. What do you plead to these charges?¡±


    ¡°¡°Guilty.¡±¡±


    Stephen and Mayumi said together, with Mayumi speaking up for the very first time in this room. Caius and Cecilia wore strained expressions, somewhat still unsettled by the act of admission of their guilt, despite it turning out the way Mayumi and Eon had planned it to.


    ¡°Mr Avgothia, while you were entitled to the right to self-defence, it didn¡¯t permit you to beat Mr Liguro to a pulp. If we didn¡¯t have cleanse tags, he would likely be hospitalized in critical condition with quite permanent injuries on his face. I can hardly say that this can just be left at that, can it?¡±


    Mirabelle gave Donovan a tiny sneer, but he didn¡¯t take the bait. He exercised his right to remain silent, merely shrugging off her provocation. She turned back to Stephen and his cohorts.


    ¡°As for your punishments, normally, you¡¯d be handed heavy suspensions, and both parties to the altercation would actually be handed over to the municipal police. Depending on what they had to say, expulsion could¡¯ve been up for consideration; for example, because of a restraining order or a poor mental stability assessment. However, considering who you all are, I have quite a simple solution to the issue.¡±


    Mirabelle combed her hands together, smiling brightly yet ominously.


    ¡°In light of how this incident has come about, I don¡¯t believe heavy-handed punishments will be conducive to rehabilitation of all parties involved. To that end, I believe the best course of action is to reduce the chances of such a situation to recur in the future. Therefore, Mr Liguro and Ms Hanamiya¡¯s party will be transferred into Class 3-B without delay. Think of it as doing your time. The responsibility of their rehabilitation will be assumed by Class 3-B in whole. In turn, Mr Avgothia personally will not be punished in any way. Instead, we¡¯d ask him to honourably discharge Mr Liguro from service in the PSC. So, how about that?¡±


    Stephen, Caius and Cecilia looked shocked, turning instinctively to Mayumi instead for an explanation, but she remained serene and soundless. She had only been able to prepare them with the plan to navigate this dispute meditation, and only mentioned in passing that their punishments would be greatly reduced. And for sure, this was not a severe punishment at all, but moving classes was still a serious matter, and for Caius who remained in Class F all these years, it was a stunning revelation to be forced to move classes.


    Normally, you would be able to move up classes¡ªand possibly be demoted from them¡ªbased on your academic ability, at the end of every year. A jury of instructors and administrators would assess your request and the state of the classes, and make a decision based on that. Conversely, those at the bottom of their respective classes were always in danger of demotion at the end of the school year, which struck fear into low-scoring students.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    The higher the class you ended up in, the greater the prestige and reputation it granted you, and it extended beyond school into the Eternian underworld. As the Eternian school for its elites, the underworld understood just how difficult it was to compete in Korolev Senior, and it was just as difficult to maintain their class statuses. Graduating with a seat in the privileged classes was a mark of great achievement and it paved a much smoother path down the road.


    Of course, if you weren¡¯t pursuing anything inside Eternia¡¯s spheres of influence, you didn¡¯t need to care about placement, but for ninety-nine percent of the kids here, they fell into one of two categories: the first were the children with direct ties to the Eternian mob, such as Gilbert, Mona, or the Jupiter sisters. Needless to say, they took the prestige of their positions seriously.


    The second were the regular citizens native to this Eternian city, like Caius or Eon. Unless they had ambitions to leave the city, this prestige would still be greatly beneficial even without direct ties to the mob. Livia was, after all, a de facto independent city-state ruled by Eternia. For a teenager, there was no greater distinction than graduating in a top class of the most prestigious secondary education institution in the region.


    Because of that, for Caius, Cecilia, Mayumi and Eon to be essentially promoted into Class B was problematic in that respect, but it was a traditional right that the student council legally wielded in appropriate situations. This violent incident was one such situation, though of course the way it was wielded by Mirabelle was more than questionable.


    That was why Ariel and Bianca gave Mirabelle incredulous looks, unable to understand what she was trying to do. They thought Mirabelle¡¯s reappearance today was already suspicious enough, but they couldn¡¯t imagine she would resolve the incident in this incomprehensible way.


    Unfortunately for Ariel, she was usually too detached from the events around her, so even with her genius aptitude, she simply didn¡¯t have enough information on her own sister¡¯s situation to piece together the politics behind the whole scenario that was unravelling before her. Given that and the seriousness of where Mirabelle¡¯s machinations had led them to by this point in time, Ariel felt she had no choice but to involve herself more from now on.


    Bianca, on the other hand, was as normal a person as possible in the context of her family. There was a limit to her abilities, and she knew she had never been able to keep up with either of her talented sisters beyond their little group of friends. Anything that involved Eternia was beyond her capabilities, and while she could engage with them on occasion, she could never actually participate in their power struggles.


    On the other side of the conference table, Liam was visibly relieved that both him and his boss escaped punishment. In fact, having Stephen¡¯s departure from the PSC being sanctioned by the student council was a godsend from Liam¡¯s perspective. He didn¡¯t actually do anything overtly punishable by the student council, but being confirmed that he was safe was still a relief.


    Donovan was the least enthused of them, but he was also equally indifferent. By the time he admitted defeat, he already knew he was playing into the palm of Mirabelle¡¯s hands, so if at the end he wasn¡¯t losing anything of substance from this botched engagement, he had no further complaints. In essence, he was committed to cutting his losses.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the silence as a confirmation that we¡¯ll move ahead with this course of action, and with it, closing the case on it permanently. Further appeals and private, unofficial retribution won¡¯t be permitted, or any recourse to the faculty. We¡¯re resolving this dispute as students, by students, and rest assured there will be immediate consequences if that¡¯s broken. Are we clear on that?¡±


    After all, as this case was settled by the students alone, it was not allowed to be presented to the faculty. However, in theory, the faculty would have no idea what had happened, so one could go to the faculty behind the student council¡¯s back to seek recourse. There were a few isolated incidents in the past where it did happen, all part of the game of power struggles. However, it was highly unlikely that news of this particular incident would not reach the faculty, given the use of dangerous chemicals and Teller sonographs, so the threat was less of a deterrent and more of a reminder of a surefire way to get yourself into deeper trouble.


    ¡°If you understand that, then Mr Liguro and Mr Avgothia can stay behind to sign some documents to formally ratify their parties¡¯ commitments. Otherwise, you¡¯re all dismissed.¡±


    Mirabelle said brightly, charming to the very end. Though they looked at each other and hesitated for a moment, Mayumi¡¯s party got up and excused themselves from the student council room without another word, followed by a lone Liam who seemed way too eager to leave.


    ¡°Bia, you can leave the rest of the paperwork to me. Thank you for filling in my position until now.¡±


    Bianca paused for a second too, but Mirabelle¡¯s content expression was undecipherable. She made a face that told her she was upset, and promptly left the room after the others without a sound as well.


    The door shut loudly behind Bianca, and instantly the room¡¯s tension increased tenfold. The intense atmosphere of the mediation that had just finished moments ago had been dwarfed by this immense change in pressure from two specific individuals in the room: Mirabelle, who no longer wore her diplomatic smile, and Stephen, face still just as harsh but instead of directing it at Donovan, he was aiming it at Mirabelle.


    ¡°Now, can we get the real negotiations started, Don, Stephen?¡±


    Upon Mirabelle¡¯s invitation, Ariel duly closed her student council notebook, got up from her seat and shelved it in a filing cabinet at her¡ªthe secretary¡¯s¡ªcubicle. She returned quickly to take a seat, not at Mirabelle¡¯s side, but Stephen¡¯s.


    ¡°What, is Ariel gonna be involved in this too?¡±


    Donovan, who had taken the role of a bystander now, asked as he shot the student council secretary a sharp glance.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who asked to be involved, so just deal with it.¡±


    ¡°You mean there was no choice for you to not be involved, ain¡¯t that right?¡±


    ¡°If you already knew, then let¡¯s stop wasting time and finish this tedious meeting.¡±


    Ariel was normally not an impatient person, but she did do things at her own pace and adhered strictly to that. And so, she was indignant of things she didn¡¯t find interest in.


    ¡°Mirabelle. What do you actually want?¡±


    Stephen glared, almost angry at Mirabelle, ostensibly for wresting him out of Class A and into Class B. While it was a serious matter, it was not what he was actually furious about.


    ¡°Come now, Stephen. Is this the kind of attitude I get for helping you out?¡±


    ¡°I admit that your offer is quite good. It has no demerits. However, it¡¯s not a negotiation if the offer in question was something none of us even had a chance to refuse.¡±


    He immediately laid out his dissatisfaction bare. Donovan snickered.


    ¡°Is this the first time you¡¯re dealing with this woman? Please tell me it¡¯s not.¡±


    ¡°No, but it doesn¡¯t make it less infuriating.¡±


    So, what Stephen was complaining about was, in the end, a rather trivial matter. Donovan, who was sort of a bystander in this situation, might be smirking, but even he knew how infuriating it was to have a decision forced upon him.


    ¡°How about we reconfirm the series of events leading up to today, shall we? A debrief, of sorts. I¡¯ll do the honours, so I¡¯ll be able to fill you in on any info you happen to be missing. After that, I¡¯ll hear complaints from all three of you, and of course, I¡¯ll ask some questions too.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t have any real complaints.¡±


    ¡°Says the slippery slime ball who keeps on complaining to the faculty behind my back. While we¡¯re at despising each other, I am surprised at how the two of you have such a contentious relationship. From the outside, it seemed like the Gilbert faction and the drama department were on quite friendly terms up until this transfer of power.¡±


    Donovan raised his open hands at Mirabelle¡¯s accusations, chuckling lightly and unable to give any rebuttal. Stephen nodded sternly, confirming her charges in certainty.


    Mirabelle got up from her seat and started pacing the small open area around the conference table, wearing a rather sullen but determined expression.


    ¡°Before the start of this year and after I was elected student council president, we, the original faction leaders, were asked by the faculty to take control of the school. Not in the way that it was done traditionally, but instead to hand control of the school to the faculty. The pan-blue faculty, to be precise.¡±


    It was weird to hear that the underlying implication was that the faculty wasn¡¯t in control of the school, but Korolev Senior was a special place. It was much more influenced by students compared to other schools, and the students jealously guarded the privileges that they otherwise wouldn¡¯t have at other schools.


    ¡°To that end, I¡¯ve been working on different avenues to make that a reality. One of which was to oust Gilbert, and naturally, Don would take his place as Marshal.


    ¡°Originally, I was going to let the Act of Neutrality brew dissent and see if I can get a misstep out of Gilbert, but he didn¡¯t need to do anything rash himself. Anyone under him would have worked.¡±


    Stephen clicked his tongue, scowling.


    ¡°You were bringing Mayumi back here so you could use her and myself as a part of that plan. I¡¯d definitely do something heavy-handed if I was still in charge and saw what she had done.¡±


    ¡°Correct. Mayumi was supposed to be the catalyst to break the PSC¡¯s invulnerability to accountability, but Alice almost became the first sacrifice instead. I underestimated the influence that Kato would have on her. I only exposed her to him so that he could protect her in the future, but alas, that did kind of blow up in my face.


    ¡°Because Alice suddenly wanted to join the nomenklatura, she became a convenient target for the faculty to aim at, as Gilbert¡¯s Achilles heel. Since Alice was not budging, Gilbert preempted my plan and sent her away to lay low in Class F in the process.¡±


    Otherwise, what would have happened was that in exchange for not threatening Alice¡¯s expulsion, and thus destroying her bid to join the nomenklatura, Gilbert would be pressured to step down from his position as marshal.


    ¡°But he didn¡¯t know about what I was doing with Mayumi at the time. It was unfortunate that she was sent into the same class that Mayumi was to join, temporarily bringing Alice back into the faculty¡¯s crosshairs, but I think that should be resolved by now.¡±


    While Gilbert was removed in record time, he had technically resigned of his own accord. Most of his men, including Stephen, were still in the PSC at the time, so there was a possibility of Gilbert ruling through proxy, and hence danger to the faculty was not yet completely gone. Then, when Mayumi joined Class F and took centrepiece to the political agitation that followed, Alice took it on herself to help Mayumi.


    ¡°Alice¡¯s family, the Westgroves, were rather pan-yellow-leaning. Their connection to Ms Romana is a dead giveaway, though the Lafayettes somehow still maintained a neutral rep even with their connections to Master Suvorov.¡±


    Joseph Suvorov was another Heart like Sisi. He was the mysterious old man who arrived at the Westgrove residence that banquet night for a brief moment, revealing his shadow to Sisi, Kato and Alice, and convincing Sisi that what happened that night, he was willing to bear witness to.


    ¡°I guess that with their marriage abandoned, they can continue maintaining their claim to neutrality, but I don¡¯t think the pan-blue camp¡ªthe faculty¡ªis going to continue to believe that farce. In any case, that¡¯s a side tangent.


    ¡°The faculty soon realized that Alice, as a pan-yellow camper seeking to join the nomenklatura, was taking the bid seriously. So, though no longer the blackmail chip against Gilbert, they found another motivation to expel her from Korolev Senior.


    ¡°But they can¡¯t touch her if she doesn¡¯t do any more stupid things than she had already. That¡¯s why, with Mayumi¡¯s falling out with the Elites in Class F and the transfer of a number of them to Class B, Mayumi won¡¯t be in a state to continue to carry out the revolt. Without a full-blown revolt, the faculty can¡¯t hand down a full-blown punishment. The faculty won¡¯t have any excuse to get rid of Alice alongside Mayumi.¡±


    Even if Mayumi didn¡¯t choose to try to help Cecilia cheat on her exam and precipitate this incident, the moment that Kato decided to reject Mayumi in the most certain of terms, Mayumi¡¯s time as the burning star of the revolution was over. She literally burned herself out, so to speak, quite like a flash in a pan. No one, not even Mayumi realized it at the time, but Mirabelle saw it right from the beginning.


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯ll end at that? The past week sure didn¡¯t seem like the revolt¡¯ll end.¡±


    ¡°Once the Act of Neutrality passes, without a unifying central figure, all the protests would just fade away in due time. Sure, it¡¯ll permanently polarize the political climate in the school, but this bill was specifically designed to deter, prevent, and punish any revolt, much less a full-blown one. Once reality sinks in for the rabble, they¡¯d have no choice but to abide by the new law, if they want to stay in this school. I originally asked Mona to table it in order to give it some face-value legitimacy and not a blatant grab for power by the faculty.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t as if Mona could refuse an earnest request from the teachers. As her ally¡ªas tenuous as their alliance was¡ªMirabelle reassured her that following the faculty¡¯s lead for now will buy her time. At the very least, it would mean that the faculty wouldn¡¯t go after Mona right away, as they had done with Gilbert. That was how Gilbert knew that his position was numbered from the very beginning, and felt compelled to do whatever he could to help Alice while he was still Marshal.


    ¡°The unrest in the past month or so is already enough to sway enough votes to pass with a majority. Plus, with Stephen taken out of the PSC, one major student organization has returned fully under their control. It was overall quite a successful endeavour, if I do say so myself.¡±


    ¡°The bill will pass? Even with our class opposing it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be a problem now that I¡¯ve returned.¡±


    Ariel sighed anxiously, not realizing she had been holding her breath. As an ally of the Elites, she was owed a proper explanation from Mirabelle, and her eyes bore holes into Mirabelle¡¯s face to express her indignation at Mirabelle¡¯s backroom machinations. Of course, she wasn¡¯t about to explain all of this to the Elites, but it became necessary to participate in these shady political games if she wanted to protect her friends from her own sister, as insane as that sounded.


    ¡°That¡¯s about it for Alice. Now, Stephen, for your and Mayumi¡¯s case.¡±


    <hr>


    In the Activity Council room.


    The AC¡¯s headquarters were on the far side of the third floor, away from the student council¡¯s and the PSC¡¯s. Unlike the other two dreary offices, the AC¡¯s was one of bright and energetic decor. On the walls were multi-coloured adornments of varying designs, sprinkled with a plentiful number of spectacular photographs of Korolev Senior¡¯s most iconic and glorious historical moments. The cubicles and desks, too, were lined with knick-knacks, toys and all sorts of other trinkets that overflowed the room with a sense of a bubbly, youthful, innocence-filled paradise. If someone said this room belonged to a child of very rich parents, it could really pass off as such at first glance.


    The occupants, however, were every bit as tense as those in the student council room. Two boys sat opposite each other at one of the fluffed up desks, and each had a girl standing by behind them.


    ¡°Will you be mentioning any of this to Alice?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to at this point in time, but circumstances may change in the future. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for her to know or do more than what¡¯s necessary. She still has the nomenklatura to join, after all.¡±


    Gilbert asked carefully, but Kato¡¯s reply was just as measured as he was. He was expecting a little bit of impatience from Kato.


    ¡°I told her what you told us last time, and that¡¯s the extent of her knowledge. She should be treading carefully on her own, even if the immediate danger to her has passed.¡±


    Kato nodded to Bianca who stood behind him, who had just brought news of the verdict and punishment that Mirabelle had given out. With that knowledge, Gilbert and his fellow Class A classmate, ally and friend, Mona, were able to put the final pieces of the puzzle together.


    ¡°But I¡¯m impressed. You were able to dig up this much about Mira¡¯s plans since our last meeting.¡±


    ¡°Well, I owe Mirabelle a fairly big favour. As a part of repaying that debt, I have to at least be told this much to work with in order for me to repay that debt.¡±


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s hear the rest of that story.¡±


    Earlier, after Scarlett had called the Elites over to the student council room, they only waited there for a few moments before Gilbert arrived to invite Kato and Bianca to discuss the matter at hand in private. That was when they decided that Bianca would participate in the dispute mediation as a student council executive, and then join them later with the results.


    And not a moment too soon after Gilbert went on his way to the AC room first, the offending parties had arrived with Mirabelle at the helm. They made only process-related, businesslike exchanges before the relevant parties were quickly ushered into the student council room to settle the dispute, with no room for small talk. Kato waited outside for Bianca to come back out, and after she did, they promptly made their way here together.


    ¡°When Mirabelle asked Mayumi to come back to Korolev, Mayumi wanted something impossible in exchange: the rehabilitation of her mother, Satsuki Hanamiya. You know that much from Alice, right?¡±


    Kato nodded. He was past being surprised, accepting that Gilbert, for all he disagreed with, was indeed a capable person.


    ¡°The problem was that to rehabilitate her, she needed to overturn an old testimony made by my late uncle, Keith de Lafayette. He was supposed to be the next head of the house, but you know what happened. He died, and I became his successor according to his will.


    ¡°Mind you, my uncle¡¯s power and influence was second to none in my family. When he willed me to succeed him, there was no way for me or my family to ignore it. Even failure was not an option.¡±


    Now Kato understood a little why Gilbert had such a strong sense of duty and responsibility, a trait completely opposite to Alice.


    ¡°The testimony that my uncle made at the time had been made to decisively favour Stephen¡¯s father, Vincent, over Mayumi¡¯s mother, Satsuki, in their dispute. As a result, Satsuki was exiled from Eternia and, considering she hid Mayumi¡¯s future sight from the authorities for so long, was stripped of her nomenklatura status.


    ¡°However, with the testimony overturned, the debacle had turned around and completely ruined Vincent¡¯s reputation within his family. Sure, to the outside world, it wasn¡¯t a big deal since what happened had happened far in the past, but no one underneath him with any sense of moral duty would still follow orders from a piece of scum like him. That includes Stephen, and in the ensuing power struggle, Stephen came out on top.¡±


    ¡°How was he able to do that?¡±


    Gilbert shook his head, his face slightly touched with exasperation.


    ¡°Vincent is a shameless philanderer who takes the first opportunity he sees without any self-respect, and so, that¡¯s what Stephen gave him. He played the role of the loyal son and negotiated on the wider family¡¯s demands, protecting his father from retribution. In exchange, both sides would accept that Vincent stepped down as head of the family in favour of Stephen.¡±


    ¡°So he turned it all around and got the bag for himself. Well, wasn¡¯t this kind of inconvenient for you? Your uncle was your family head, and his word got overturned.¡±


    ¡°Not within my family, at least. That had no effect on the Lafayettes whatsoever. However, it¡¯s true that he was quite a celebrity, and perhaps even a martyr now. So, it caused quite the uproar outside, and it shook almost everyone in my faction at school here. In fact, it was falling apart, which was why I needed to act sooner rather than later. Imagine, my arranged marriage was broken, and the repercussions from Mirabelle¡¯s meddling in my uncle¡¯s testimony, both struck me at the same time. You¡¯d be quite apprehensive with those coincidences converging, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°...my condolences and apologies.¡±


    The more Kato saw these events from Gilbert¡¯s perspective, the more he was able to forgive the bad blood between them. He had to admit, he was a bit na?ve to think that Gilbert was just an old-school, stubborn, stuck-up villain.


    ¡°Anyway, Stephen had just been able to finish off his family¡¯s feud a couple of days ago. All¡¯s well that ends well, I must say.¡±


    ¡°Does Mira owe you one now? She caused quite a stir for you and Stephen.¡±


    ¡°Not quite. On the surface, it does look like she¡¯s made a mess for us, but in reality, it provided Stephen an opportunity of a lifetime. He definitely has the chops for the job, but there was no telling when he could make it as head of the Liguro family. Mirabelle had freely handed him the chance to do so.¡±


    ¡°But what about you? Your faction at school is completely shot. You¡¯re attached to Mona¡¯s faction now, aren¡¯t you? I heard there¡¯s a third faction forming in Class A now.¡±


    ¡°Stephen is a loyal friend of mine. His success is my success, so Mirabelle doesn¡¯t owe me anything. Besides, Class A was a fractured class to start with. It was a convenient time to purge my faction of the untrustworthy and the opportunists. Losing the position of PSC is a blow, yes, but it¡¯s not a position I particularly need in order to do what I want here in this school. In fact, it¡¯s probably very unlikely anyone can find a way to destroy me now, including the faculty.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, if you say so. Then, how about this: let¡¯s say I take all of what you said at face value. Then, what¡¯s up with your alliance with Mira? Does it have anything to do with the debt you said you owed her?¡±


    ¡°Are you prepared to know, Kato? I didn¡¯t reveal all my cards last time, but now that the gag order is lifted, I want to tell you this, as I think you¡¯re the only person I can rely on to protect Alice¡ªmore than Mirabelle ever could. Her position isn¡¯t one to count on, after all.¡±


    Kato was starting to get concerned about the way Gilbert was being dodgy with his answer. Given what he knew of Gilbert¡¯s personality, he had a bad feeling about what he had to say.


    ¡°Then, one more question before your big reveal or whatever. Your devotion to Alice is more than just simple infatuation. Can you explain that first?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that complicated. In exchange for getting her to join Korolev Senior, I promised her that I¡¯d use everything in my power to take care of her at this school until her graduation. I know it sounds presumptuous of me to say that, being someone who tried to remove her from Korolev Senior and essentially went back on his word, but she knew what was coming for her after messing around that much, and even ended up deciding to join the nomenklatura, for heaven¡¯s sake. Before, she wanted nothing to do with our family businesses, and that was the assumption I based my actions upon. However, obviously, I was mistaken.¡±


    ¡°...again, my apologies.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I accept your apology, now that I¡¯ve had some time to reflect on it. Who I want an apology from is Alice, not you.¡±


    He didn¡¯t make any faces, only matter-of-factly stating his intentions.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t like owing debts to anyone. That¡¯s why, even when I broke it once before, I¡¯m trying to make up for it. That¡¯s my horse in the race, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a bigger man than I thought. Even if I don¡¯t agree with your course of actions, I kind of get where you¡¯re coming from now. I must admit, with the marriage called off and your uncle¡¯s reputation called into question, kicking Alice out of Korolev Senior was probably the only solution available at the time to keep just a lid on things.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. I say I preempted the siege on your class, and technically I did, but at that point I had no choice but to acquiesce to the rebel splinters in my faction, or else I lose the PSC anyway without doing anything on my terms.¡±


    ¡°So, now without your position and authority, you¡¯re handing this responsibility to me, one of your enemies that forced you, albeit unwittingly, into a corner? I¡¯m flattered.¡±


    Kato didn¡¯t mean it sarcastically and Gilbert knew it, but Mona was annoyed all the same, giving him a defiant glare.


    ¡°Well, now that I know more about the relationships in your circle of friends, I think my heart¡¯s been vindicated, of sorts. However close the two of you get, it¡¯ll be very unlikely, if ever, it¡¯ll reach the kind of relationship you have with, for example, Mayumi or Bianca.¡±


    Immediately, Kato was reminded of what happened at the equinox festival. It was hard for him to believe it was already nearly two weeks ago.


    ¡°Specifically, what you have for Alice won¡¯t ever be what you have or had for those two, right?¡±


    Bianca was instantly paralyzed, with cheeks fully flushed red. She couldn¡¯t interrupt their conversation though, no matter how uneasy and flustered she felt whenever her feelings were laid bare to the boy she was in love with. She had always regretted saying things she didn¡¯t mean, so she made a point to stay silent in such circumstances.


    Kato, on the other hand, was not perturbed by Gilbert, continuing to stare intently at him. Instead of getting startled and turning around to check Bianca¡¯s reaction, his face merely twitched unpleasantly, as if he just noticed something of disgust beyond fathoming. Indeed, he was actually thinking mostly of Mayumi at that question, as this conversation was half about her.


    ¡°It¡¯s true today. I can¡¯t say anything about the future.¡±


    Bianca reacted with mixed feelings and internally gasped at the possibility Kato left deliberately open. Seeing it written clearly on her face, Mona smirked silently.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I cannot deny that, as much as I have my own reservations about it. Well then, if your question was adequately answered, why don¡¯t I fill in the last piece of the puzzle?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Gilbert took a deep breath. The girls behind the two also tensed up at the tip of his words¡ªnot because they were anxious to know what he was about to say, but were apprehensive about how Kato would react to it. They already knew what Gilbert was about to tell him.


    ¡°I was once a student of Master Suvorov, the former Number Eight, Eight of Hearts. I¡¯d like to think I have more than enough talent to become not just a Hearts candidate, but a Heart myself. I haven¡¯t completed my training¡ªI stopped in the middle of junior high, when my uncle passed away and I was slated to become the next head of the family.


    ¡°Of course, Eternia wouldn¡¯t normally just allow that to happen. Someone had to fill in for my Hearts candidacy, and you know how difficult it is to find a replacement for such a position. Luckily, at the time there was one other student of Master Suvorov who stepped up and handed me a free pass to leave the selection process. As of yesterday, her candidacy is officially confirmed with her spirit label handed to her.


    ¡°That person, to which I owe a huge debt because of this, is none other than our student council president, Mirabelle Jupiter.¡±


    The room turned ice-cold and silent as the penny dropped, each person here frozen for their own reasons. Mona seemed to have eaten something awful but couldn¡¯t make a squeak about it, while Gilbert was unusually tranquil. Bianca was rooted in place due to both fear of Kato¡¯s reaction and shock at the manner in which this news was broken to him.


    Kato, for all the turmoil now spinning through his head, should be applauded for remaining stock-still instead of blowing his top off. His eyes were closed shut, facing downwards at the desk with a struggling expression. He had his left arm on the tabletop, and his hand curled into a fist so taut that his knuckles turned white.


    He almost couldn¡¯t believe the truth, but so many things made sense if it was true. And it wasn¡¯t difficult to confirm it on the Eternian side, now that her candidacy was official. However, there was an even easier way to confirm this.


    ¡°...Bia, is this true?¡±


    He managed to mutter with a trembling voice. Bianca couldn¡¯t speak a single word in reply to his simple yet terribly oppressive question. She wouldn¡¯t be able to lie here like she had to all those times before. So, her sustained silence was all the confirmation he needed.

 3.20 Hearts Washed in Misery

    ¡°Any addendums?¡±


    Mirabelle finished explaining the whole sequence of events from beginning to end. Naturally, as the other tensed up one in the room, Stephen was quick to respond.


    ¡°Gilbert¡¯s willing to forgive you for blindsiding him as he¡¯s indebted to you, but I don¡¯t owe you anything. I follow Gilbert¡¯s orders because he¡¯s my boss, but given what you¡¯ve done to manipulate us, I¡¯m not inclined to make moves on your behalf any further.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you¡¯re allowed to terminate our alliance?¡±


    ¡°I have said nothing of the sort. I will continue to support an alliance with you, but this ain¡¯t a one-sided alliance, so we won¡¯t just go along with what you say¡ªMona and I sure as hell won¡¯t anymore. However, as your ally, if I judge that you truly aren¡¯t throwing us under the bus next time, I¡¯ll gladly lend my assistance.¡±


    ¡°So in other words, you¡¯re laying low from now on?¡±


    Stephen scowled at Mirabelle¡¯s on-point deduction.


    ¡°I admit that whatever happens in Korolev doesn¡¯t measure up at all to the debt that he owes you. Gilbert¡¯s alliance with you is still solid, but your recent breaches of trust means that now, whatever happens in Korolev, is also something we¡¯ll no longer care for. In that sense, yes, we¡¯re laying low¡ªwe¡¯re bracing ourselves.¡±


    He restated his disdain for Mirabelle¡¯s actions and his determination to no longer accede to her demands at face value. He wanted nothing more to do with Mirabelle¡¯s plans, which had extended outside school. Sure, she gave him the opportunity to take control of the Liguro family in order to play the game of politics at Korolev Senior, but additionally he saw in her the capacity to throw anyone and everyone to the wolves to get her way. Fortune might not be so kind to him the next time. Stephen himself could be unscrupulous too, but only in a narrow context¡ªa physical fight. Mirabelle was obviously cut from a different cloth.


    ¡°I see. Well, then I must try doubly hard to get you to move next time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with that. I¡¯m just not giving you a free pass like this time. Allying with you is like allying with the devil.¡±


    ¡°My, I¡¯ll take that as a compliment. But, I do think it¡¯ll be difficult for me to use your help from now on, in any case. I think Gilbert will be protecting Mona as much as possible in the coming days, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Stephen grimaced. He shouldn¡¯t be pissed off since it was obvious what was coming next, but it was still vexing for Mirabelle to say it all the same.


    ¡°No shit. We know whose orders you¡¯re obeying, so it¡¯s only natural that Mona and the current AC are next on the chopping block.¡±


    ¡°On that point, can I ask one thing? It¡¯s the only question I have. Who will replace Mona, if she gets overthrown?¡±


    Donovan interrupted nonchalantly, to which Stephen cast him a dirty glare. However, it was an important question nonetheless.


    ¡°Originally it should have been Scarlett, but now that she¡¯s in student council, that¡¯s no longer possible. No, I think you should know him better than me, Don. If I¡¯m reading the faculty¡¯s intentions correctly, he¡¯s the most likely person to succeed Mona.¡±


    ¡°Hoho, so it is true. They arranged for him to return, eh? That¡¯s a huge problem for you too, isn¡¯t it, Mirabelle?¡±


    It was Mirabelle¡¯s turn to frown. For the first time, she seemed reluctant to continue the conversation.


    ¡°Which is why I have questions for both of you: what will you do about his return, and are you willing to help me if things turn for the worse?¡±


    Stephen and Donovan looked at each other, slightly hesitant to answer. However, they were also keenly aware of what troubles were to come, if that person returned.


    ¡°Do you know which class he¡¯ll be joining?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d assume he¡¯d return to his original Class D. After all, he¡¯s the faculty¡¯s most likely candidate for the AC chairmanship, so Class D, the class of club presidents, is the most logical answer.¡±


    Another silence passed over the four strongmen and strongwomen of Korolev Senior. Currently they, in addition to Mona, were the most powerful individuals at their school. Even so, if Mirabelle¡¯s prediction was correct, then they were in for a great ordeal very soon in the future. Ariel sighed internally at how things had come to this.


    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be helping him, in accordance with the faculty¡¯s wishes, but I don¡¯t intend to actually do anything about it. You can count on me to do the same as I always have¡ªthe bare minimum possible.¡±


    Donovan was the first to speak up.


    ¡°So, you¡¯ll support him instead of me when you¡¯re forced to take a side?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that, Madam President. We¡¯re the faculty¡¯s arms and legs, so we have the same job. That makes him our ally, supposedly, right? Or are you saying you¡¯re going to make an enemy of him? That sounds contradictory to our mission, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    He sneered, but Mirabelle remained stoic.


    ¡°Supporting him in his coup is one thing, but you¡¯re well aware of his personality and pedigree. There¡¯ll definitely be problems besides putting him in power.¡±


    ¡°For you, maybe, but not for me. I¡¯m not a girl, and I have no beef with him. But if that time ever comes, I¡¯ll do whatever I want. It¡¯ll depend on what¡¯ll benefit me.¡±


    Mirabelle sighed. Inconvincible, it seemed.


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll have to be content with this much from you. Then, Stephen, what¡¯s your answer?¡±


    Stephen was also unrepentant.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be going after us to take over the AC, but you¡¯ll be helping him out with that, right? Don¡¯t think that gives you any right to ask us for help.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be under my command. I would like you at the very least to not align with him, when the time comes when he inevitably makes an enemy out of me.¡±


    ¡°In that instance, if he doesn¡¯t do anything to us, I see no reason to intervene. Like I said, we¡¯re gonna be laying low. Have fun dealing with him on your own.¡±


    ¡°So, can I count on you?¡±


    ¡°Not gonna answer that. If you want to use us through Gilbert, though, go ahead and try.¡±


    Innocuous enough as his declaration was, he was implicitly challenging Mirabelle. It was, for all intents and purposes, a negative answer. Mirabelle sighed once more.


    ¡°Well, if that¡¯s the case, then it can¡¯t be helped. Laying low is a good idea.¡±


    It really couldn¡¯t be helped. Even Mirabelle had to admit that her moves ruffled too many feathers with Stephen and Gilbert. However, she didn¡¯t regret it at all. It had served her and the faculty¡¯s objectives in record time, leaving behind a weakened Class A, and only Mona¡¯s faction and the AC left to dismantle.


    She also expected the two bosses to not give away any of their intentions for the future, but it didn¡¯t hurt to try asking them. If either of them had any inkling of wanting to continue negotiations, then it could¡¯ve been possible for something to be brokered in her favour, but since they didn¡¯t, at least the thing she could take away from this conversation was that both sides were unreliable for her future confrontation with that certain returning student, who paradoxically she should be helping.


    ¡°If that¡¯s all, then please excuse me, Madam President.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡±


    With that, another two students vacated the student council room. The sisters who remained finally relaxed, but only somewhat. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t only the men who had a bone to pick with Mirabelle. Ariel had many reservations about everything that was going on, too.


    ¡°Welcome back. I suppose everything went well for you, considering your Hearts candidacy being made official. Congratulations.¡±


    ¡°Why, thank you, Ariel.¡±


    Mirabelle sat back down in her seat with her hand to her forehead and eyes closed, as if she was infinitely exhausted. It was hard work, after all. However, Ariel had no intention of letting her sister off the hook. There still was a very important discussion to be had.


    ¡°Not to be rude right off the bat, but you have some explaining to do. I¡¯ll leave the case about the AC¡¯s future for some time later. Let¡¯s get the easy stuff out of the way first. The Records Office. Is the faculty really intent on shutting it down?¡±


    ¡°Correct. After considering what the senatorial trials have revealed, they decided to cut off intelligence exchange to the PSC. As collateral damage, this intelligence exchange will be cut off for the Records Office as well.¡±


    Without opening her eyes, Mirabelle explained in a tired voice.


    ¡°If the faculty doesn¡¯t give us that information, then there¡¯s no point in maintaining the office at all. You know full well that we rely on it for the Records Office to function properly as a secret police. Sure, we can maintain the informant network we have in place, but in actuality it only fills in gaps. It doesn¡¯t form the basis of our intelligence data. Plus, it¡¯ll only sufficiently cover the third-years.¡±


    So, despite the length of her absence, Mirabelle was well aware of what the undersecretary¡¯s concerns were. In essence, the student council¡¯s administration was to lose its arms and legs, reducing its role to only minutes-taking. While Ariel also functioned as an attorney general, it only came up once in a while, and was not a day-to-day duty. In all likelihood, all personnel would be moved to the treasury or the SLO to take on more ¡°general¡± student council jobs there. A one- or two-man show led by Ariel would be enough to perform these reduced duties. Ariel agreed tacitly.


    ¡°Certainly, without the input of the faculty¡¯s intelligence, it would only be a matter of time before the Records Office would lose its effectiveness.¡±


    ¡°And so, to preempt this, the faculty is planning to confiscate most of the records, current and historical, from the Records Office today after school. Student profiles, clandestine minutes, secret documents, plans and files¡ªthey¡¯re all going away. The secret police will really be no more. The only things we get to keep are the Assembly¡¯s and our own student council¡¯s minutes.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡±


    ¡°If there are any files of interest, it¡¯s best for you to copy it out by hand before the end of today.¡±


    An eerie silence followed. They looked each other in the eyes, both expressions rigid as steel.


    ¡°I see. So you used me to prosecute the PSC¡ªGilbert¡¯s PSC members¡ªwithout mercy, just so the faculty can use this opportunity, the corruption scandal, to cleanse the PSC of Gilbert¡¯s men. At the same time, they also used it as an excuse to force the student council to shut the Records Office down completely, as a part of their plan to bring all of the student government to heel. The result is that, instead of you, I was the one who earned the ire of Gilbert¡¯s faction in your place, and then my position on the student council is effectively voided. In summary, I unwittingly sealed my own fate¡ªa fate created from your two hands.¡±


    Ariel¡¯s voice was steady, but there was a rare, seething rage right underneath the calm surface. Mirabelle noticed it, and found herself even more exhausted than before. She realized that her plans had gone too far. Ariel was never the one who got even remotely angry. The few times she ever did, were serious incidents that warranted unfettered indignation.


    ¡°I cannot deny that characterization of the events. It is as everything you said.¡±


    ¡°You knew I was the only one out of the three of us who could put a stop to you if I wanted, so you went after me first, to reduce my influence and power in the school, right? Bia and Scarlett could never outmanoeuvre you, or even disobey you for that matter. You took advantage of my non-interventionist attitude to corner me before I noticed what was going on. From now on, you can move freely within the school without worrying about me interrupting your plans, right?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You knew I would side with Kato and the Elites. I implicitly revealed as much when we all agreed to let you ride the Ferris wheel with Kato¡ªwe agreed to maintain the status quo, but then you went behind our backs to bring Mayumi here? I can¡¯t even imagine which one¡¯s the excuse, to force Kato¡¯s hand to break the status quo, or to execute on your plan to aid the faculty in taking control of the school.¡±


    Without knowing all of Kato¡¯s thoughts, there was still a non-zero chance that Mayumi could push Kato enough to make a rash decision, especially if Kato thought something else of his latent and oblivious affection for Mayumi. Ariel couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that Mayumi was not only a ticking time bomb for the school¡¯s anti-neutrality protests, but for their circle of friends too. It eventually proved half-true for the latter: the status quo was broken, just not in the way that they imagined, in that Kato would be the main cause of it.


    ¡°So now I¡¯m too late. My authority in this school is compromised, and my capabilities limited when I want to protect Kato or the Elites in a pinch from you and the school. I truly regret not taking action earlier.¡±


    ¡°¡­but, you usually don¡¯t bother with that, don¡¯t you?¡±


    If it were an outsider, or even an Elite who countered with that, it would be a completely sensible deduction. Personally, Ariel was quite emotionally detached from their circle¡¯s relationship dramas. However, it didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t a participant entirely. She still had a little bit of skin in the game, and this indignation showed how her friends were, deep down, quite dear to her.


    ¡°If I wasn¡¯t around to tie up loose ends from the shadows, Kato wouldn¡¯t have been able to keep everyone together for this long. I think he subconsciously knows this too. It¡¯s precisely because I¡¯m the impartial one that the rest of them remained in line.¡±


    Tooting her own horn in the meanwhile, Ariel continued her torrent of accusations unabashedly.


    ¡°On the other hand, what have you done in the past seven or eight years to earn you a right to have any say in our group? You went off on your own to pursue Hearts candidacy¡ªfor your own sake and no one else¡¯s¡ªand then disappeared for years on end, just so you can come back now to basically tear us apart? Let¡¯s set aside the fact that I was chosen to inherit the family business instead of you. Since I was already second in line after you, I¡¯m in no way angry because of that.¡±


    It was crucial¡ªsince Ariel was the one making these accusations¡ªthat she made it clear her discontent was not because of Mirabelle taking off, reneging on her responsibilities to her family, and subsequently pushing said responsibilities onto Ariel. Given Ariel¡¯s position, she would¡¯ve eventually taken them on in some capacity anyway. She needed to unambiguously make out that this point was completely separate from the next, in order for Mirabelle to understand the depth of the mess that she made.


    ¡°When we negotiated that Ferris wheel agreement, I was the one who showed you mercy, not the other way around. It wasn¡¯t some kind of unfair deal I imposed on you because we thought it was funny to see you separated from Kato, or that I was trying to one-up you in favour of Bia. The fact that we even considered your request was more than you ever deserved. You are the one who owes us.¡±


    At that, Mirabelle was shocked. She now understood why Ariel was furious.


    ¡°At the start of senior high, you were lucky that Kato had instantly welcomed you back into the group as if nothing had changed. You do realize that in any other circumstance, being estranged for this long doesn¡¯t normally get you a free pass like this, do you? And you have the gall to ask us for a favour like that. Honestly, I was disgusted. If Bia wasn¡¯t scared of you, I would¡¯ve rejected everything on the spot. As your sister, I wanna give you the benefit of the doubt, but if you treat us as nothing but accessories to your selfish wishes, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth, to say the least. So, I¡¯ll say this.¡±


    Ariel took a deep breath in before she let every last drop of emotion in her tiny body out.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need someone who¡¯s going to leave us for good just a little under a year from now, to completely shatter my circle of friends. You don¡¯t have a horse in this race, but I do. I want us and the Elites to be together for the remainder of this year, so that after we graduate and go our separate ways, in ten years, twenty years, or even longer, we¡¯d still be the good friends that we are now. I believe Bia and Scarlett think the same, but none of this matters to you, now, does it?¡±


    ¡°N-no, I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try denying it. Your Hearts candidacy was only contingent on Master Suvorov¡¯s discretion. There¡¯s no need for you to do any of this, but we both know why you did.¡±


    Mirabelle was livid. Her beautiful face was distorted by fear, disbelief and shame. Her hands trembled, grasping at the empty air.


    ¡°To avoid the memory wipe that came with Kato and Evie¡¯s entry into the Hearts, becoming a Hearts candidate wasn¡¯t enough, obviously. You either needed to become a nomenklatura that dealt with the Hearts, or become a Heart yourself. Alice is able to do the first thing because of her and her family¡¯s position in Eternia, and her personal friendship with Evie. If I¡¯m to guess, she¡¯ll become Evie¡¯s handler.


    ¡°But our family isn¡¯t in that kind of position. We¡¯re Auxirian nobility, for heaven¡¯s sake. So, the only possibility for you was to become a Heart¡ªor more precisely, become someone who has all the credentials to become a Heart. That credential is Hearts candidacy plus a strong recommendation from a kabinet, or from a proxy of Lady Eterna.¡±


    Becoming a Hearts candidate was like making it to a waiting list for an interview after an employer validated your r¨¦sum¨¦. Becoming someone who has all the credentials to become a Heart, then, was analogous to succeeding the interview and accepting the offer of employment. Once the first day of the job rolled around, you would become a Heart.


    The kabinet was the topmost layer of Eternia¡¯s hierarchy, answering only to each other and the leaders themselves. They were, essentially, the equivalent of the top of the aristocracy, and only the leaders could appoint new kabinets.


    ¡°For Kato, Evie and Teto, Ms Romana fulfills that role as Lady Eterna¡¯s direct proxy. That¡¯s why Ms Romana is even here in the first place, to oversee them and recommend their Hearts candidacy.¡±


    Obviously, the trio were special candidates in that they were set to be Hearts from very early on in their life. Skipping the selection process entirely, they were guaranteed membership in the Hearts, so even Ms Romana¡¯s proctoring was only a formality. That was why the memory wipe was a certainty for the Elites.


    As an aside, the memory wipe was only applicable to the situation around young, Eternian-bred, newly-initiated Hearts. It didn¡¯t apply to Hearts candidates who were promoted to Hearts membership later in life. Logistical concerns aside, it was done for the young ones because the appointment was lifelong, so a clean break from their past was easier to execute upon, in order to prepare them for their long, predetermined future.


    ¡°So, you went to Mr Guilford-Fong, the Class 3-A homeroom teacher, to fulfill that role for yourself. He¡¯s the only kabinet at our school that would be willing to make such a recommendation. His recompense is to use your capabilities to change the fundamental laws of this school according to his will¡ªor rather, the faculty¡¯s will.


    ¡°If you¡¯re successful he¡¯ll recommend you, and then Lady Eterna will decide on whether to approve of initiating you into the Hearts or not. Once that happens, you¡¯ll have all the credentials to become a Heart, and thus have the justification to avoid the memory wipe. They won¡¯t force it on a person they¡¯re going to make a Heart out of. That¡¯s why you¡¯re doing all of this. This is the entire basis of your intentions. You desperately wanted to chase after Kato, and if nothing else, for Kato to remain in your memories.¡±


    That was the final nail in the coffin. Even as the bystander of their circle, Ariel was able to see through all the way to the bottom of the ocean. She was indeed an exceptional person, but of course, even of her own admission, she couldn¡¯t make use of her genius properly. It was too late for her to effect any change to the current state of affairs.


    ¡°And since you¡¯re becoming a Heart, our memories of you, like with our memories of Kato, Evie and Teto, will be sealed away too. How convenient for you. Not only were we broken apart by your dirty scheming, but we¡¯d even forget that you did this to us. Congratulations. You won¡¯t have to bear any responsibility for your actions. All I can say is that this world is terribly unjust.¡±


    Ariel¡¯s cold gaze shook Mirabelle to her core. She had only seen this once before, at the end of middle school, aimed towards Kato. That realization froze her in place, unable to speak a word. It felt as if the room closed in on her, reducing her field of blurry vision to the petite platinum-haired sister in front of her.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t get you sometimes. You¡¯d go this far to get your way, and yet you couldn¡¯t say anything to him when you¡¯re actually with him? You¡¯d mention Bia¡¯s name instead? Are you daft?¡±


    Ariel was, for once, showing a face of pure malignance. It was an expression of someone who was absolutely fed up with the thing in front of them, and wanted nothing but for that thing to be exorcised from this world. Everything she had said up until this point was within the realm of reasonable grievances, representing her fellow sisters Bianca and Scarlett too, but this latest stab was personal.


    ¡°Sorry, but don¡¯t blame Kato. I pretty much made him tell me what happened on the Ferris wheel. He doesn¡¯t know about our agreement either, so don¡¯t worry about that. I wouldn¡¯t have cared otherwise, but you had to be a scared little bitch and chicken out like a pussy. You¡¯re cold-blooded enough to throw our trust and our friendships into a ditch, but when push came to shove you couldn¡¯t even follow through with your selfishness. The Elites were destroyed so you could deliberately sabotage your own attempt? Do our livelihoods mean nothing to you?¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°And don¡¯t even try to think that that was some convoluted way of paying back Bia. It had nothing to do with her. You knew Kato and Bia had something going on between them, and you wanted him to make a definitive decision on it¡ªyou wanted him to give up on it. In other words, you were afraid he wouldn¡¯t, and afraid of being rejected because of it.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not all of it. You chickened out also because when we were negotiating that time, Bia was being whiney. Afterwards, you were scared that what she has for Kato, and what she claimed she already has, is more than what you have. You were scared that he would actually choose Bia, so you elected to choose her for him. Deluding yourself into having influenced his choice in some capacity won¡¯t hurt as much as a direct, unequivocal rejection from him. What a pathetic excuse for the most powerful woman in Korolev Senior.¡±


    Ariel caught and half-corrected herself despite being quite agitated from this confrontation. She reeled her emotions back in, taking another deep breath in and rising from her seat steadily. She had said everything she wanted to say, and so there was no more reason to stay.


    What had happened, had already happened. There was no turning back the clock to redo what went wrong, so Ariel could only make her way to the door and leave Mirabelle behind. What she wanted to do now was to plan for the future, and for a future that she wanted. A future with her friends all in one piece. In that case, her flesh and blood quadruplet-sister, Mirabelle, was her unexpected opponent. She couldn¡¯t afford to sit back and observe anymore.


    Shortly after the door closed on the student council room, gentle sobs lightly shook Mirabelle¡¯s frame. She sat dumbfounded, overwhelmed by the beating she took from Ariel. It was far beyond what she could ever imagine from her.


    Even as the bell sounded for the impending start of homeroom and first period, Mirabelle remained seated, trying desperately to reconcile with what Ariel had said. Despite the grief she was suffering through, she didn¡¯t regret the path she had taken. She was prepared to take on all of this sadness and broken hearts¡ªand that was what she was doing. Ariel¡¯s words gouged deep into her heart without mercy, but she was determined to bear it all the same. That was what it took to become a Heart on her own¡ªto have the resolve to abandon all that she held dear.


    <hr>


    After Kato and Bianca left the Class A leaders behind in the AC headquarters, they immediately made their way to the fourth floor, locking themselves in one of the empty classrooms so that no one¡ªespecially teachers¡ªwould accidentally walk in and disturb them continuing the conversation from the AC.


    The dusty scent of nature slowly decomposing the unused classroom didn¡¯t register with the unwanted intruders, who were solely focused on their own predicaments. Kato sat down on an old wooden chair after he swept away a layer of dust with the back of his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    However, it was Bianca who was the first to speak up. She stayed by the door, leaning backwards into the wall next to it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t blame you. Ariel didn¡¯t say anything about it to me either, so it must¡¯ve been something you couldn¡¯t say anything about at all until now. It makes sense. Once she became a Hearts candidate, it also became public information, so everyone adjacent to her position will find out. If she and Gilbert were students of the same master, then it stands to reason that he found out first.¡±


    Eyes closed, he rubbed his temples, still trying to take in this revelation. He couldn¡¯t believe Mirabelle deceived all of the Elites for all these years, especially his own people, who were supposed to be in the same mafia underworld she was trying to join.


    Sure, no one had any business to know all of those who were aspiring to become one, but those undergoing the intense training required to become one would eventually catch the attention of someone in a position of authority sooner or later, and unless they were extra careful about it, that information usually made its way outside in one form or another. The fact that it didn¡¯t, meant the Jupiter family pulled many strings and took many precautions to not let people know that their most outstanding daughter would abandon her noble heritage to join the organization.


    However, once one became a Hearts candidate, that candidacy would be made public to the kabinet and related individuals. It was inevitable, since from that position a Hearts candidate could only obtain a recommendation to the Hearts from a kabinet. Kato¡¯s family, while not kabinets, were special existences to the organization; they could be privy to such information if they so desired.


    Bianca breathed a small sigh of relief.


    ¡°Well, then that¡¯s good. I was worried you might tear my ear off or something.¡±


    ¡°Not yours. None of this is your doing anyway.¡±


    Kato shook his head, still bewildered.


    ¡°I¡¯d imagine you need to talk to Ariel, not me. I don¡¯t have the power to affect any of this, but Ariel might.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re gonna have a conversation with her later to exchange intel, but before that, there are still a few things I wanna confirm.¡±


    He opened his eyes and continued.


    ¡°Mira wants to join the Hearts. If she does get selected to become a Heart, she must also accept a memory wipe to all those close to her, including family. How did the rest of you take all of this?¡±


    ¡°I¡­obviously, we didn¡¯t know about it until, y¡¯know, that time. The adults didn¡¯t want to tell us, I guess, and for good reason. Initially, I thought it was fine. I get to finally forget about being her shadow, I thought. It was later that I became frustrated, after I found out what happens to the one joining the Hearts.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t be subject to the erasure of her memories at all. Right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. She¡¯ll be the only one who¡¯ll remember you. When I found out that¡¯s what would happen, it made me really upset. I was thinking to myself, why am I always the incapable one in comparison? I can¡¯t do anything, yet Mira was able to go out and forge a path for herself.¡±


    That path, however, meant being absent from the Elites for many years. For the rest of the Elites, it was as if she moved away to a different school, visited them on very infrequent occasions, and then finally moved back during high school. It was not even full time, only reappearing as she desired, as was the case for the past month and a half.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±


    Kato apologized sheepishly, but Bianca shook her head quietly. He remembered vividly, back at the end of middle school, that she found out about the erasure from him in the most acrimonious way possible. In retrospect, he realized that Bianca must have taken it much harder than he had previously thought because not only was he being downright unreasonable at the time, but Bianca had instantly, and finally, understood why Mirabelle was trying to join the Hearts¡ªto avoid exactly what Bianca had to confront.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine now. To be honest, I was probably too influenced by Letty at the time. Maybe I could¡¯ve found a more level-headed way to deal with it, than let Letty¡¯s emotions get to me.¡±


    ¡°Letty¡­¡±


    Kato sighed exhaustedly. Because Bianca had always been together with him in some way or another, there was always opportunity to mend fences. She was very special to him, so eventually he would¡¯ve came to his senses and found a way to do so. It just so happened that Eon expedited that in a very melodramatic way.


    Letty¡ªLeticia¡ªwas also someone quite special in her own right, and also was at the centre of their troubles at the time. But, she was no longer in Korolev district. She left immediately afterwards, leaving no opportunity to reconcile with her, and considering her different position from Bianca, there was probably no way to do it even if an opportunity presented itself. Leticia was the first time that Kato felt immeasurable regret over.


    They gave themselves a moment of silence for Leticia¡¯s sake, before Kato continued.


    ¡°Why did Mira want to become a Heart?¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to ask that?¡±


    Bianca was somewhat exasperated at that question. On the other hand, Kato was quite serious, and he was taken aback by Bianca¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°¡­but I wasn¡¯t that kind of a person to her at the time, was I? She made the decision to become a Heart a long time ago, even before Mayumi left us. It was around the middle of third grade that she slowly stopped coming to school.¡±


    So he wasn¡¯t that dense, and he obviously had some idea about it. It would have been stranger if he didn¡¯t. But at the same time, Bianca knew firsthand that without directly affirming such notions with the other party, it was a never-ending sequence of worry, doubt, anxiety and indecision. That loop of guessing and second-guessing each other¡¯s true feelings was both stressful and exhilarating for the budding relationship.


    ¡°What I can say is that I thought¡ªwell, everyone else too, thought¡ªit was the same deal with you and Mayumi.¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡±


    Kato could only hum at that implication. He was also a little embarrassed as he was incredulous. Bianca saw an inkling of that, and it was her turn to sigh.


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the Elites. They can see these kinds of things as bright as day.¡±


    ¡°So you noticed it at the time, too?¡±


    Her heart skipped a beat. He stared intently at her, as if the question he just asked meant much more than what it appeared on the surface.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of it too much at the time. Y-you already know that it wasn¡¯t until much more recently that it became something that mattered to me¡­¡±


    ¡°I-I guess you¡¯re right¡­¡±


    Noticing her bashful voice, he also subconsciously stammered. He realized his question was not taken at face value, so he let the subject drop. Bianca, too, hurriedly went back to the initial subject.


    ¡°Ariel and Scarlett didn¡¯t think too much of her joining the Hearts either. At least for Ariel, it wasn¡¯t until Mira brought Mayumi back that she had something serious to say about it.¡±


    ¡°Figures. That makes sense.¡±


    That was very true. Historically, Ariel was particularly close to Mayumi, and so she was fully aware of Mayumi¡¯s capabilities. She couldn¡¯t take Mirabelle¡¯s machinations with Mayumi lying down, especially now that it had turned so many things on its head.


    ¡°What do you think of Mira joining the Hearts, Kato?¡±


    Earlier, when Gilbert revealed to Kato about Mirabelle¡¯s bid for Hearts candidacy in his place, he also said that he was originally disconcerted by Mirabelle¡¯s intent on following the faculty¡¯s direction so closely. If her candidacy only relied on Master Suvorov¡¯s discretion, then she didn¡¯t need to be so aggressively siding with the faculty, or even at all.


    However, Gilbert later found out¡ªor rather, wrested from his homeroom teacher that he was in fact proctoring for Mirabelle¡¯s entry into the Hearts proper. Obviously, Hearts candidacy was not her final destination. With that final piece of information, Mirabelle¡¯s movements behind the scenes finally made sense. Of course, it didn¡¯t explain why she was aiming so desperately for the Hearts in the first place. The only reason they could surmise¡ªand unknowingly, it was correct¡ªwas because of Kato and the memory wipes.


    Normally, one pursued joining the Hearts for many other reasons. Fame, prestige, status, pride, or even pure vanity. There were also other extenuating circumstances that led to Hearts membership, such as with Kato¡¯s family. That was why even though the four of them came to a plausible reasoning, Bianca being the most sure of it, they still second-guessed if it really was the only reason, especially when it was a decision made when she was so young and with the family¡¯s tacit endorsement.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say. I don¡¯t know enough about Mr Guilford, or Mira¡¯s position with regards to that. Hell, I didn¡¯t even know she was doing this until just now. But if she¡¯s planned for it for this long, knowing her, it¡¯s pretty likely she¡¯ll succeed, if we assume Lady Eterna doesn¡¯t reject the recommendation.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Bianca was all squeamish again, clearly meaning the question in a different, more personal way. She had to put it in more precise words. Bravely, she stepped forward, and stood resolutely in front of him.


    ¡°I mean, what do you think of Mira being able to remember you after you become a Heart yourself? You¡¯ll be in the Hearts together, too. Isn¡¯t that, y¡¯know, good for you?¡±


    ¡°Good for me?¡±


    As she loomed over him, he echoed her simple question, instantly realizing what she was trying to ask. It had nothing to do with the situation at hand. It was probably something she had been endlessly anxious about, and even more so than the fact that Mirabelle was able to retain memories of Kato.


    To put it simply, she was asking about his feelings for Mirabelle.


    ¡°I¡­I¡ª!¡±


    Kato was infinitely tongue-tied. It occurred to him that, despite everything they had been through together, she had never ever asked him that question. It was immensely commendable for Bianca to not have done so for this long.


    When he looked up, he saw a deeply sorrowful longing in her gaze, as if she was already sure that he would agree with her presumption. He couldn¡¯t look away from the wistfulness in her eyes that, unforgivably, reminded him of Mirabelle.


    Bianca, seeing him continue to be at a loss for words, began to despair. Second best once more, she thought. As she tried to give up and shift away, Kato suddenly sprang forward to grab her around the waist, pressing his face to her soft belly.


    ¡°¡ª!¡±


    She gasped in surprise and instantly froze at the strange sensation of the awkward contact. There was a ticklish giddiness to it, but she was more distracted by Kato himself. She couldn¡¯t fathom what this could be about.


    Kato, unfortunately, had no idea why he reacted this way either. When she was about to turn away, he instantly felt a creeping feeling of fear in his chest that threatened to fill his heart with a numb, black void. He reached out instinctively to combat this emotional disease, as if Bianca was his solace.


    Thankfully, it only took a few moments to collect himself. He stood up from his seat, but he had yet to let go of his hands around her waist. Within his slack embrace, she looked upwards at his face in a daze, his intense stare like a heatwave sapping the energy out of her.


    ¡°¡­no matter how I feel about her, I can¡¯t choose her right now. I won¡¯t choose her until I¡¯m forced to at gunpoint. And not until I¡¯ve gotten over my feelings for you, Bia.¡±


    Kato finally pieced together his words for her to hear; or rather, he allowed himself to say whatever came into his mind as he trained his eyes intently on Bianca¡¯s delicate face. It made sure they were words meant only for her, and that there were no falsehoods in it.


    As her eyes started to well up in tears, she reached for his face with trembling hands and caressed it tenderly. Her heart was pounding so hard that she thought her blood was going to spill out of her chest.


    ¡°Can I¡­make it so that you¡¯ll never get over it?¡±


    She whispered ever so gently, tingling yet searing his ears like a feather dripping with poison. He almost buckled as his heart melted in the delirious fervour of her corrosive love.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯ve set out to do from the start, right?¡±


    And in a complete reversal, hope flooded into her expression like a blossoming flower. The euphoric high of pure bliss took over her senses for a moment, blacking out the distant sound of the morning bell. Within it, she set her emotions free, and leaned in to kiss him deeply on the lips.


    Trapped within her hypnotic reverie, Kato, perhaps against his better judgment, returned its passion tenfold in both space and time, defying all expectations of their ill-fated circumstance.


    <hr>


    Inside the inner sanctum of the school¡¯s infirmary, the remainder of the Elites crowded around Eon¡¯s bed. Early morning sun filtered through the open window onto the several other beds that were vacant, as they chose to put him in the corner away from the window.


    Yui and Franco had come here with Eon in their arms, who at the time was barely holding onto his strength in his legs. When they got to the infirmary¡¯s visitors¡¯ waiting area, the school nurse wasn¡¯t even on duty yet, so they had to barge into the main office using a master key that Scarlett handed them. They quickly tossed him onto a bed and tried to make it as comfortable for him as possible.


    Once Cecilia, Caius and Mayumi were dismissed, they along with Scarlett and Alice quickly made their way down to the infirmary, with a quick pit-stop by the girls¡¯ washroom that Mayumi had been using her future sight in. By the time they joined with Eon and co., the school nurse had arrived and was, strangely enough, hugging onto Eon¡¯s inert body tightly.


    ¡°Oh, what a dumbass you are, Eon. Why do you have to be such a dumbass, little brother?¡±


    ¡°Katia-je, you don¡¯t have to call me a dumbass like that twice.¡±


    The tall, slender nurse with a black, rounded bob cut was none other than Eon¡¯s older sister of three years. She had already finished post-secondary education and was currently working part-time at her alma mater that was this school. She donned a nurse¡¯s white laboratory uniform, complete with hardened-cloth overcoat and trousers, and finishing with black rain-boots.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare use that honorific as mockery, cockface. Address me properly.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you can fall over and die, too.¡±


    Katia let go of him and smiled brightly. The newcomers to the Elites were utterly flummoxed by the exchange of profanity, but for those who knew Katia and Eon, this was par for the course. It was also clear where Eon¡¯s maverick streak came from.


    ¡°How many hours did you look into the future?¡±


    ¡°A few hours at most.¡±


    ¡°What about the headache? Is it worse than the other times you¡¯ve used it?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, yes, it is.¡±


    She frowned.


    ¡°Then you¡¯re also getting old like me. It¡¯s best you don¡¯t exert your eyes like this from now on. At your age, the comfortable maximum I recommend is about fifteen minutes. Do you feel funny anywhere in your body at all?¡±


    ¡°No, nothing funny at all, just exhausted.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good news. There shouldn¡¯t be any lasting damage in that case. Still, don¡¯t do anything this reckless again, brother.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I already know, sister. You¡¯re the great foremother of precognition.¡±


    Katia¡¯s rainbow-coloured eyes softened, relieved that Eon was listening to her quite obediently. If they were anything like when they lived at home together, it would¡¯ve taken an episode of bickering before they reached a consensus.


    ¡°I only use it to look several seconds into the future nowadays. I don¡¯t even want to deal with fifteen minutes of suffering, and yet you chose to look hours into the future. You really like to lie in bed, huh?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but can you lecture me later? I need to pass out, thanks.¡±


    ¡°Any second now, brother.¡±


    Right before, she gave him sleeping pills to induce the mental shutdown required for sleep. The physical recoil from the future sight brought exhaustion and pain, but not the kind that encouraged sleep, so by chewing on sleeping pills they could pass through this cycle while unconscious.


    And as if right on cue, Eon fell asleep comfortably in the nondescript hospital bed. Katia smiled lightly, and turned her gaze toward the present Elites. She looked at them in the eye once each, unwavering and fearless.


    ¡°I can see that the group has expanded quite a bit. I¡¯m Katia, Eon¡¯s older sister, and these kids¡¯ babysitter a long time ago. I may be young, but that¡¯s because I skipped three grades ahead. I work in healthcare, and started here part-time just this school year. Thanks for taking care of my little brother.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Katia-je.¡±


    Caius, Mayumi and Scarlett bowed deeply, showing the true nature of their hierarchy. Alice seemed to have noticed first¡ªif Katia skipped three grades in the Korolev district, then it must mean that she was precocious, a prodigy, or both. It was, of course, the latter.


    ¡°So from what I heard, we¡¯re trying to cheat on an exam, right? And you ran into a trap set by the PSC?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, that¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you guys. You knew I was here six years ago. They already have a case study. Can¡¯t you put two and two together?¡±


    Her stunning eyes made a great impression on the newcomers, which helped sharpen the daunting combativeness in her expression and voice. She already heard what had happened earlier from Eon. Mayumi continued to answer.


    ¡°With all due respect, I was already the subject of this kind of surveillance back at Regia Miriam. I¡¯m well aware of the dangers.¡±


    ¡°And you can¡¯t come up with adequate countermeasures even with foreknowledge? I¡¯m very disappointed in you, Mayumi. My brother is a lost cause because I know his weaknesses, but you, of all people, should be able to win. I would definitely be able to win.¡±


    With that remark, the newcomers were wholly incredulous at Katia. They couldn¡¯t believe that instead of chastising Mayumi for trying to cheat on an exam, as any employee of the school should do, she was disappointed that Mayumi couldn¡¯t do it better.


    ¡°But we got off scot-free! We even hid the exam answers and retrieved them from the washroom afterwards without any of them noticing!¡±


    ¡°If your condition for victory is success at any cost, then you might as well go back to the family farm and till the fields for a living.¡±


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m very sorry.¡±


    Mayumi bit her lip at Katia¡¯s scathing assessment of her performance. With that, Katia sat back down in her wheelchair with a satisfactory expression.


    ¡°If you understand, then that¡¯s fine.¡±


    Like a child being singled out to guilt-trip their wrongdoings, Mayumi hung her head in disgrace. The crew was similarly silent and forlorn, now fully aware that not only Katia was their venerable senior, she was the Elite¡¯s ultimate boss. She was like a mafia¡¯s branch leader, while the Elites were just one of the gangs of thugs under her patronage, and Mayumi was one of those gang leaders she needed to discipline.


    ¡°¡­Katia-je, do you hate me?¡±


    Mayumi spared a momentary glance at Katia¡¯s motorized wheelchair before she shifted her eye back at Katia.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. What happened to me was all of my own accord. I now understand exactly how difficult it is to have and live with a painful, chronic illness, so I won¡¯t hate someone who found a way to overcome something I¡¯m unable to. You are fortunate that Kato was prepared to sacrifice himself for you.


    ¡°You had it worse than me. Your life was at stake. I may be in varying degrees of pain all the time, but I can manage it up to a point. Technically speaking, I had it much better than you.


    ¡°Though, I have one more thing to say as your senior and former babysitter. Not only does Kato go out on a limb for you, but Eon is also willing to do the same.¡±


    When Katia smiled gently at her and eyed Eon sleeping soundly in his bed, Mayumi finally connected the dots and figured out why Katia was strict with her.


    ¡°The blood and sweat they poured into the sacrifices they made for you, aren¡¯t trivial. So, please cherish them, Mayumi.¡±


    Despite the distraught-filled frown stretched across her porcelain features, Mayumi didn¡¯t hesitate to answer.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! Truly sorry! Please, allow me to apologize!¡±


    Mayumi got on her knees and begged for forgiveness. Even the old guard in Caius and Scarlett were taken aback by the degree of humility. They watched Katia slowly drive her wheelchair around and towards her office desk as she maintained her thin smile.


    ¡°I told you, it¡¯s fine, Mayumi. Even knowing those risks, I chose to do it myself. You don¡¯t have to blame yourself for what I did.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t change the fact that I owe you, too.¡±


    ¡°If you insist on making good on your sins, then there¡¯s only one thing for you to do, right? Make it up to the people you actually owe it to. Think about how to do it on your own, with what you have.¡±


    Katia gestured to her unconscious brother on the bed. Mayumi spared a glance at Eon too, and she nodded solemnly as her determination slowly returned.


    ¡°...I understand, Katia-je.¡±


    ¡°All right. That¡¯s all I¡¯ve got to say. Then, all of you guys, shoo. There¡¯re too many people in here already. Eon¡¯ll be fine by lunchtime, don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    Filing out of the infirmary quietly, the Elites headed for their classrooms through the hustle and bustle of the school hallways, coming alive as first period approached.


    ¡°What was that about?¡±


    Alice asked sharply the moment they passed inside one of the auxiliary stairwells, mostly directing the question at Mayumi and Caius. The group stopped, as the other newcomers also found the confrontation both baffling and intriguing. Caius answered first before Mayumi had a chance to.


    ¡°When Mayumi first disappeared, we didn¡¯t know where she went. It was Katia-je who helped out and indirectly foresaw her death.¡±


    ¡°...?¡±


    Yui, Franco and Cecilia, too, gave Caius a weird look, of course not privy to the details of their past.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t a coincidence that both Eon and Katia-je have future sight. The operation of her future sight is similar to Mayumi¡¯s though, but much stronger¡ªshe can see directly into a specific time in the future without first going through the immediate future.


    ¡°And unfortunately, Katia-je suffers from the same destructive condition as Mayumi. It¡¯s not as bad as Mayumi¡¯s case¡ªher eyes are proof that she has a wholly working special ability, being able to use it at her own discretion. So, instead of having a heavy burden on her body due to a malformed power, like with Mayumi, Katia-je¡¯s was just a case of the future sight being too great for a normal human body to endure.¡±


    For Mayumi and Eon, their future sight worked like a cassette tape, needing to fast-forward or rewind based on what they wanted to see. However, Katia¡¯s powers were so much more convenient than theirs. She could drop in at any time in the future she wanted, almost like a needle on a gramophone record.


    ¡°She found approximately where Mayumi was, what was happening and some of what was going to happen to her. Afterwards, Kato and Evie tracked her down based on Katia-je¡¯s descriptions. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place. We have one friend about to die, and another friend¡¯s family member permanently injuring herself for our sake. I¡¯m not sure how Eon feels now, but back at that moment, I didn¡¯t think it went over with him very well. It was really complex, to say the least.¡±


    That explained why Eon was so apathetic to Mayumi¡¯s return to Korolev. While she was an infinitely irreplaceable friend, she had also been at the centre of his elder sister¡¯s disability, no matter how much Katia insisted it was of her own doing. Given my personality, this would¡¯ve happened to me sooner or later, just under a different circumstance, Katia had said nonchalantly. I can be glad that it helped someone from dying in an undeserved condition.


    Interestingly, this bit of trivia forced Alice to re-evaluate Eon in a more positive light. While Eon was tightly connected to what had happened to Mayumi that time, it was merely adjacent to the drama that followed Mayumi, Caius and Kato. Eon¡¯s claim that he had no skin in that game was terrifically accurate, much more accurate than one would give him at face value. Rather, he had a very personal, one-to-one set of mixed feelings with regards to Mayumi.


    ¡°Her current form with this half-disability was the direct result of that reckless use of her future sight in that incident. Her body couldn¡¯t take it, and now she lives with a wheelchair and with chronic pain.¡±


    The newcomers were stupefied. It meant that Katia had been handicapped since middle-school-age. Needless to say, her recklessness caused no small amount of grief for her family. At the same time, the Elites had to face Mayumi¡¯s imminent death as well. Alice now understood the depth of the burden Mayumi must carry, and part of why she returned to Korolev and did what she did. It really wasn¡¯t just about herself. It was all about the original Elites. Mayumi had a score to settle with the Elites, as she once told her.


    ¡°I see. I understand.¡±


    When Caius finished matter-of-factly, Alice replied in kind. Even the trivial mystery as to how the Elites were able to find out about Mayumi¡¯s condition was such a heavy burden that it dwarfed and even belittled her own inner turmoil. No wonder the Elites were such exceptional people, Alice thought.


    ¡°Then, what are you planning to do about it?¡±


    Alice turned to Mayumi, who was still somewhat spaced out from before. However, after hearing Alice¡¯s question, she replied with something unexpected.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to face all of them head-on. All of you head-on. I can¡¯t be running away forever.¡±


    Ever since the equinox, Mayumi had been quite outwardly melancholic. As it had been for years, the unrelenting forward march of time did nothing to assuage her aching heart. Those close to her, especially Cecilia, could see that her spirit was thoroughly broken.


    However, in this moment, the fire in her eye shone once more. There were no more clouds in her gaze, and no more hesitation in her movement. The re-encounter with Katia brought back a vigour befitting of the leader of the Elites. Surprised, Alice gasped.


    ¡°I-is that so? Good for you, then.¡±


    Satisfied, Mayumi turned to continue climbing the steps. The conversation dropped abruptly, giving an eerie feel to the quite large group present. There was a strange feeling of anticipation tingling at Alice as they ascended the stairs back to the third floor, to which an explanation for it very quickly appeared before her.


    While the 3-B and 3-F classrooms were both in the west building, the 3-B classroom was all the way at the end of it, while the 3-F classroom was situated near the centre where the open atrium was. When they made it to the fork in the path separating the two destinations, Caius, Mayumi and Cecilia followed Scarlett onwards to the 3-B classroom, leaving Alice, Franco and Yui behind.


    It seemed like the scene was just as jarring for the other two newcomer Elites. As they watched their backs recede into the hallway, it felt as if the Elites had been completely split apart. Back at the equinox, there were only splinters beginning to form, but they were still a whole, as flawed as the situation was. Now, the difference in classes and classrooms finally drove home reality. The splinters gave way entirely and the whole thing fell apart.


    ¡°So this is it, huh.¡±


    Franco shook his head glumly, and turned to head for the 3-F classroom. Yui followed him quietly, also sombre from the loss of the original Elites. For what it was worth, they each had their own, lasting history with the original Elites, unlike the case for Alice.


    Alice could only hold her head high and grit her teeth. As someone who cherished her friends and reciprocated their loyalty, it saddened her to see them go. She hoped that Mayumi¡¯s newfound purpose could bring a change for the better.

 3.21 Sirens of Decay

    Upon Ariel¡¯s direction, she and Evie finally made their way to the fourth floor and joined Bianca and Kato in the empty classroom, skipping the first period of class.


    When Ariel first entered the room, her already-rigid frown turned evermore frosty as she broke apart their smooching with a loud smack on the chalkboard before Evie could enter. The two instantly extracted themselves from each other¡¯s embrace, faces steaming and red. Ariel and Eon were the only ones who knew the extent of their difficult feelings that could never be, so it was a godsend that it wasn¡¯t Evie who walked in on them first.


    With all the attendees present, Ariel, who called the meeting in the first place, climbed atop Evie¡¯s shoulders and sat there. Strange, yes, but it was her unusual way of taking control of a room where everyone was taller than her.


    ¡°For the future, there are a few things we have to go over. The first thing is the closure of the Records Office, which means that my role in the student council is coming to an end. We have until the end of the day to hand-copy any documents from the Records Office we want to keep, so I¡¯m counting on all of you here, plus Scarlett, to do this for the whole day today. At the very least, I want to transcribe the third-year profiles, including family registers. Is that clear?¡±


    There were no objections, though Evie was surprised Ariel included her in such an operation when she wasn¡¯t very adept at bureaucratic accounting. She was here solely because of her very firm connection to Eternia, and Mirabelle was to join the Hearts as her equal.


    ¡°Any exams you have to take today will be deferred in the name of student council duties. Now, the second thing is the case with Mayumi and her group. All of us here knew that they were gonna try and cheat on an exam, and they ended up getting out in one piece. So, we¡¯re gonna keep this under wraps as-is, right?¡±


    The group nodded. There were no objections here either. Their disastrous adventure was their prerogative, and they had no intention of getting in their way.


    ¡°Kato, you will continue with what you¡¯re doing in the talent show for Mayumi and Caius, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±


    It was something he intended to do no matter what, especially now with Eon also taken out of Class F. There was even more pressure on him to make this work, because if it didn¡¯t succeed, then it would really be the end of the Elites. There were too many people he would let down if he couldn¡¯t pull through.


    ¡°Perfect. Then, the third thing is the most important topic. Mira¡¯s intentions on joining the Hearts. What are your first impressions?¡±


    Ariel could already hazard a good guess at Kato¡¯s, so instead she directed her gaze downwards at Evie.


    ¡°She¡¯s a nuisance. It would be better for everyone if she didn¡¯t join the Hearts.¡±


    Her evaluation was so blunt that even Ariel couldn¡¯t hold back a gasp, but when they spared a moment to think about it, it really was the truth in every interpretation of her words. She was surprisingly lucid in the most unexpected of times.


    ¡°She¡¯ll probably serve under you. I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be disappointed with her ability. Aren¡¯t you surprised at her being able to do all of this in the first place?¡±


    ¡°Nah. If she¡¯s physically superior and is gifted enough to utilize it, anyone can join the Hearts. As far as I know, she¡¯s both, and if your story is true, then she really did go through enough training to make it here. Shouldn¡¯t be surprising at all.¡±


    Evie said confidently, confounding Bianca and Kato to no end. While they were childhood friends and stepsiblings respectively, Evie¡¯s abnormally high tolerance of the absurd was still profoundly shocking to the two who lived in the ¡°normal¡± world. The Hearts never meaning to be easy to make it into, and having a friend training to become a deity in secret from them for years, didn¡¯t strike Evie as absurd, amazingly enough.


    ¡°That makes sense, I guess. Still, we weren¡¯t allowed to discuss it for all these years. Have you heard anything about Mira doing this at all?¡±


    ¡°Nope. This is the first time I¡¯m hearing this.¡±


    So, not even Evie knew anything about Mirabelle¡¯s ambitions. Because she was the future Number One, Queen of Hearts, she sometimes picked up information not meant for their ears, including learning of their memory erasure ahead of time.


    ¡°Then this should also be the first time you¡¯ll be hearing this. Mira will be moving into your household later tonight.¡±


    Finally surprising even Evie, the jaws of Ariel¡¯s audience of three dropped. Even Bianca was in the dark, so she was the first to ask, utterly shocked.


    ¡°¡­how did this come about? And where did you learn this from?¡±


    ¡°I took the liberty of doing a little digging around. I even went to Master Suvorov to confirm the sequence of events.¡±


    Ariel took a deep breath in.


    ¡°The moment she obtained her spirit tablet, she was no longer a member of the House of Jupiter. No noble has ever officially joined the organization, and doing so meant giving up your titles. Normally, you wouldn¡¯t even be able to get this far in the first place, much less joining the Hearts, but here we are. Unlike the nomenklatura, treason as a noble can never be forgiven.¡±


    That was an obvious nod to Mayumi¡¯s mother, Satsuki, whom Mirabelle helped to rehabilitate. Accordingly, there was no such path of recourse in the Auxirian aristocracy.


    ¡°As such, she was to leave our house and live elsewhere. She could technically live at one of our safe houses as a renting commoner, but I don¡¯t think that would be her ideal situation. Hence, she found a way to convince Sisi and Karl to allow her to stay at your place.¡±


    She eyed Kato carefully, watching him for any reaction to the news. She was to be surprised and disappointed, though, because his expression barely changed from the initial shock.


    ¡°Sisi and Master Suvorov knew each other, going all the way back to their youth. Together in the Hearts, they were once part of the Winged Emissaries who fought in the many conflicts in Royal Candor. Apparently, Master Suvorov appealed to Sisi for this favour, and she and Karl agreed.¡±


    They remained silent. Bianca, for one, couldn¡¯t believe Mirabelle was leaving the house. Though it was already an eventuality with the memory wipe, she didn¡¯t expect the move to occur before it.


    ¡°Thankfully, I was able to learn all the missing pieces of what happened to Mira on the Eternian side in time, and that was why I was able to gather you all here right now, before everything could fall into place.¡±


    Evie was strangely deep in thought.


    ¡°Sisi once said she couldn¡¯t tell us who the sixth deity was in Korolev Senior. Then Mira must be it. A secret to be kept until she became a Hearts candidate.¡±


    Kato also recalled that conversation from a while ago. From that, Sisi must have known about Mirabelle¡¯s situation from the get-go, and elected not to tell them about it. He didn¡¯t blame her for that, of course. This whole debacle was never in Sisi¡¯s purview, and it made sense she wouldn¡¯t interfere in it if it involved the will of another Heart, Master Suvorov.


    ¡°Well, quite a number of people had to keep their mouths shut. In my opinion, the possibility of a leak was so high that it was a miracle that it didn¡¯t make it to you guys until now. Then again, I had very little details of Mira¡¯s Hearts candidateship until recently, so it turned out it covered itself up quite well.¡±


    That was correct. For example, Gilbert and Mona were aware of Mirabelle¡¯s ambitions to become a Heart¡ªpeople who had no prior connection to the Jupiters before Master Suvorov. So, it meant that Master Suvorov was likely the person who kept in line all who were in the know, at the behest of the Jupiter family. It showed how much influence Master Suvorov wielded over the organization.


    ¡°Kato, on the night of the day we went to the Bozz, you met with Master Suvorov briefly. You were together with Alice and Sisi, and so were Gilbert and Mona and their families. That day, Mira was there too, to guard their delegation and retrieve Alice. Do you remember?¡±


    Upon that prompt, he instantly remembered. The mysterious man with a very intense aura in the limousine who was able to make Sisi back down must have been Master Suvorov. Therefore, the barehanded assassin-fighter in the jumpsuit was Mirabelle. Her profile and body proportions matched perfectly.


    ¡°¡­yes, I do.¡±


    Kato must admit Mirabelle¡¯s empty-handed technique was fearsome. He thought they were about evenly matched, so Mirabelle certainly had the physical chops to join the Hearts. A fellow deity through and through.


    At the same time, it was unnerving to completely re-evaluate his childhood friend like this, almost as if he needed to replace one whole person with another. Mirabelle¡¯s hidden side was so out of left field that even after having it repeated so many times now, he was still shocked.


    ¡°Master Suvorov must have also had a hand in the cover-ups. If I were to guess, anyone who knew and leaked it would¡¯ve been terminated by Master Suvorov himself. That¡¯s the only reason I can think of, considering all the students he¡¯s taken in to train alongside Mira.¡±


    ¡°Right, Gilbert was one of them.¡±


    Ariel closed her eyes.


    ¡°Donovan was another. And there¡¯s a third person which we need to be wary of. The same person the faculty is bringing back to Korolev Senior to, with Mira¡¯s support, take the AC away from Mona.¡±


    Kato and Bianca instantly froze. There were very few people who fit those descriptors¡ªreally, only one they could think of¡ªand it was terrible news for the school.


    ¡°¡­is this also Mira¡¯s idea?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure. If it was, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised, but she would be putting herself in a lot of danger too. A deity she may be, a challenger is only a step away.¡±


    No matter how much one refined their technique, it only took one opening to lose, and to lose everything. Winning nine out of ten times was meaningless if the one out of ten occurred. That was the nature of their line of work.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s the case, right? Right?¡±


    Bianca trembled at the thought of it. If Mirabelle actually did bring him back, then it was a real, unequivocal slap in her face. As flesh and blood sisters, it would¡¯ve been an action beyond unforgivable.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Mira doesn¡¯t involve things she can¡¯t control. There¡¯s no way that motherfucker can be a reliable chess piece in her game like Mayumi is.¡±


    Uncharacteristically, or perhaps very characteristically, Evie gave a sober take on it.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Arnold isn¡¯t a person you can control. That¡¯s why he was expelled in the first place.¡±


    ¡°So, the faculty decided to bring him back? There has to be more than that, right?¡±


    Ariel furrowed her glorious brows.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. At this point, we have to assume that¡¯s the case. I don¡¯t believe anyone among the third-years with any significant amount of power would want to bring him back.¡±


    That was true. While Arnold had some unsavoury allies who might want to see him return, he had many more enemies among the third-year elites. He was, in many ways, the ultimate villain of their year.


    ¡°Bringing him back at this timing is extremely risky, no? We¡¯re about a month away from when the millers join us for the exchange program.¡±


    Millers were the colloquial designation for exchange students from the Auxirian fatherland, specifically from the Central Imperial Academy for Military Arts, or Central Mil. In other words, noble children from the Auxirian aristocracy were allowed to board and attend Korolev Senior for a semester. This strange arrangement was certainly unfathomable at a glance, given the very real power struggle between the two authorities, but considering the existence of the Jupiter household, it was not an unusual outcome.


    Of course, taking in noble children and having them coexist with the most exceptional commoners was not an easy task¡ªit was excruciatingly difficult for all parties involved, in fact, so bringing back an untameable force such as Arnold before the arrival of the millers was extremely risky.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to sweat over things we don¡¯t know yet. Whether if it¡¯s about Arnold¡¯s return, or its timing with the millers¡¯ arrival, we can¡¯t make any judgments on them without any additional information, right? I haven¡¯t heard anything of the sort from Gilbert or Mona. Has Mira said anything about it?¡±


    ¡°No, she only mentioned it was the faculty¡¯s decision.¡±


    Ariel answered Kato flatly.


    ¡°There you go. I guess it¡¯ll be homework for us.¡±


    Kato said rather gravely and somewhat dismayed. Evie, however, was already marching ahead.


    ¡°Bia, don¡¯t worry about Arnold. We¡¯ll take care of him for you the same way we did last time.¡±


    As the embodiment of a superhuman, Evie was unafraid of her outlandish claims. At the same time, it gave Bianca reassurance of its guarantee because of it.


    ¡°Thanks, Evie. I¡¯m counting on you.¡±


    In the past, Bianca had been on the receiving end of Arnold¡¯s unsavoury advances. It was a strange sequence of events that didn¡¯t make any sense with regards to Arnold¡¯s motives, but in the end Evie physically ended the terror. Confronted with Evie¡¯s overwhelming power under Kato¡¯s direction, Arnold uncharacteristically backed off without a second look back, as if he instantly lost all interest in Bianca and the Elites.


    ¡°You can count on me, too.¡±


    ¡°O-of course.¡±


    Buoyed by Kato¡¯s additional assertion, she stuttered slightly as she averted her eyes shyly, their intimate moment earlier still fresh in her mind. Kato, for his part, felt his heart stop as he watched her eyelashes flutter. In another stroke of luck for them both, Evie had already trained her focus back on Ariel.


    ¡°The question is, what are we gonna do moving forward?¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re a little late when it comes to gaining any advantages in the power struggles. As an undersecretary now without a secret police, I don¡¯t think I can do much at all to effect significant change. Bia¡¯s chancellorship is the only source of power we have left we can use to leverage against any contingencies. I think the most we can do is to make moves to protect ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Self-preservation, eh?¡±


    ¡°We get what we¡¯ve sown for sleeping on the job. While I think Gilbert and Mona¡¯s factions are sufficiently friendly enough, even allied perhaps, I can¡¯t expect much considering I was the one who prosecuted Gilbert¡¯s faction. For liaison with those two, I leave it to you two, all right?¡±


    Kato and Bianca nodded.


    ¡°In Mira¡¯s case, we¡¯re still unclear about the details of her future plans, but we do know that it¡¯ll be her job to support Arnold in his attempt to usurp the AC from Mona. From this, we can infer that they will at least work in tandem, if not allied, while Mona is still the chairwoman. There¡¯s a good possibility that Donovan will aid Mira and Arnold in this struggle. In light of that, it¡¯s best to consider the three of them as part of the faculty¡¯s faction. The general student council and Class B will quickly fall in line under Mira for this purpose, and I don¡¯t see a way for me to create a meaningful splinter faction under these circumstances.¡±


    Ariel admitted grimly. That was the charismatic power of Mirabelle. While Ariel had clout of her own, and indeed she was well-respected among many students of Class 3-B and formed her own personal clique, her opponent had to be Mirabelle. If it was anybody else, it would have been a no-brainer to split the class like Gilbert and Mona had done, but reality wasn¡¯t so kind.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be better if the Elites don¡¯t show up for student council duties anymore. That¡¯ll lessen the likelihood of getting Alice caught up in things she doesn¡¯t need to. Though, I don¡¯t think the Elites are in any position to come to the student council room together anymore, are you?¡±


    She continued to muse. The separation of the Elites probably meant the end of their occasional adventures in the student council room with the Jupiter sisters, she seemed to suggest. Kato nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Mhm. Though, are you sure we don¡¯t need to involve Eon or Alice in this conversation? I¡¯m fine with leaving Alice out of this since it¡¯s not her battle, at least not until she¡¯s joined the nomenklatura, but Eon could be a lot of help.¡±


    ¡°If Mira didn¡¯t make such a mess out of this already, I would¡¯ve approached all of you for help. However, with Mayumi¡¯s group joining my class, I¡¯m afraid they have to be dealt with differently. One of Mira¡¯s conditions for Mayumi¡¯s return was to join the student council and help her. You¡¯d think she¡¯ll try and use her again, right? And Mayumi probably won¡¯t, or perhaps can¡¯t, refuse.¡±


    Kato closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.


    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that even if they know Mira¡¯s planning something for them, they¡¯ll go along with it anyway?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Under these circumstances, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to work alongside them. Given Mayumi¡¯s agreement with Mira, and by extension the faculty, whatever superficial thing we try to do will probably fall on deaf ears, right?¡±


    Perhaps it was difficult for them to imagine due to their preconceptions of Mayumi, but that particular arrangement was agreed upon as a precondition for Mayumi¡¯s return to Korolev Senior. Plus, if Mayumi¡¯s no longer a sacrifice and could be controlled by Mirabelle, then there wouldn¡¯t be any pressure from the faculty to get Mayumi expelled either. Her attendance here would be reinforced by helping Mirabelle out, and this fact was likely not lost on Mayumi and the original Elites.


    ¡°That¡¯s about as far as I can see at the moment. Kato, what do you intend to do?¡±


    All eyes turned to the lone man in the room. In some respects, he was the one who held them all together. He was the old Mayumi¡¯s true successor.


    ¡°I tried my best to keep everyone together for one final year, but at this point I think I¡¯ve gotta accept reality. Everyone¡¯s changed in some way or another, including myself, and as a result of that we¡¯ve split apart of our own accord. That¡¯s the truth.


    ¡°I¡¯ve lost Mayumi, Caius and Eon, and I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m ever getting them back. What¡¯s more, Mira¡¯s the cause of it, yet she¡¯s gonna be living with us. Honestly, I don¡¯t know how I should face her. I don¡¯t want to face her.¡±


    Kato stared at his feet, struggling to keep his eyes from closing and his mouth from shouting. It had been a long time since he felt this pathetic. Ariel climbed down from her mount and walked up to Kato.


    ¡°If there¡¯s any consolation, Kato, is that we still have some time before anything happens. Unless the faculty really is in a hurry, Arnold probably won¡¯t return at least until after the morning classes¡¯ midterms are over.¡±


    A reasonable deduction, as a student¡¯s schedule mostly revolved around the morning classes. Ariel continued.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Arnold¡¯ll be Mira¡¯s ally, either. In fact, I don¡¯t think they see eye to eye at all. When that time comes, when Arnold inevitably becomes her enemy, will you be ready? Will you protect Mira, as you did for Bia?¡±


    Kato raised his head to meet Ariel¡¯s stern glare, yet her eyes were red with exhaustion. It was a difficult morning for her, too.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I wanna protect everyone, whether they have been lost or have betrayed us. I wanna say I¡¯m gonna involve myself more, but honestly, I¡¯m still hesitant.¡±


    He made a difficult face. Evie immediately clapped back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. Even if you¡¯re hated by the guys in Class B, as long as we get what we want, it¡¯s fine, right?¡±


    ¡°Letty still left Korolev in the end¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still a better outcome than Letty staying here while Class B overwhelms her. She was never gonna compromise on her feelings, so you were the perfect lightning rod.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°In other words, you need to do it yourself in order to protect what¡¯s dear to you. If you¡¯re gonna be regretting what happens either way, I¡¯d prefer choosing my own path rather than letting chance decide for me.¡±


    Although overly cringe, Evie¡¯s words still struck a chord with Kato, who had spent so much time by himself lately mulling over the situation with Mayumi and the original Elites. The maelstrom of unease he felt was akin to regret, but not exactly; it was more about why did things have to turn out this way, rather than rewinding time and wishing for a different outcome. Even so, Evie was correct that he would be moping like this in every scenario.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Thanks, Evie.¡±


    Kato took a long breath in.


    ¡°Feeling better?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. I still think it¡¯s best if I lay as low as possible. I don¡¯t wanna get in Mira¡¯s way if it turns out her plan doesn¡¯t involve us. I¡¯ll do my best to keep in touch with Gilbert and Mona to check Mira¡¯s moves, so I¡¯m gonna count on you, Ariel. You¡¯re our leader this time around.¡±


    ¡°Says the troublemaker the last time. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll think of something on your own later on, but all right. I¡¯ll take on that role in an official capacity.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t deny that, but I took it upon myself to help Letty last time. This time, I¡¯m relying on all of you guys first.¡±


    Ariel smiled for the first time in ages. The catlike tiny girl finally revealed herself to be a human.


    ¡°Evie, what do you plan to do?¡±


    Ariel asked curtly as she pointed a finger at her, wanting to know Evie¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything. There¡¯s no role yet for me in this battle.¡±


    She shrugged with her answer, but the implication in both Ariel and Evie¡¯s words were clear. There was a good chance that, with Mirabelle soon living together with them, Evie would get pulled along into Mirabelle¡¯s plans. An absolute physical deterrent such as Evie would be extremely advantageous in the right situations.


    ¡°Evie, just do whatever you want. Whether it¡¯s to get dragged into Mira¡¯s plans or oppose her, I think it¡¯s better for all of us if you just do what your gut tells you to. You¡¯re actually more predictable that way.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I can help you, Kato?¡±


    ¡°You always end up having your own ideas and acting on it, regardless of what we wanted you to do. It¡¯s fine, just snoop around like you always do, and I¡¯ll bug you every now and then for intel.¡±


    Kato shook his head in exasperation, his evaluation of Evie¡¯s reliability quite harsh. When Ariel nodded emphatically in agreement with Kato, Evie shrugged again, taking his criticism on the chin. They have known each other for a long time, after all.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Evie. All we need from you is to side with us when we tell you to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m always on Kato¡¯s side.¡±


    She replied confidently to Ariel, who nodded again gratefully. They could count on Evie being Evie.


    ¡°Then, Bia, what do you plan on doing?¡±


    Ariel turned to the remaining person in the room who had been fairly silent in their discussion. The pressure Ariel exuded was rather intense, even against her own sister. That was how serious she took their conversation, and a serious Ariel was a wild force to be reckoned with.


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Bianca bit her lip as she let her thoughts linger, clearly still distracted by what happened with Kato earlier. Ariel immediately saw what was going through her mind and yanked on her chain.


    ¡°Bia, we¡¯re gonna be in far greater danger than three years ago, now that Arnold¡¯s returned and Mira¡¯s moving of her own accord. Not to mention, those rowdy millers are gonna be joining us soon, too. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re not gonna do anything to protect yourself?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­huh?¡±


    Bianca blinked, confused and taken aback by the strength in Ariel¡¯s tone.


    ¡°You can be a bit dim and airheaded sometimes, dear sister. I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s because of your innate personality or your tunnel visioning on a certain someone, but you¡¯re more than capable and affable yourself to be marked as a target.¡±


    ¡°¡­me? A target?¡±


    ¡°You were our valedictorian back in middle school because you¡¯re actually popular. Sure, you would¡¯ve been second after Mira if she actually came to school, but being the second- is not the same as being the thirtieth-most popular girl at school. Do keep in mind all those love letters I had to dispose of for you.¡±


    ¡°Love letters, huh?¡±


    Kato hummed exaggeratingly, goading a reaction from Bianca. Actually, he had long since known about them and Bianca¡¯s popularity via Ariel, which was part of why he pushed himself to be involved with Bianca back in middle school. He couldn¡¯t help but feel bothered by those no-names trying to go after his precious childhood friend.


    ¡°W-what, Kato, they¡¯re not what you think they are!¡±


    ¡°Hm? Whatever do I think they are, indeed? Why, I¡¯m just pleasantly surprised at your popularity, is all.¡±


    ¡°N-no, you got it all wrong! They don¡¯t mean anything to me! That¡¯s why I had to reject all of them!¡±


    Dumbfounded, Bianca desperately tried to ward off the accusatory and smug expression on Kato¡¯s face. To no avail, of course, since Ariel interrupted before the conversation derailed itself.


    ¡°In other words, Bia, being second-best means you still stand out too much and it attracts trouble. Do you understand your situation? Mira returning to resume the student council presidency doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re getting relegated to the background. It means any moves she makes as president could come to bite you. If she¡¯s already tossed me and Mayumi under the bus, it¡¯s not inconceivable that she¡¯ll use you to her ends, too.¡±


    ¡°I get that, but¡­¡±


    A short moment of annoyance flashed across Ariel¡¯s face, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Instead, she walked up to Bianca and started to pull on her cheeks angrily.


    ¡°Wha¡ªwha¡¯or y¡¯do¡¯n¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I wanna know what you¡¯re doing, spacing out like this. Can you give it some serious thought? When you come up with something later, let me know.¡±


    Ariel let go after she finished making her utilitarian requests, backing off from her terminally absentminded sister. Sometimes, she thought Mirabelle and Bianca¡¯s personalities overlapped so much that it made sense they were identical twins. Both shared this bizarre propensity to be overwhelmed by their emotions to the point of inaction. On the opposite side of the spectrum, she and Scarlett had the capacity to easily endure these mood swings like it was a fly on a tank. In a sense, they had a pinch of Evie in them.


    ¡°Kato, I leave Bia to you.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. You know she¡¯s part of this battle, whether we like it or not. Gilbert and Mona chose to test Bia for information on Mira, and then still chose to loop her in this particular debacle. So, it stands to reason that others would view her the same way. Arnold certainly did previously, and that wouldn¡¯t be the last time this would happen. You get me?¡±


    Unable to get through to her sister, Ariel pointed her finger at Kato, who fortunately was still wide awake and aware. He nodded, of course, since the subject was Bianca. Panning his gaze over the three girls around him, who wore expressions from listless, determined, to anxious, he internally chuckled at this hastily put together and unlikely coalition of masterminds.


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°I-I¡¯m terribly sorry, Don.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be, Liam. We¡¯re up against real heavyweights. My physical superiority was never enough to win.¡±


    Only these two remained in the PSC headquarters after the general members were dismissed for the day. The afternoon was quickly ending, and so were their duties.


    ¡°But I am quite annoyed about the faculty. They knew what they were doing when they put me into this position. I can only imagine what they have in store for the second- and first-years.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°For the time being, our year¡¯s student hierarchy is controlled by faculty outsiders, Gilbert and Mona. The faculty originally wanted to let this year go and redouble their efforts in the next, seeing how our year had first turned out. Despite the fractious scene of Class A, their two factions actually garnered much respect from many significantly named students in the lower classes.¡±


    Considering how Wild West student hierarchies were, without an abnormal deviance, ability and merit trumped all. Many were satisfied with Gilbert and Mona at the top until Mirabelle showed that she would join the race, and quite obviously had the same, if not better, ability than them, allowing her to easily assume leadership of their year.


    ¡°Mirabelle decided to run for president of her own volition, so the faculty took the chance to milk whatever they could out of this opportunity. They pulled me back into the fight when I had zero influence outside of the drama department. I mean, look at the state of the PSC. They didn¡¯t even let me train our folks with the outgoing senior members, and yet they expect me to run it at full power.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­huh?¡±


    ¡°It means management is expecting me to produce just as many results as before, but with fewer resources. In fact, there are no resources. The second-years are essentially all green to the role; they were supposed to be trained up this year by the outgoing seniors. Fucking upper management, man.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Liam still didn¡¯t quite understand the rant, but Donovan continued anyway.


    ¡°But that¡¯s exactly what they want. It¡¯s a win-win either way for the faculty. They either get a functioning PSC but with me in charge instead of Gilbert, or they get a PSC that¡¯s been neutered. I really wanna stick it in those old farts¡¯ asses.¡±


    ¡°Are you gonna?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. They know exactly what kind of a person I am when they put me in for this job. I¡¯m a fundamentally lazy person and I ain¡¯t gonna do any work, even for revenge. No, scratch that, there is a revenge angle befitting of my style. They haven¡¯t prepped me like they should have¡ªI deserve to be prepped, though, by the way¡ªso they¡¯re not gonna get anything in return from me. An eye for an eye by being lazy.¡±


    Donovan grinned smugly, seemingly satisfied with his in-the-moment decision. Perhaps strangely to outsiders, Liam too smirked in agreement and understanding.


    ¡°Now, that sounds like a plan, boss. Although, you¡¯ve been putting in a lot of effort trying to get Mirabelle¡¯s plans to work. I¡¯ll bet the faculty¡¯s still gonna try to get you to work your ass off for them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. The passing of the Act of Neutrality, the return of the infamous Arnold Hedonez, and then helping him take the AC chairmanship. I can see it all too well.


    ¡°But it won¡¯t be this easy to use me the next time, Mirabelle and the old farts. Really, I have to hand it to the faculty to make me work. Thinking back on it now, it makes me despise them even more.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°After Mirabelle brought Mayumi back to this school, the faculty ordered me to find a reason to prosecute and possibly expel her. If you can put two and two together, that order probably originated from Mirabelle as a suggestion to those in the faculty who opposed Mirabelle¡¯s way of doing things. She essentially tricked the faculty to cover both loose ends at once. She could get the Act of Neutrality to pass by either letting Mayumi¡¯s revolutionary activities blow up, or have Mayumi indicted for cheating while she¡¯s still the revolution¡¯s leader. In both cases, it¡¯s enough to warrant extreme measures to be passed.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ then Mirabelle got you to cover that second scenario.¡±


    ¡°Yes. In the end, she didn¡¯t pull the gun on either trigger, and opted to go for a third solution. It¡¯s not just about taking Mayumi into Class B and ending the revolutionary activities. This path became available to her after she got the faculty to dismantle the Records Office and her sister Ariel¡¯s faction. The whole of Class B has been forced into following Mirabelle¡¯s lead now.¡±


    ¡°Class B is split into two factions?¡±


    Liam opened his mouth in surprise.


    ¡°They¡¯re more like soft splits than real factions. The two of them are the most capable students of their class, and students would naturally gravitate around either of the two. But with the Records Office gone, there¡¯s no more reason to maintain any kind of split between the two sisters. Mirabelle is clearly the winner here.¡±


    ¡°Wow¡­ Mirabelle really is amazing. Well, whatever. Like you said, it¡¯s not like Mirabelle¡¯s plans have been disadvantageous for us so far. Do you think she¡¯s thought this all through as she planned it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna lie, I think she does have the ability to plan and do all of that. She isn¡¯t without weaknesses, though, and Arnold¡¯s return is gonna be the real test of that. For all her capabilities, she¡¯s at a great disadvantage against him.¡±


    Donovan¡¯s smirk could be described as sinister by any normal folk. However, Liam was used to the sinister-ness, and was mildly amused by it instead.


    ¡°Arnold¡¯s return will be a test for us too, though, if we don¡¯t stay on our toes. You know how he is.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Class C will be steering well clear of that ass.¡±


    Liam nodded strongly, for once in the conversation in complete understanding. He was a veteran of this school district like Donovan, and so he knew exactly how troublesome Arnold was. As a male, he was by no means cowed by the existence of another alpha, but the common trait he shared with Donovan was their propensity for dodging hassles as much as possible, and Arnold was definitely a hassle. Even better, leaving the hard work for someone else was their modus operandi.


    ¡°I sort of still can¡¯t believe the faculty would allow Arnold to return. He went overboard on too many things, and I don¡¯t think he¡¯s ever gonna feel sorry about them. I can only guess this is the faculty becoming wary of Mirabelle¡¯s capabilities and needing something to check her.¡±


    ¡°You mean the faculty doesn¡¯t fully trust Mirabelle to do their bidding?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and with a move like that, they¡¯re definitely trying to take advantage of her capabilities for as long as possible. They know they have the keys to her kingdom, so they¡¯re dangling it in front of her so she would follow their orders, almost desperately. And when they see she¡¯s being too capable, they¡¯re throwing in a guard dog to control her. Those rascals, the faculty.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not going to get what she wants, is she?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way she didn¡¯t negotiate a time limit on their partnership. If I¡¯m correct, she wants to be able to join the Hearts before the end of the year, so she wants to finish this job as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°The faculty¡¯s getting greedy, huh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly right, and they¡¯ll probably pay for it in the end. Crossing Mirabelle by dragging out their demands is one thing, but bringing back Arnold is just inviting disaster. Frankly, I feel sorry for Mona and her lot. Unless Arnold¡¯s distracted, they¡¯ll probably bear the brunt of his wrath.¡±


    ¡°Will it actually come back to bite the faculty? How would that come about?¡±


    Donovan smirked again. As a bystander, the drama he was watching unfold was like dopamine. He could enjoy it like a sweet, sweet dessert, so long as it didn¡¯t affect him.


    ¡°He¡¯ll probably commit a very heinous crime, likely against a fellow student, and be expelled again. The faculty might push the blame of this hypothetical incident on us, the PSC, for failing our duties, but I¡¯ll be ready for when that time comes.¡±


    They both laughed, despite the topic of the conversation being quite serious. Not surprisingly, wriggling out of responsibilities was second nature to them.


    ¡°The first thing I¡¯ll do when Arnold returns is to file a complaint to the faculty about his return. With that in place, afterwards, if anything goes astray, the faculty isn¡¯t gonna like what I¡¯ll do if they try to pin fault on me.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope the hassle doesn¡¯t get that far, of course.¡±


    ¡°Well, of course. Only fools would waste time on troubling themselves. Live life easy, that¡¯s what I¡¯d say.¡±


    They chuckled again, making their way out the PSC office with smug looks on their faces. Just as the faculty desired, the indomitable authority of the PSC was no more, and Donovan knew it. He was a puppet of the faculty, and he would play his part as much as he would allow himself to be. He knew he was a grifter, an opportunist who leached off the system, and he wholeheartedly submitted himself to this role.


    However, any more than that was not in his job description, and he would fight tooth and nail against the faculty if they tried to force him to work more than he thought was necessary. Unlike with Mirabelle¡¯s situation, the faculty didn¡¯t have anything to coerce him with, so he really could just sit back and watch. And as he walked out of the school building with his usual genial smile, he couldn¡¯t help but feel elated in anticipation for the spectacular show that the faculty and his fellow third-year classes would put on for him.


    <hr>


    Inside of a local karaoke box, five kids gathered after school for, unfortunately, not a relaxing session of singing, but rather for a debrief in a private space. The centre of attention was, as always, Mona.


    ¡°What do you think our chances are?¡±


    ¡°I believe we can hold the line for some time, but if it¡¯s as you say, Mona, and the weight of Class B is going to be behind Arnold in any shape or form, then we¡¯re looking at a pretty grim situation.¡±


    ¡°Julian¡¯s right. With how Class A is fracturing at the moment, we probably can¡¯t take on Class D and Class B at the same time. Most of our power base has been in Class D and other clubs from the lower classes, but if Arnold returns, we¡¯d lose all of Class D.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll undoubtedly follow Arnold¡¯s lead, whether they want to or not. And even if there¡¯s anyone within Class D we could get to agree to dissent, none of them would actually be useful in slowing down Arnold. They¡¯d just be consumed by Arnold¡¯s faction the moment they try anything.¡±


    Mona¡¯s three prot¨¦g¨¦s painted a dire picture for the current AC leadership. Not only were they on the defence, the offence was projected to only mount further pressure with no opening or opportunity to be weakened.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have listened to Mirabelle in the first place. We wouldn¡¯t be in this position if she didn¡¯t get her way.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! The Act of Neutrality was a trap, and now we¡¯re gonna pay for it! Plus, we¡¯d be the ones to be publicly blamed for proposing this security law in the first place!¡±


    ¡°And out of all of this, she¡¯s managed to shatter our class, too. We missed our window to counterattack, so to speak.¡±


    Julian, the bespectacled, ever-cold and plain-looking strategist, concluded solemnly. His closest friend, the bulky, blond, and usually peppy henchman sitting next to him, Terrance, was decidedly dejected by the turn of events. Across from them was Ophelia, a tall blonde girl whose expression was just as harsh as Julian¡¯s, and was Mona¡¯s secretary and right-hand woman.


    ¡°Well, I guess we held out for as long as we could have.¡±


    Contrary to her usual abrasiveness, Mona seemed unconcerned with the impending destruction of their monopoly over the AC¡¯s activities. It made Ophelia and Terrance ever more anxious, getting a good rise out of them.


    ¡°What are you saying? We¡¯re gonna be done in if this keeps up!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt that we¡¯re at a great disadvantage, Mona, and it¡¯ll only get worse moving forward.¡±


    Mona waved their points away.


    ¡°Julian, do you think we have enough resources to escape?¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, we¡¯ll take a lot of damage even if we try to avoid a confrontation. I won¡¯t be surprised if what¡¯s left of our faction is the three of us, plus a few trustworthy stragglers. I can probably count them on my hand.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Mona took some time to think for herself, angering her other two lackeys again.


    ¡°C¡¯mon, sister!¡±


    ¡°Mona!¡±


    ¡°Shut it, guys.¡±


    The fifth member of the karaoke squad finally spoke up. His towering presence was frightening even when sitting down, and the others obediently backed down. Though it might be strange for them to be working together after years of sidelining each other, at least for Mona¡¯s inner circle, they actually respected him a lot, even if they might not like him as a person. They looked at him expectantly, to which he duly answered their scrutinizing gazes.


    ¡°The fact that Mirabelle was kind enough to warn us of what the faculty decided to do for this year, is already more than what we could expect to have. Sure, she¡¯s under the thumb of the faculty, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that, regardless of her allegiances, we were always at the mercy of the faculty.¡±


    ¡°If Mirabelle didn¡¯t become a Hearts candidate, the faculty wouldn¡¯t have tried to make use of her, would they? Then the trigger is still hers to pull!¡±


    Apparent from Terrance¡¯s outburst, the three adjutants weren¡¯t aware of the truth: Mirabelle¡¯s intention of joining the Hearts in the same manner as the three Eternian children. As a part of his obfuscation scheme, Gilbert had explained earlier that he suspected her early candidacy was traded for submission to the faculty. That was the public story he was willing to ¡°reveal¡±. Whatever the real reason was, though, was not important; they only needed to know it was Mirabelle pulling the strings. Weaving the truth between the lies was necessary to keep Gilbert¡¯s debt to Mirabelle a secret, after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s just how things stand. The organization isn¡¯t going to forfeit real business for the whims of a few high school students.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    They went silent for a short while, unable to retort at that matter of fact.


    ¡°Still, being the faculty¡¯s dog still means she¡¯s against us, no matter her personal friendship with the two of you. It¡¯s still a fact that, at this moment, she¡¯s our enemy.¡±


    Julian eventually spoke up. In the end, whatever the underlying circumstances were, it was clear that Mirabelle was working against their interests. At least that, they had to recognize.


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware of that, but if it weren¡¯t for her efforts to not intervene until the student council presidential election last year, we wouldn¡¯t have the positions we have right now. Up until then, she prevented the rise of Donovan to the PSC, allowed Arnold to self-destruct the way he did at the end of middle school, and didn¡¯t install Scarlett as her puppet afterwards.¡±


    Mona had unusually kind words for Mirabelle¡ªat least, as kind as she could get.


    ¡°Then what should we do? I personally don¡¯t really care if Mirabelle had let us off the hook, so to speak, for all these years. That¡¯s her opportunity loss. I don¡¯t owe her anything, and I don¡¯t think we should think that way either.¡±


    Ophelia said sharply. The other adjutants nodded in agreement, still seeking consensus from their leader.


    ¡°I feel the same way, however, I just want to make our priorities clear. While Mirabelle¡¯s doing things in her own interest, she¡¯s by no means an ally of Arnold. She¡¯ll support him for sure, but we¡¯ll be wasting our time trying to find countermeasures against her. The main enemy is still Arnold, and he does things his way, no matter how much she tries to help him. You and I can hold a grudge against her, but it¡¯s not helping my predicament here.¡±


    The others quieted down, unable to find their words once more. To be honest, they were thoroughly shaken by the news of Arnold¡¯s return. In middle school, he was the terror that informally reigned over their year. Any backroom dispute was handled by this man, while official duties were carried out by his ¡°clean¡± allies. Gilbert and Mona fought and bled against his allies to bring themselves to the forefront of the official student bodies, and to rise to Class A.


    ¡°And in light of our predicament, given what we know, I also don¡¯t think we stand a chance against him. We¡¯re not gonna win. So, we¡¯re gonna find a way to retreat with our forces intact. Once the chairmanship passes to him, we¡¯ll be in the clear of his wrath. Back then, I don¡¯t think he has ever considered us more than just ants, and I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll start re-evaluating us now. We¡¯ll take that on the chin and bow out gracefully.¡±


    ¡°Mona¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Dejectedly, the three slumped in their seats. As long-time friends that trusted each other, they also knew that upstarts like themselves were never meant to last long. Unless they were able to increase their own abilities, they were still at the mercy of the more talented. Ophelia turned to the towering, emotionless hulk of a defeated but still impressive faction leader.


    ¡°Gilbert, what do you think of our situation?¡±


    He shook his head gravely.


    ¡°I think this is as dire as you say. As a leader of the broken faction, I also think Mona¡¯s decision to preserve yourselves to be the correct move.¡±


    Julian grimaced and muttered.


    ¡°Is this the extent of our abilities?¡±


    ¡°Gilbert, was it really not possible for you to rein in Fabian?¡±


    Ophelia imposed, unafraid of Gilbert¡¯s aura.


    ¡°That he didn¡¯t try to stage an outright revolt in the last three years was already a miracle. Perhaps he would be of some use as fodder against Arnold, now that he¡¯s gone rogue.¡±


    Although dissatisfied, Ophelia nodded earnestly.


    ¡°I guess I can¡¯t expect too much from Fabian. He¡¯s always been a thorn in our side.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a little too ambitious. I would be delighted if Arnold could put him in his place permanently.¡±


    ¡°Wow, those are some strong words from the former marshal.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s forming a faction from the remaining third of our class. As a faction leader, this comes with the territory.¡±


    Fabian¡¯s splinter faction was made up of his own inner circle, Gilbert¡¯s faction¡¯s hangers-on, and those who were actually secretly in opposition to Gilbert and Mona. Seeing Gilbert¡¯s waning authority and knowing his association with Mona outside of school, they abandoned the nominal allocation of Class A students to their respective student organizations and formed their own distinct faction under Fabian.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Stephen? Shouldn¡¯t he be here with us?¡±


    ¡°Ophelia, this is still technically a gathering of the Mona faction. But yes, next time, I¡¯ll have Stephen and Roy join us. Even with Stephen out of our class, he will most definitely continue to support us in his new capacity as a Class B student. He won¡¯t receive the accolades that come with Class A, but as you know, his position is special now.¡±


    They nodded. They also heard, through the grapevines, of Stephen¡¯s new appointment in his family. Mona stood up from her cushion seat.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You guys were the last to be briefed. Stephen and Roy already knew what had gone down, so they won¡¯t miss anything.¡±


    Roy Hawkfeather was the other Gilbert loyalist, through and through. He was a descendant of the indigenous peoples of the Carpathian peninsula, a land on the far side of the Candoran continent.


    ¡°So there you have it. We have five things going against us: Arnold, Fabian, Mirabelle, the faculty and the arrival of the millers. It has been a great ride while it lasted.¡±


    Mona put a certain sense of finality into her words that stirred surrender in her three followers. They, of course, didn¡¯t want their career to end like this, but as sub-leaders too they understood their situation very well. They were, very simply, cornered.


    ¡°Chin up, folks. At least we have the talent show to be proud of, a fruit of our efforts. If we survive until Karllestide, then the year-end banquet might also be in our hands. I am concerned that it¡¯s a little over two months away, but I think we¡¯ll get a majority of the planning done, even if we don¡¯t get to eventually host it ourselves.¡±


    They all gloomily looked down at their feet, a part of this defeat still surreal to them. They were on the top of the school for so long, but it only took about a month or so to be put on the chopping block. They were aware that they lacked the absolute ability that the gifted had, and in a sense they were even beacons of hope for the masses that had nothing but hard work going for them. Through the AC and PSC in their sophomore and junior years, they strove for their own version of a meritocracy, climbed to the top of their own accord, and overturned decades of tradition.


    ¡°In the end, we weren¡¯t strong enough to best the faculty, but it was a valiant fight nonetheless. Let¡¯s try and stay alive from now on. As long as we¡¯re still here, we still have a chance to make a difference.¡±


    Terrance began to tear up as the others turned ever more stone-faced. The admission of defeat was real. They didn¡¯t want to believe it. Mona continued.


    ¡°We¡¯re not down and out, of course. We¡¯ll just have to work in a different way to get what we want, right, Gilbert?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Between the two of us, we still control almost a third of the Assembly. We¡¯re disappearing quietly into the night, not into thin air.¡±


    A rare quip from Gilbert, the three refocused their attention on Mona¡¯s newest right-hand man. It was Mona¡¯s decision to yield to Gilbert as the ultimate decision-maker from now on, as Gilbert was much more involved with Eternia and thus more qualified to be that person, now that they have decided to redouble their efforts on defence against the faculty, and in extension, Eternia.


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna make sure our new faction survives this year. Sticking to the top, no dropouts, and passing with flying colours. We¡¯ll make it through with our pride as the new self-made elites intact.¡±


    Mona declared with the karaoke microphone in her hand as behind her, the first verse approached them from both the speakers as music, and the television screen as lyrics. With renewed determination, the crew nodded earnestly in agreement, and began following Mona¡¯s lead in her choice of song.


    Gilbert watched on curiously at the bizarre gathering of usually very serious students, minus Terrance, trying to live it up at a karaoke box. He allowed himself a chuckle, also feeling very surreal at how things had turned out after just two months of school.

 3.22 Songs of Yesterday

    Talent show day. Saturday, November 5, 1887.


    The Assembly Hall was essentially packed. There were not only students and teachers from all three years, but also parents, family, alumni and other prominent dignitaries present in the hall¡ªrecall that many parents of the children of Korolev Senior were influential members of society in their own right. As one of the few yearly events open to half the public, it invited a high degree of perfection from the student body, hence the extremely strict screening process for its participants.


    The main attraction was, of course, the drama department¡¯s rendition of Auxirian Idiot. After it, there were many talented individual entries, from stand-up comedy to curious displays of magic tricks or physical prowess. And finally, there were a few bands scheduled to perform, including Kato¡¯s.


    Instead of having the rooted theatre seats raised from their moulding inside the floor, the AC and SLO opted to fill the arena with classroom and lawn chairs. It gave the programme more of a casual, grounded feel to reflect the working class popular culture performance that would soon be on display. The grand stage was wholly prepared for the scale of Auxirian Idiot they were about to put on¡ªas it should, since the musical was technically a mid-to-low tier production that could easily be replicated on a much smaller stage. It was because of this that some in the drama department, including Cecilia, pushed for an ambitious spectacle.


    On the second floor were private boxes where distinguished VIPs of the school were seated. One such box seated a couple of third-year homeroom teachers who, like most of the other teachers, were entirely hands-off with the execution of the programme. Of course, there were several teachers on the lower floor who were co-operating with the SLO in it, especially with handling the out-of-school guests, but they weren¡¯t in charge.


    Watching the busy scene of the Assembly Hall being guided and seated before the start of a performance, Mr Guilford-Fong, a large imposing man, spoke.


    ¡°Everything seems to be coming along alright. Personally, I do not like Mr Verne¡¯s choice of theatre, but then again, I¡¯m neither a theatre-goer nor an enthusiast. What do you think, Ms Kadowaki?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Alan, of course you would have no good opinion on theatre. You were never an arts kind of guy, nor did you ever have any appreciation for this sort of thing. I¡¯m surprised you¡¯ve even showed up here.¡±


    ¡°As I say every year, attendance of events is mandatory for third-year teachers, especially the main events on the yearly schedule.¡±


    ¡°What a stickler for tradition you are, Alan-boy. I honestly didn¡¯t expect that, coming from someone who basically has control of my class and Class C, and then trying to manipulate the other classes as well. Not too far into the future, you¡¯ll have Class D under your control, yes?¡±


    ¡°Watch your mouth, woman. I can¡¯t force your pea-brain to stop adding ¡®boy¡¯ to my name, but at least do not say things that can be overheard by unwanted parties.¡±


    ¡°Oho, is it top-secret? I was under the impression that it was public knowledge! I mean, it¡¯s so obvious that you¡¯re trying to bring the school under the grips of the faculty, duping the students and teachers all at the same time.¡±


    ¡°If it was public knowledge, you wouldn¡¯t be as so co-operative as you are right now.¡±


    ¡°You might be right, Alan-boy, but remember that I have no choice but to assist you in this matter. I¡¯m not here of my own free will.¡±


    The two homeroom teachers of the highest-ranked classes of the school continued this barbed exchange as they sat in their private cubicle. Like all teachers at this school, they were alumni of it. Not only that, but they came from the same graduating year and class.


    ¡°Was it necessary to bring that troublemaker back from the outside? Roman must hate your guts right now.¡±


    ¡°Mr Zorro will have to deal with it. I admit it¡¯s a heavy-handed move, but Mirabelle is smarter than she¡¯s letting on. We¡¯d be dancing to her tune if there isn¡¯t anything to check her.¡±


    ¡°Class D must also feel the fear, now that they know he¡¯s coming back. You think you can control that monster of a student? His crimes, especially against Mirabelle, are real. Remember that.¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯ve taken that into consideration. That¡¯s exactly why I brought him back. Against his immediate peers, he¡¯s practically impossible to overcome, but he¡¯s surprisingly easy to read as an outsider.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­you¡¯re expecting him to get himself expelled, yes?¡±


    He didn¡¯t reply, so she added nonchalantly.


    ¡°After another heinous crime is committed?¡±


    Mr Guilford-Fong finally turned to face his colleague, giving her a stone-cold glare.


    ¡°Ms Kadowaki, it¡¯s the only way to convince everyone to remove this wretched system we have at this school. You know as well as I do that it¡¯s a curse upon the students in this school.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s not a power grab to defend your economic interests? Cordial relations with the Auxirians seem to be very profitable, don¡¯t you think? To maintain these relations, a stable and authoritarian regime is needed to re-educate the next generation for that purpose, correct?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time with nonsensical questions. You know as well as I do that it there¡¯s no profit for me in upturning the current order.¡±


    ¡°But you duped the other faculty members with this promise, haven¡¯t you? They¡¯ll definitely profit from it. Probably not today, but in five or ten years¡¯ time.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s what it takes to get hold of their support, then I¡¯ll freely use it.¡±


    ¡°You even have my support, if only because you are the only one who has any overlap with my objectives. Look at you, Alan-boy. Never in my life would I¡¯ve thought I¡¯d be working for you.¡±


    ¡°The past is in the past. We¡¯re done having this conversation years ago.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, people can still be butthurt about what happened, right? Including myself.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t rope me in your self-serving daydreams of a past long gone.¡±


    ¡°Wow. Harsh, Alan-boy.¡±


    Ms Kadowaki leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes contently, her smirk never leaving her face.


    ¡°My bullying you has, in the end, caused nothing but grief for everyone, hasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°¡­for what it¡¯s worth, our relationship came to an end and went our separate ways, Ms Kadowaki. Nothing more, nothing less.¡±


    ¡°Now, now, you can¡¯t word it like that. That¡¯ll cause misunderstandings, y¡¯know? And call me Mai like you used to. You know I hate it when my peers use my family name. Or is this your childish way of getting back at me?¡±


    ¡°If you want meaningless reminiscing of the past, do it elsewhere.¡±


    This time, he definitively closed the topic on this conversation, no longer entertaining his old classmate¡¯s complaints. Ms Kadowaki shrugged, finding her companion¡¯s infinite seriousness quite amusing.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s enjoy what your class has organized for us this year¡¯s talent show, hmm? Mr Theatre Newbie?¡±


    <hr>


    Caius stood tall in the intricate and radiant lighting of the final scene, uttering soberly the lyrics of the last song in Auxirian Idiot. He never thought he would be singing it to the girl he used to know¡ªso much had changed since then. In some respects, their relationship never changed¡ªtheir passions have not changed since childhood. It was their desires for things unattainable and their resolute insistence on their own versions of happiness that drove the change to the situation around them, and ultimately, no one attained happiness.


    I made a point to burn all of the photographs


    She went away, and then I took a different path


    I remember the face, but I can¡¯t recall the name


    Now I wonder how Whatzshecalled has been.


    As the instrumental break arrived, they transitioned into their closing choreography sequence of the musical. The blazing light show mimicking the city nightlife lit up the awed faces of the audience. With the entirety of Class C¡¯s cast behind him in the finale¡¯s hurrah, Caius twisted and turned his limbs with a numbing chill that made him forget all of his classmates, the music, the lighting, and even the audience in front of him. He made it through the motions of the dance almost in an out-of-body experience. His expression, while glazed, did not betray his talent for singing as the bridge approached.


    Remember, whatever


    It seems like forever ago


    The regrets are useless in my mind


    She¡¯s in my head, I must confess.


    The words continued to drop from his mouth, as were the tears from his eyes. No matter how much he wanted to let go of everything, the thoughts and misgivings always returned. There was no escape from within his head. The song cut through to his very heart, almost tripping him over. Fully aware Mayumi would be watching from behind the stage alongside the tiny number of the cast whose characters didn¡¯t make it to the end of the story, including Cecilia¡¯s, he thought to himself: there was no way she couldn¡¯t hear the painful cries of his heart.


    And in the darkest night


    If my memory serves me right


    I¡¯ll never turn back time


    Forgetting you but not the time.


    And with the final swing of his arms, the song and dance came to an end. From this moment forward, he vowed to lock away these hard-felt feelings from long ago. It had done him nothing but harm back then, and it was no good in the present day either. There was no future holding onto this pipe dream. Deep down, he knew it all along. Mayumi¡¯s heart was never his to attain.


    Perhaps he just wanted a chance to send this message of closure to her so that he could walk away from their messed-up web of feelings and lies. Facing forward and moving on meant admitting defeat. For the lies that piled up over the years, including the lies he told himself, he would have to assume responsibility for it. He could do it. He had to do it. If he didn¡¯t, it wouldn¡¯t be fair to the people around him, and it wouldn¡¯t be fair to himself, either. He finally realized that he deserved better than this.


    While he would feel a sharp pain in his chest every time he saw Mayumi, he would keep it to himself, and endure it. She couldn¡¯t be his, and that was that. There had to be something else in this world to repair the hole in his heart that Mayumi left there with a hand grenade. If he lost faith in even that, then he would really be an idiot. It wasn¡¯t as if he really was born with ¡®idiot¡¯ written on his birth certificate. His love, his rage, and his life were, in the end, his and his alone.


    Once all the stage lights went out to end the show and the regular lights returned, the audience erupted in applause. The clatter was deafening even in the wide expanse of the Assembly Hall, eliciting smiles and cheers from the cast, the students and the teachers alike. All around him, all of the drama department joyfully celebrated the success of their performance as they, including those on the support staff, piled themselves onto the front of the stage.


    Caius, however, was still caught in a trance. There was something surreal about this performance that he couldn¡¯t get over. The impermanence of the class of 87-88¡¯s rendition of the show, the meaning behind the story in Auxirian Idiot, and his own feelings toward all of this, were so unique that he couldn¡¯t help but stare in awe of the scene.


    Suddenly, a certain someone filled his vision. Her voice seemed to ring in his ears like from the end of a tunnel¡ªjust like all of the noise around him¡ªbut at least he saw that she was genuinely happy, a departure from her usual expressions. She was saying something to the likes of a congratulation, smiled broadly, and then hugged him tightly.


    ¡°¡­did it! It was so much fun!¡±


    As Caius¡¯ consciousness returned to Earth, he finally caught the last bit of Cecilia¡¯s voice clearly in his ear. He instantly recognized what had happened to him¡ªa lead-up into a mild seizure, due to his unstable emotional state and his weak neurological constitution. It wasn¡¯t his first, and it wouldn¡¯t be his last. It was just something he lived with, along with his occasional panic attacks.


    ¡°You did great, too. I know you loved this story, so I¡¯m glad you and everyone else were able to pull this off.¡±


    He returned the hug good-naturedly. Because they were the same height, their words reached their ears easily across from each other, even with all the noise around them.


    ¡°Thank you so much. I couldn¡¯t have done all of this without you.¡±


    Cecilia finally let go of him, gave him the sweetest smile that she had ever made, and skipped off to meet the few others in the drama department she was close to, no doubt to express her heartfelt gratitude to them as well. Caius watched her go, completely back in control of himself, and turned to the others from the drama department. Passing by them one by one, they came up freely to the main character and hugged or otherwise congratulated him like a celebrity award winner. Despite their class differences, most of them were just regular folk who enjoyed their extracurricular activities.


    The sea of students and guests were still on their feet in applause, and it wasn¡¯t for another solid five minutes that the drama department gave one final unanimous bow that they exited the stage and the programme prepared for the next section of the talent show.


    Not long after they made their ways backstage, among the hustle and bustle of the teardown work, Caius managed to catch Mayumi and tucked themselves away in a rather private and small corner of the backstage. They were still in their Auxirian Idiot getup, complete with makeup and hair gel.


    ¡°So? What¡¯s up?¡±


    Mayumi laid the floor open to him as she leaned back into the wall behind her. Caius, facing her, too had his hand on the wall and leaned into it a little as support; the tight space between them in this particular crevice made them feel more like fitting themselves into a magician¡¯s trick box.


    ¡°Do you have anything to say to me?¡±


    ¡°What, you¡¯re calling me out here just to tell me to start talking? What kind of BS is this?¡±


    She laughed lightly, joking with a bright smile on her face that was left over from the end-of-show euphoria.


    ¡°Is now not the time to say anything? Our part in Auxirian Idiot is over, and we¡¯re gonna be listening to whatever Kato has to say to us.¡±


    He was right, as usual. If they didn¡¯t make any effort to sort out things now, then they would just be caught up in the next drama that could imminently unfold. It was time to break the cycle, he implied.


    ¡°And didn¡¯t you say you were gonna be straight with us from now on? So give it to me straight: what you weren¡¯t able to give to me straight back then.¡±


    Mayumi¡¯s exposed eye widened, carefully watching her childhood friend¡¯s changing expression. She was met with a determination that was so different from the Caius she once knew, that it momentarily froze her. They all came a long way in the last seven years.


    ¡°You don¡¯t wanna keep this up anymore, huh?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. We don¡¯t have to stay in this pitiful situation we got ourselves into.¡±


    ¡°You think I could get what I want, if I tried any harder?¡±


    Caius raised an eyebrow at the tangent she was going on, but he entertained her anyway.


    ¡°Speaking objectively, no. You already know. The seven years you were gone, that really hurt your chances. By the time we get to the present day, it was too late. He has feelings for somebody else now.¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe I lost to Bia. What really happened in the seven years I was gone?¡±


    Mayumi slumped her shoulders and broke eye contact with Caius.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just Bia, of course. Mira¡¯s in the picture here somewhere. At the start of all this, when you came back, you thought that just like how everything changed in the seven years you were gone, you can begin changing things back. And if you really wanted to change his heart, there was a good chance I¡¯ll go all-in to help you, because it¡¯s a win-win for me either way. That¡¯s what you originally thought, right?¡±


    She nodded firmly, not denying the implication of the win-win he lightly referenced.


    ¡°But you underestimated how much his feelings had changed, both towards them and towards you. You didn¡¯t know how he felt about how you left us. To be fair, I wasn¡¯t totally aware either until recently. I was absent during that time, after all.


    ¡°However, even if you two reconciled on that, it leaves the other impossible problem up. In my opinion, while either of them is still around, you¡¯ll never make it in time. We have only until graduation before our memories are taken away.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you helped me. You hid Kato¡¯s distrust of me, so that you can set me up to fail, right?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t deny that it wasn¡¯t part of my line of thinking. While I wasn¡¯t one-hundred-percent sure of it, I knew something to that effect must have been going on through his head when I saw how wishy-washy he was with you after you returned.¡±


    Caius said unrepentantly. He continued when Mayumi gave him a helpless shrug.


    ¡°If I did warn you of that ahead of time, would you have done anything different?¡±


    ¡°Of course I would have. The game plan would have been different.¡±


    ¡°And you think you¡¯d win against Bia and Mira in time?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Mayumi bit her lip. It was an unknown that she couldn¡¯t assess at all, especially with Mirabelle and her continued absence from school. If anything was to be done about it, it would have likely required Mirabelle to return first, and if she made any moves before then without resolving it, she was essentially taking a chance, just as what had transpired. On the other hand, if she took it slow and steady, there was just not enough time to turn the tables quite enough to her victory. Their relationships with Kato had a definitive, temporal end.


    ¡°And would you have believed it if it came from me? If I told you that your chances are slim to none compared to your opponents, Bia and Mira?¡±


    She trained her eye back onto Caius, who continued to stare at her gravely. The faint guilt was just discernible in her weak smile under the poor lighting of the backstage.


    ¡°You¡¯re every bit of a drama king that you turned out to be infamous for. A lowkey one.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be absurd. Everyone here¡¯s a drama king or queen. I just happen to draw the short straw every single time.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°I get it, I get it. You¡¯re right, you got me. I give.¡±


    She closed her eye for a moment to take a deep breath in. When she opened them again, she reached for his face with both her hands, and frowned.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I got you involved with me again. I don¡¯t have anything else to give you other than what we always had between us¡ªthe bond of the Elites. That was how far it went, and it¡¯s still how far it can go. That said, being my Elite means you¡¯re important to me, even if not romantically. You can still cherish that, as I do. However, that particular qualification¡ªromance¡ªI can unequivocally say again, cannot be the case between the two of us.¡±


    Slowly, Caius took her hands off his face, gently giving them back to her.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not disappointed, but it is what it is. It¡¯s better than silence like last time, at least.¡±


    The distance in his eyes was telling. It betrayed the immeasurable pain and suffering that he subjected himself to for the past seven years. It wasn¡¯t only his feelings for Mayumi that were maligned by it, but his relationship with the other Elites too, especially Kato.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything but stay silent. You were too afraid to ask me because¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªbecause you would side with Kato. Deep down, I already knew that, when you were silent like that the whole way through that fight. I didn¡¯t push it because I didn¡¯t want to hear it, and I didn¡¯t want to lose whatever was left between us. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Peculiarly, a faint sneer surfaced on his face.


    ¡°But despite that, I wished you were as assertive as you normally were. If you did, I wouldn¡¯t have needed to walk this pointless, winding path for seven years. For that, I¡¯ll hold this resentment against you, for all time.¡±


    Mayumi nodded. This was Caius¡¯ way of accepting her sins for what they were, and she was grateful for it. She could only meet it with her own earnestness.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done you wrong. That¡¯s perfectly reasonable. I¡¯ll carry that burden, then, for all time.¡±


    Caius extricated himself from the narrow space and popped himself back into the lit open space.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s head out and get the teardown finished. We¡¯re supposed to see what Kato and Eon cooked up for us, huh?¡±


    Mayumi was momentarily blindsided by the abrupt change, but she was immediately relieved by the subject drop. In fact, she was so relieved that her knees almost buckled. She didn¡¯t even realize she was so taut with anxiety until it was over.


    This was way more than she deserved and she knew it; she was relieved that by him calling out to her like this, Caius decided to remain an Elite. Everything didn¡¯t have to end. She could pick up the fragments of their relationship and move forward with it.


    She pulled herself out of the crevice and followed behind him, no longer as the bombastic leader of the Elites, but merely a reformed member who humbly came out of retirement. The old Mayumi was almost dead. There was one final hurdle left.


    ¡°Of course. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    <hr>


    The last section of the talent show featured the independent bands of the general student body. Incidentally, the last of the bands to play was also Alice¡¯s entourage, meaning that they would close out the whole show.


    Fortunately, the whole of the talent show programme had run as scheduled. There were no unexpected twists or contingencies, nor did the expected risks roll high. It was a resounding success, especially for Mona and the AC leadership.


    While the teardown of the drama department¡¯s use of the stage was finished quickly for the things onstage, cleaning up offstage was quite the hassle¡ªfor example, actually taking the onstage props and everything out of the Assembly Hall. It took quite some time to completely clean out their junk and have their facilities fresh and pristine again for use next time. And when they did, they were already an hour and a half into the rest of the talent show¡ª or in other words, it was about to conclude.


    Caius and Mayumi finally made their way into the general audience sector of the Assembly Hall, being two of the last of the drama department people to join the audience. As lead roles, they also handled a lot of grunt work: obligatory duties and responsibilities of the talented who simultaneously served as role models, a hallmark of Yue culture.


    ¡°Can you see the front?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Damn, the Assembly Hall is a real good place. You can do any kind of show in a facility like this.¡±


    They muttered to each other at a volume that would normally be considered loud conversational, perhaps almost shouting, but that went to show how well the sounding was done by the Assembly Hall¡¯s structure¡ªmuch of the sound from the front stage was amplified and noise not from the stage was reduced.


    ¡°Look, they¡¯re about to play. We made it just in time.¡±


    ¡°No cap, we barely made it. Imagine how mad Eon would be if we didn¡¯t.¡±


    And there they were, on the grand stage of the Assembly Hall. Kato and Eon both stood at the front and forward, each on their guitars. Alice was seated behind Kato on keyboard, while Franco was sitting behind Eon on drums. Yui was standing adjacent to Alice on the side, in control of the percussion and the audio equipment like a sound engineer.


    Kato waved to the audience, eliciting a welcoming response. As an Eternian destined for the organization¡¯s top job, he was like a sore thumb sticking out, and on top of his connection to the Jupiter sisters, he was known across all the classes of their year. To most of the populous, he never maintained a high profile in part due to his infrequency attending school, so his wider reputation was rather average, and thus the lukewarm reception.


    He stood proudly in front of the microphone, as if he was prepared to die on the hill he was on. Though they couldn¡¯t see the steely determination in his eyes from this distance, they could hear it in his voice all the same.


    ¡°Good afternoon, everybody. As you all know from our lunchtime gigs, we¡¯re the Class F Elites. We¡¯re so glad that we¡¯re able to perform on this stage today, as a valued part of this prestigious school.¡±


    Instead of being sidelined by the authorities and forced to perform haphazardly at lunch, the anti-neutrality students in the audience interpreted and completed the thought with. For those out of the loop, they were of course oblivious to the underlying message.


    ¡°Of course, as a part of this esteemed programme, today we¡¯ll just be delivering a clean performance from the bottom of our hearts¡ªnothing funny, nothing sketchy.¡±


    Some in the crowd cheered while others sneered, amused by the pronouncement from the instigators of the recent political unrest. Even so, the students didn¡¯t make a fuss¡ªthe anti-neutrality side had already lost the vote in the Assembly last week with Mirabelle¡¯s return, and the new anti-sedition law was about to be promulgated.


    ¡°As you might have noticed, our line-up is slightly different from our usual. There¡¯s a reason for that, related to some individuals who are important to me, and I implore those particular individuals to listen to what I have to say, and what we have to show you here, right now.¡±


    Instantly, the lighting changed to spotlight the band and shuttered on the audience. The music, too, instantly began playing, as did the lyrics in Kato¡¯s voice.


    Friend, the moment we became friends


    Friend, you¡¯re forevermore my friend


    Strangely, our past is painful to recall


    But sometimes, the memories resurface all the same.


    The song was in Old Yue, a tonal language that made regular speech almost musical if one put the effort in pacing out the rhythms. As a result, almost anyone could sing in Old Yue if they knew the language; if you couldn¡¯t, you were hopelessly maladroit at music. On the other hand, it raised the quality floor, so Old Yue songs were always easy to perform. With Kato¡¯s natural gift and his affection for Yue culture that lent to his astonishing performance, the AC had no choice but to include him in the talent show.


    And here, it totally paid off to have him and the Elites to perform last. The audience was utterly captivated by his clear and crisp voice, overflowing with emotion. It was as if the entire hall stood still just to listen to Kato¡¯s aching voice echo from the stage. Even the programme¡¯s staffers were absorbed by the impeccable show of his talent.


    Friend, you had once protected me


    Friend, you had once fought against me


    Sadly, we can no longer share joys and sorrows together


    That¡¯s why, you¡¯re my one and only best damned friend.


    While Mayumi was quite in tune with popular contemporary music, she wasn¡¯t an all-seeing being in that sense. She knew of EC, but not many of his songs. As Kato recited the sombre poem in its original Old Yue, tears began to well in both her eyes. Estranged and damned, she was indeed. She was abundantly aware of the angle taken by this song. Kato had already answered her on the question of their romance; it was time to answer her on the question of their friendship in its aftermath. Moreover, she noticed, this was also his answer to Caius.


    Next to her, Caius¡¯ face was frozen in ice. As an Elite who grew up listening to EC together, he knew exactly what this song was all about. He had to hand it to Eon, who insisted that he at least give this a chance. He was being torn up inside, aggrieved by a maelstrom of anger, guilt and powerlessness. Caius was the bad guy and he knew it, and despite that, Kato would be a saint of a friend until the very end.


    If you ask me, no, I have no excuses, but no hard feelings either


    Why can¡¯t old friends remain old friends in the end?


    Whether you¡¯re friend or foe, I can no longer tell, being swept up by the march of time


    Yesterday¡¯s closest friend will become tomorrow¡¯s stranger.


    Sweating and staring, Eon had already forgotten his part and played on muscle-memory repeat, watching in amazement his best friend next to him sing. While he had literally practiced with them many times, Kato¡¯s performance today was beyond exceptional. He couldn¡¯t help but stop in place to the hypnotic tune to the end of a lifelong friendship.


    It wasn¡¯t until you were gone that I realized our friendship was precious


    How I wish for just another moment with you, drinking away and singing life¡¯s songs together


    But with every encounter and at every crossroad


    To be friends or to be enemies, there¡¯s no choice but to make our bets.


    As the chorus merged into the bridge, Mayumi crouched down with her face in her hands. She didn¡¯t need to look at the stage, nor did she have the heart to continue to do so. All she needed was to listen to Kato¡¯s words. The crowd waved their glow sticks in the air to the beat of the music, though barely illuminating their surroundings such that no one could notice the awestricken duo at the back.


    Though I knew we would go our separate ways


    The thing that struck me is I somehow made peace with it


    When there¡¯s no one else but you who can make me cry


    As deep as one would when on the verge of a breakup.


    Kato¡¯s hands trembled, but it didn¡¯t make any difference. The notes still struck correctly, and Alice and Yui were prepared to back him and Eon up if necessary, the former anticipating this contingency. He concentrated solely on the emotion that his voice carried, enthralling the entire hall. He thought of those two earnestly as the final chorus arrived.


    No, I have no excuses, no hard feelings


    Why can¡¯t old friends remain old friends in the end?


    I wonder if you miss this old friend of yours, or if you¡¯ve already figured out


    That yesterday¡¯s friend becoming tomorrow¡¯s stranger


    Is still better than never having been friends at all.


    Applause as great as the end of Auxirian Idiot erupted with emphatic passion. The regular lights turned back on as the Assembly Hall¡¯s infrastructure returned itself to normal, signalling the end of the show. The Class F Elites, while shaken by their own unsteady performance, still pulled themselves together and gave the audience their final bow.


    The programme MCs, Terrance and Ophelia, closed off the talent show with short and sweet concluding remarks. Another round of applause thundered throughout the Assembly Hall as everyone was dismissed, and the AC¡¯s own teardown crew took to the floor to begin their cleanup. While some of the audience trickled out, there were plenty that stuck around for the afterparty: performers received praise and congratulations from their friends and family as they hung out in the open audience space; society¡¯s elites lingered like at a dinner party to discuss a variety of snobby topics that elites normally would, from the talent show to their upper-class vested economic interests.


    To Mayumi and Caius, these worldly things melted around them in a smear of kaleidoscopic colour. The melody still rang in their ears even after the show had concluded, and its emotions had torn them in pieces. They had yet to move from their little corner, still reeling from the reality that had unfolded before them.


    ¡°¡­do you think this is the last we¡¯ll see of Kato? He basically said goodbye to us.¡±


    Of course, Caius knew Mayumi meant that figuratively. It was, as Kato said, the end of their friendship, and of the Elites as they knew it. They were going their separate ways and there was no returning to the past. The five-member core of Elites from their primary school days was gone forever.


    ¡°Even Kato has had enough of us. We¡¯re intolerable gits, after all.¡±


    For Mayumi, logically, there was nothing strange about this result. Her lingering feelings for Kato were not to be underestimated, and like all romantic gambles, there was always a non-insignificant chance that trying to make that leap would crash the entire relationship. But it didn¡¯t make the separation any less painful. She was probably correct in avoiding him for the last few weeks, and being sent away to another class was a godsend. Otherwise, every single day at school would¡¯ve been immeasurably unbearable for her.


    Caius was rather numbed by the experience. One thing led to another, and somewhere along the way he had already forgotten where his resentment had all started. It was totally reasonable to allow himself to let go of this animosity, but as a grudge-holder of the highest order, he couldn¡¯t do it, especially as a wimpy fourth-grade child. When you were that young, friends and school was your whole world. It went without saying that the strength of his emotions for it would be commensurate to its perceived significance.


    And so, seven years later, this was the result of the clash of their feelings. They didn¡¯t make any excuses nor bemoan the sad state of affairs they ended up in. They could only pick up the pieces of the shattered mirror, and while they could put it back together, the cracks would remain. If they left now, it would be better for all of them¡ªthere was nothing else left to say.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    As they got up to leave, they spared a glance back at the front of the stage where Kato¡¯s Elites were still set up and ready. They were suddenly surprised when they began playing again¡ªalbeit without any sound setup connected to the hall¡¯s facilities. It was more like how they performed in the atrium: there was no assisted projection of sound into the open expanse, and only their own mobile speakers were connected to the microphone, so to the people further away from the stage¡ªlike they were¡ªthe music rang and echoed unevenly.


    I can¡¯t believe what you said to me last night we were alone


    You threw your hands up


    Baby, you gave up, you gave up.


    This time, it was Eon who began to sing, in Standard Candoran, a familiar and popular ballad from the Auxirian fatherland. While the lyrics themselves were somewhat vague, those who were aware of its origins would know that the artist who wrote this song had dedicated it to her terminally ill father, and in it she illustrated her experiences dealing with the stubbornness of a patient who was your closest family.


    I can¡¯t believe how you looked at me with your James Dean glossy eyes


    In your tight jeans with your long hair and your cigarette stained lies


    Could we fix you if you broke?


    And is your punchline just a joke?


    ¡°Hah, I get it now.¡±


    Caius pointed to a certain someone at the front facing the Elites on the stage, a conspicuous someone in a very specialized wheelchair. Mayumi quickly spotted the familiar silhouette, and she smiled wryly.


    ¡°Eon finally has a chance to give all the attitude back to Katia-je, huh?¡±


    At the front, Katia stared bemusedly at her younger brother in his post-show encore. Perhaps it was only something understood between siblings, but her expression was one of annoyance and scorn. Eon wore the same bellicose expression, staring daggers right back at his elder sister.


    I¡¯ll never talk again


    Oh, girl, you¡¯ve left me speechless, you¡¯ve left me speechless, so speechless


    And I¡¯ll never love again


    Oh, sis, you¡¯ve left me speechless, you¡¯ve left me speechless, so speechless


    Eon jumped off the stage with the microphone in hand and walked right up to his sister. He reached down and got all up in her face, all the while without breaking eye contact with her. Similarly, Katia¡¯s glare did not waver, standing up from her wheelchair in response. Of course, she was still significantly shorter than him so he was still looking down at her, but it made all the difference to their auras. As incredulous as it seemed, though Eon continued to sing as if nothing was wrong, it was obvious they were about to duke it out.


    They did, and Katia made the first move.


    And after all the drinks and bars that we¡¯ve been to


    Would you give it all up, could I give it all up for you?


    And after all the boys and the girls that we¡¯ve been through


    Would you give it all up, could you give it all up if I promise, boy, to you?


    Katia had snatched the microphone from Eon¡¯s hand in a surprising show of movement from a not-very-mobile patient such as herself. She began to sing the bridge as if everything was according to plan, surprising everyone around her, including the Elites who were still on the stage.


    Alice in particular was confused out of her mind, as someone who was still relatively new to this school and this group of kids. Everyone was absorbed by Katia, whose singing was rather brilliant given the lack of practice. Eon especially grimaced, almost furious that he was interrupted in delivering his bitter message to her.


    But of course, even as he allowed Katia to continue singing through the final chorus, he already formulated his sweet counterattack in his head.


    Some sisters follow me


    But you choose death and company


    Why you so speechless?


    Oh-oh


    Eon stole the microphone back, and let his voice loose on the concluding outro. Once the music ended, another round of applause rose from the audience in their vicinity, as if they were just watching a minor street performance in that particular corner of an intersection. Kato and Alice waved courteously as the fanfare died down and business returned to normal.


    Katia tried to take control of the situation by grabbing and peeling at Eon¡¯s cheeks, to which he merely continued to glare angrily back at her. It was the strangest way for siblings to butt heads, but they did nonetheless.


    Only a few paces away from them were the grudge match duo¡¯s younger sisters, ostensibly attending the talent show alongside the eldest one. It was Saturday, so there should be a day off for junior high and primary school¡ªin fact, only Korolev Senior ran a regular school day on Saturday. They watched their older siblings quarrel with looks of abject horror on their faces, utterly flummoxed.


    Sistina and Frederica were three and six years younger than Eon respectively. As children, Sistina occasionally tagged along because Katia used to be tasked to babysit all of them, so she was well acquainted with the Elites. Frederica was still a baby and then a toddler during that time, so her memory of the Elites was less concrete and more fantastical, considering they were an exceptionally energetic group of children. Out of the four, Sistina was the odd one out who didn¡¯t resemble the other three.


    ¡°You deserve this, y¡¯know. You never listen to me or any of us.¡±


    ¡°And I accept the consequences of my own actions. What¡¯s wrong with that?¡±


    ¡°Just because you¡¯re willing to throw your life away, doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll let you.¡±


    ¡°Yet, you were doing the same thing just a couple of weeks ago. Hello, pot. My name is kettle.¡±


    ¡°Unlike you, I know my limits. I¡¯m not the one in a chair, now, am I?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Without a clap-back, Katia scrunched her expression even more childishly, strengthening however little more the pitifully weak grip of her hands.


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯re cut from the same cloth, I admit, but at least spare us a thought first before jumping.¡±


    Finally fed up with the feeble resistance, Eon wrested Katia¡¯s hands from his face, and grabbed her tightly in a bear hug. He buried her head in his chest, and just like that, they both began sobbing.


    In that simple moment, Kato realized that it wasn¡¯t only Caius and Mayumi who held onto such hard-felt emotions from seven years ago. Sure, none of them were directly involved in something that was essentially for Eon¡¯s family to figure out, but Eon was their friend all the same. Watching them, he felt like another void had opened up in his chest, as if a corrosive virus was eating at his flesh. As Eon¡¯s mate, Kato had known of this vaguely, but the extent of it he couldn¡¯t measure until now¡ªand now that he learned it probably ran as deep as Mayumi¡¯s feelings for him, and as Caius¡¯ for Mayumi, his hopes were shattered once more. The Elites were really broken beyond repair.


    ¡°I beg, Katia-je. Don¡¯t die on me.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    ¡°Katia-je!¡± ¡°Kattie-je!¡±


    The younger sisters joined their older siblings in their embrace, both still clearly distraught by the rather sudden yet pathetic altercation. Frederica was saddened for a simple reason¡ªseeing her family cry made her dejected too. Sistina though, who was more aware of the extent of the disharmony, made a more nuanced and meaningful expression of grief.


    When Katia was first taken down by the condition, there were of course mixed reactions from her family members. Their parents were first and foremost mortified that their eldest child would be, essentially, disabled for life; next came indignation at Katia¡¯s recklessness in using powers that clearly shouldn¡¯t be used lightly; and finally, a numbed resignation that no matter what they did as a parent now, wouldn¡¯t change Katia¡¯s condition for the better. In short, they regretted their failures as parents and were badly heartbroken about what happened to their daughter.


    Frederica was only a little more than a toddler when this happened, so she was only left with a vague sense of distress when the rest of her family was so shook by the event. It wasn¡¯t until she was a little older that she realized what it meant for Katia to be in a continuous, unending health crisis.


    Sistina was well aware of what had happened, and as someone who idolized Katia as a perfect role model, seeing Katia broken and then some as she struggled through her condition, turned Sistina into the foul-mouthed, cynical little brat she was today. At first, she stubbornly refused to accept reality, even turning verbal arguments with Katia into physical ones¡ªones that would, of course, worsen Katia¡¯s condition and shorten their parents¡¯ patience. It wasn¡¯t until a lot later, after Katia moved out of their home when she graduated, that Sistina learned to acquiesce to this reality and accepted Katia¡¯s new normal.


    Eon was, peculiarly, on the opposite trajectory as Sistina. As he and Katia were peas in a pod, he was as much a loose cannon as she was, and while he was horrified at the state she left herself in, he initially accepted her forceful will for what it was. However, as time went on and Katia struggled with adjusting to her condition, he couldn¡¯t help but feel guiltier and guiltier that he was the enabler of his sister¡¯s reckless actions. Not to mention, the struggle had significantly altered Katia¡¯s demeanour; she was much more gloomy, detached, and generally despondent, as if she herself was subconsciously unable to come to terms with her own predicament.


    It didn¡¯t help that Eon was a sarcastic asshole, so as Sistina¡¯s outbursts slowly subsided, began Eon¡¯s steadily escalating clashes with Katia where one was always exasperated with the other. Unlike Sistina¡¯s blind idolizing, which was more of a childish delusion that was appropriate for her age than anything else, Eon¡¯s case was much more deep and complex in that while he consciously tried to accept and accommodate the changes in his sister, he couldn¡¯t do it subconsciously and it would surface in the most inconvenient times. Eon was immensely wrought with regrets, and it manifested in abrasive behaviour backed by an ugly but unconscious desire to see Katia¡¯s condition magically wished away. For a while, it even got to a point where they couldn¡¯t see eye to eye, and sitting in the same room together was bound for disaster. It didn¡¯t help that Katia¡¯s depression did nothing to moderate her recklessness. On the contrary, it emboldened her to be even more careless with her words and behaviour, hence the endless fights with Eon.


    Luckily, after Katia moved away for post-secondary education, Eon was able to find it in himself to reconcile, if only halfway, with Katia, which formed the basis of their relationship ever since. Maturity came with growing up, and as her poor health became better managed, her self-destructive tendencies too abated. Fortunately, it became something they could all live with.


    Of course, the Elites who remained knew of the difficulties within Eon¡¯s family. Katia could no longer babysit them, though they were reaching the age where supervision was less necessary, and Sistina wasn¡¯t willing to tag along anymore. While Eon hadn¡¯t intended to show his unsightly side to Kato or Caius, it nevertheless surfaced once in a while whenever the topic of Mayumi or his family came up. That was how they sensed a faint aura of antipathy from Eon with respect to Mayumi¡¯s incident and her departure.


    Seeing the crushed spirit in Kato¡¯s stony expression, Alice put a hand to Kato¡¯s shoulder in a vain attempt to reassure him. The original Elites¡¯ past was well outside of her, Franco¡¯s and Yui¡¯s purview, but even they saw their dramatic breakdown as something wholly awful. They could only look on silently, bearing witness to a microcosm of the irrevocable transformation in their relationship.


    On the opposite side, Caius and Mayumi had waded a little further into the space to get a clearer view, and when they saw Eon and Katia¡¯s visibly trembling embrace alongside Kato¡¯s rigid shock, they were also struck with the same epiphany. Though they too had an inkling of this before, it didn¡¯t take away any of the weight of Eon¡¯s feelings now that she was seeing it play out in real time.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why Eon was adamant on getting you to see their show. It wasn¡¯t just Kato¡¯s side of the story that you¡¯re guilty of, Mayumi.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, Caius. I owe everyone and everything for what I¡¯ve done.¡±


    She could barely bring herself to smile, and even then it was a self-loathing one. Sure, Mayumi was relieved that Eon could finally close the awkwardly misplaced distance between him and his elder sister ever since she became infirm. However, Mayumi was duly aware that she was the one who caused all of these distasteful second- and third-order effects, and hence the helplessness in her smile.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s on our side, if he really felt this way about all of this¡ªwait, where are you going?¡±


    Mayumi had already turned around and started to make her way out, catching Caius a little off guard, who had to jog a little to catch up with her.


    ¡°If this is how things are, then so be it. I can¡¯t change what¡¯s happened.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Eon¡¯s coming with us for sure. But this ain¡¯t a place for me to be right now, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°¡­gotchu.¡±


    With just that, they vacated the Assembly Hall. Mayumi made a point to not turn back, leaving her regrets behind with her best damned friends.

 [END] 3.23 The Innocence Can Never Last

    It was odd for Kato, but nevertheless here he was, a short way outside the rear door to 3-B¡¯s classroom in a nook tucked away in a conveniently isolated part of the corridor, a brief while before homeroom. Students were up and about, trickling in from outside or lingering around their friends before the bell would usher them back to their seats.


    ¡°Congratulations on your successful performance in last week¡¯s talent show, Kato.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment, Stephen.¡±


    They met regularly in this manner at the behest of Gilbert. By delegating their intel sharing to an intermediary such as Stephen and a location away from Class A or Class F, the connection between Kato and Gilbert would be much less obvious to the typical onlooker.


    ¡°You usually don¡¯t have good things to say about me, though. What¡¯s with the change of heart?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing strange. You¡¯re an ally now, and I accept that premise. At minimum, I¡¯d need to give basic courtesy to someone that I need to work with.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see.¡±


    ¡°It would do you good to be emotionally flexible with regards to the people around you, too.¡±


    ¡°Coming from you, that sounds like total bullcrap.¡±


    ¡°I admit I don¡¯t have the best of reputations when it comes to making friends and enemies, but at least I know what my deficiencies are. You, on the other hand, can only get away with this much because you¡¯re a future Heart.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be using my advantages, then?¡±


    ¡°And make a mess out of everything else in the process? You, of all people, should know that if you keep doing things as you have, things are gonna continue to slip out of your grasp. Am I wrong?¡±


    Kato instantly realized Stephen was referring to what he initially congratulated him on. It was a painfully sore spot, but he took it on the chin nonetheless. If he had been better at managing his interpersonal relationships, then their talent show programme wouldn¡¯t even be on the table to start with.


    ¡°No. You¡¯re absolutely right. You live and learn.¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t have any good ideas either if our positions are reversed. As long as you¡¯re aware of it, I suppose it¡¯s fine.¡±


    The reason why they weren¡¯t diving into sharing intel was because they actually didn¡¯t have anything new to share. However, absence of new information was also important intel, so they dutifully kept up contact. In these cases, it devolved into idle, trivial chitchat, adding to the obscurity of the real purpose of their meetups. Additionally, today, the presence of a third person definitively put a hold on the whole conspiracy ring with Gilbert.


    ¡°Kato, I think you did the most that you could. I appreciate what you did for Caius and Mayumi.¡±


    Cecilia was a little stiff speaking to Kato, as she was usually with people she didn¡¯t often talk to, but at least she dutifully got her point across.


    ¡°No, Celia. You¡¯re the one who¡¯s with them now. As much as I have done, I failed them in the end. So, I can only ask you to continue to take care of them.¡±


    ¡°N-no worries. I¡¯ll be there, and Ariel will be there too. You have my word.¡±


    Kato smiled thinly.


    ¡°I should be the one appreciating you for your friendship, not the other way around.¡±


    ¡°No sir, you¡¯re being too modest. My abilities are limited. At most, I can only be a friend to them.¡±


    ¡°Cecilia, just because you realized how much of a big shot he is as a future Heart, doesn¡¯t mean you need to address him with any deference. At the end of the day, he¡¯s just one of many scumbags like me who lives within this wretched system.¡±


    ¡°Sure, we all vaguely knew they were deities trained by Eternia like this school is supposed to, definitely going to be a nomenklatura or a kabinet, but no one explained to me he would actually become the biggest of the big!¡±


    It was true. Eternia training children for war was not uncommon, and as Cecilia mentioned, that was the purpose of the very school they were attending¡ªGilbert was another living example. All children raised by Eternia were expected to aspire to become a Hearts candidate, and this as a concept it was public knowledge, as displayed by Cecilia. But Kato and Evie¡¯s predetermined Hearts membership, not just candidacy, being obscured up to this point was quite remarkable. This information must have travelled quite far and wide by now, given it had been two months since their Hearts candidacy and Sisi¡¯s proctoring for membership was made official to the wider kabinet.


    ¡°Stephen¡¯s right. You don¡¯t have to treat me any more special than what you always have. It¡¯s just the day job I¡¯ve been saddled with after I graduate from here.¡±


    ¡°That day job is a very unique day job, good sir. Please don¡¯t throw it around like it¡¯s nothing special. You might as well be the crown prince of this land.¡±


    Kato raised an eyebrow, intrigued at her analogy, but he played along anyway.


    ¡°Being a crown prince is probably more mundane of a day job than you think.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look that way to me.¡±


    She shook her head, slightly exasperated. Kato didn¡¯t blame her, though. Cecilia was indeed just an average person with no special ability, pedigree or talents suitable for any grand ambitions. He smiled when he thought that Cecilia was just like the original Elites: regular folk who lived their lives as regular folk.


    ¡°¡­what¡¯s that creepy smirk for?¡±


    Apparently his good mood was slightly condescending for Cecilia, whose bemusement only deepened.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just glad to see that the two of you seemed to have reconciled.¡±


    ¡°W-well, it¡¯s not like we had any real bad blood between us. We were just kept apart by our families.¡±


    Flustered now, Cecilia stumbled on her words as Stephen nodded, oblivious to his cousin¡¯s embarrassment.


    ¡°I see. You¡¯re a family man, too. Your younger sister¡¯s Teto, right? I respect that.¡±


    Totally ignoring Cecilia¡¯s flabbergasted reaction, the two men nodded in agreement with each other. Luckily for Cecilia, she was spared the inevitable family-related exposition when the bell rang for imminent homeroom.


    ¡°Anyway, both of you, let¡¯s be careful. Arnold is returning tomorrow. We¡¯ll keep in touch.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    They parted ways, each in the direction of their respective classrooms. The vague threat of Arnold loomed not only over them and their cohorts, but the rest of the third-years as well. Now that this morsel of intel had become a public secret, the atmosphere was quite sullen among the third-years, contributing to their muted efforts to continue their resistance against the Act of Neutrality.


    In fact, it was precisely this revelation that brought enough of the Assembly to vote yes for this law. The line of thought was that if a large enough minority of students could lobby the faculty to take action¡ªespecially against Arnold¡ªthen it was likely worth giving up certain civil liberties in exchange for safety. If the problem of Arnold was left entirely to the student body, i.e. the Assembly, the student council, or the Public Safety Committee, authority would be too fractured to deal with a crisis swiftly and effectively before something unforgivably terrible happened. These disparate centres of power would need a convenient avenue to lobby the faculty on their own to deal with such crises, and the Act of Neutrality would open those gates.


    On their way back, the halls quickly emptied as students rushed back to their classrooms. The cousins found themselves on their own, which at that point Stephen stopped them with a peculiar question.


    ¡°Do we actually get along?¡±


    ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡±


    She twirled around on the spot, bringing her apprehensive eyes to meet him. She was clearly annoyed by the nature of the question.


    ¡°Exactly as I said. Do we have a good relationship now? As family?¡±


    ¡°Obviously, we don¡¯t. We don¡¯t share many things, whether it¡¯s interests, ability, friend groups, or standing within the larger family. At most, we¡¯re distant relatives who hate seeing each other, but need to manage the familial relations together once in a while. Even in Class B, you¡¯re not really interacting with anyone but me and Mayumi, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I do my bare minimum to contribute to the class. I just don¡¯t have the time to spend on them.¡±


    ¡°You need to show that you care, y¡¯know? And not have that weird standoff-ish face all the time that scares them away.¡±


    ¡°But this is what I look like all the time.¡±


    Cecilia was suddenly aghast, instantly putting two and two together. She put her palm to her forehead, once again just as exasperated as before.


    ¡°¡­no wonder I thought¡ªwe all think¡ªyou¡¯re unapproachable. This aggression is just your default mode. Oh my gosh, what the hell.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that my usual is like this. That¡¯s always how it is for me.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re aware of it, then have you tried not doing that?¡±


    Clearly out of patience, she began to storm back into their classroom, but she was stopped again by another peculiar remark from Stephen.


    ¡°I only do that for you now, don¡¯t I?¡±


    She stomped back towards him with her face flushed red, triggering a recent memory. If it was anybody else, she wouldn¡¯t have the courage to do so, but because she was used to spouting expletives at Stephen, the distressing and humiliating words rolled off her tongue before any second thoughts were ascribed to it.


    ¡°Are you trying to hit on me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honoured that you think so, but no. As I said, it¡¯s just that you¡¯re the only one I¡¯m nice to.¡±


    Her brain imploded.


    ¡°Then you can be nice to other people, too! What the hell are you doing?¡±


    Stephen chuckled lightly.


    ¡°C¡¯mon, Cecilia. Let¡¯s get back inside.¡±


    She got even angrier when it seemed that she was the only one getting all worked up at this, and he was amused at her expense.


    ¡°You¡¯re so¡­fucking obstinate!¡±


    She managed to mutter the curse under her breath¡ªluckily, since that was about to come out at max volume. She fumed silently as she followed her so-called obstinate cousin back into their classroom, whose mood was now glowingly bright, very unusual for a man as serious as Stephen.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m just glad that we¡¯re finally getting along.¡±


    Her face burned even hotter, and with Stephen about to open the classroom door, she was forced to stay quiet. He got the last laugh, to her chagrin.


    ¡°Oh, finally, you guys are here. Let¡¯s get homeroom started already.¡±


    Ms Kadowaki complained merrily as she spotted the last two of her students file in from the rear door. A few eyes wandered to the foreign duo, but most of Class B was immune to the novelty of newcomers. After all, they were music students, and in a lot of respects they existed in their own social bubble.


    At the back of the classroom, Cecilia took her place next to, while Stephen sat behind, Mayumi. On the other side of Mayumi was Caius and Eon, the ever frisky duo with perpetual smirks on their faces. How utterly maddening.


    And so, their fragile yet peaceful days continued. Thinking objectively, it was normally impossible to be placed into a class with both her extended family in it, but somehow that miraculous encounter with Caius in the library this autumn of their third-year led to the most favourable ending for Cecilia. On top of the friends and family sitting next to her, she was taken out of the suffocating environment of Class C, too.


    As someone who didn¡¯t get to experience joy very often, it was euphoric and made her light-headed. She smiled more often, and allowed her awkward personality to come to the surface more easily. It was a healing session long overdue.


    This awfully ordinary warmth was precious, she realized, and by coincidence, had finally understood why Kato had gone to such lengths to perform in the talent show. It was because of this that she respected Kato as much as she showed earlier, but of course it was too embarrassing to vocalize it. All she could manage so far was a promise that she would take care of the Elites in his place, and that was enough for them both.


    <hr>


    When lunch rolled around, the two jokesters and Cecilia left for the cafeteria to buy lunch to bring back to the classroom for their somewhat insular group of five to eat. It had become their usual routine, after adjusting to their new environment.


    ¡°Let me put away some stuff in my locker.¡±


    Eon left the two of them in the cafeteria line, who made use of this idle time to do something productive. Eon was probably the most efficient of the Elites in retrospect.


    As they idled contently in line, Caius asked.


    ¡°Do you wanna stay in the drama department?¡±


    Cecilia continued to let her eyes wander around the vast cafeteria. It was as spacious as the grand library on the floor above it, and if need be, it could probably host a respectable production here¡ªit was about a third as big as the Assembly Hall.


    ¡°I think I will. You guys wanna join band because we¡¯re in Class B now, right?¡±


    ¡°Band¡± was the shorthand for the school¡¯s official concert band, also known as a wind ensemble in other parts of the empire. It was the main performing musical ensemble of the school, owned and run by the music department that Class B held a monopoly over. Unlike in the drama department, the music department historically only recruited from Class B for their musical competitions, so there were much fewer students from outside classes who would willingly join band. Only very special exceptions were ever made, such as their drive to recruit a once-in-a-decade talent like Alice, so an opportunity to join this exclusive club was hard to come by.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re thinking about it, especially for me and Mayumi who actually have a significant musical background.¡±


    They weren¡¯t kidding. Mayumi and Caius would make solid musicians at the high school level. Though she was a bit glum that they would be in different clubs moving forward, on the other hand they were in the same class together now. It felt like she would be asking too much to have Caius join her every hour of school.


    ¡°Eon and Stephen aren¡¯t joining, but I think that¡¯s a given. They¡¯ll figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. Stephen wants to join the drama department just so he can watch over me.¡±


    ¡°Hey, the more the merrier. Stephen¡¯s physical strength isn¡¯t something to scoff at. He¡¯ll be perfect at working the stage.¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t that creepy? I mean, he¡¯s being super-considerate and overbearing at the same time, all of a sudden. What the hell is going on?¡±


    ¡°Super-considerate and overbearing sounds just right, isn¡¯t it? That¡¯s what family is like.¡±


    Cecilia was suddenly caught with her tongue tied, precisely because Caius got it right. This was probably what a normal family would have felt like. His observations were astute as always.


    ¡°I mean, that¡¯s still super-weird, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s too weird, dude.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, you¡¯re just not used to it. Look, I don¡¯t know what his interactions with you were like before, and you¡¯re probably freaking out because of the contrast, but from the outside, it doesn¡¯t look weird at all. In fact, it looks perfectly normal.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­you¡¯re probably right.¡±


    Still somewhat unconvinced, Cecilia shook her head dejectedly, even if she couldn¡¯t get over whatever was infinitely wrong with a good-behaving Stephen. It was a bias cultivated since childhood, and it wasn¡¯t to be undone in a mere few weeks.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Celia. Life is better for you this way anyway, right? Compared to what it was before.¡±


    Finally, she smiled softly, and brought her eyes to her friend who was in the process of making a light smirk.


    ¡°You¡¯re right about that, too.¡±


    ¡°Besides, you should be missing me. I¡¯m outta that pit of fire no matter what you say, though.¡±


    She stifled a giggle. There was no end to his flamboyance. She pushed him on the shoulder playfully.


    ¡°I¡¯m a fire-type. I can only live in the pit of the volcano.¡±


    ¡°That makes Stephen a fire-type. Mayumi, too, in fact. It makes so much sense now.¡±


    ¡°Stop being a dumbass.¡±


    She was laughing out loud now, blissfully enjoying her mundane, ordinary high school life. Caius¡¯ smirk never faltered, him too enjoying himself. The line moved forward some more, with about ten students remaining ahead of them.


    ¡°Do you still feel like you¡¯re Tommy?¡±


    As she allowed her thoughts to freewheel, one of her thoughts were read out loud by her lips, giving her next moment a massive internal face-palm. Caius, nevertheless, took her question to heart.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m way past Tommy¡¯s story by now, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Duly surprised, she continued to ask, forgetting her momentary embarrassment.


    ¡°Are you going to follow after Mayumi, still?¡±


    ¡°On the whole, yes. After everything¡¯s said and done, I don¡¯t think I can let it go yet. I hold onto grudges for dear life, I¡¯ve been told.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    Caius heard a slight twinge of disappointment in her voice, but he didn¡¯t hold it against her. He also thought it was a pathetic display, too.


    ¡°Things are different from before, though. I¡¯m in a way better place than before, and believe me, you¡¯re part of it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I have lots of regrets, but I¡¯m okay with them for now. That¡¯s how I¡¯d describe myself right now. Thanks for asking, my friend.¡±


    <hr>


    Back in the classroom, the black-haired half-siblings sat together in a tense silence. Like with Cecilia, there was no actual bad blood between them; their parents¡¯ relationships were not theirs. It was obvious in both their distastes for their respective parent¡¯s decisions, especially because of the fact that they were of the same age¡ªhow else could they explain their half-sibling relation, other than the father¡¯s infidelity?


    So it was simply like this: because of Stephen¡¯s intimidating aura and Mayumi¡¯s natural combativeness, she mirrored his pose and posture. This meant that they were given a wide berth, unapproachable by the rest of Class B¡ªeven if the two of them were not in fact in a fight of any sort. Instead, they stared at each other with wary interest as if they were playing against each other in a game of poker.


    ¡°Are the Class F folks doing okay?¡±


    ¡°You should stop using me as a go-between for your friends.¡±


    They spoke lightly to avoid the possibility of anyone overhearing.


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one I can count on who¡¯s on regular speaking terms with them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that. I just mean that you should sort out your personal affairs with your own two hands.¡±


    ¡°If I thought I could, I would¡¯ve already done so.¡±


    ¡°Well, I suppose you have your reasons to be unable to show up in front of him.¡±


    They didn¡¯t exactly know each other very well. Their relationship up until now was that they were feuding relatives who at most saw each other briefly a couple of times a year under acrimonious circumstances. Needless to say, they didn¡¯t particularly have anything to do with each other¡ªanything substantial would have to be built from the ground up, starting from now.


    ¡°So, how¡¯re they doing?¡±


    ¡°Seems to be going just fine. They¡¯re wary of Arnold¡¯s return, but that¡¯s the case for everyone.¡±


    ¡°Well, the first thing¡¯s reassuring to hear. On the other thing, I can¡¯t believe that guy¡¯s coming back. He was a bastard already back when we were in freaking grade three. What the hell is the faculty planning here?¡±


    ¡°You know it¡¯s the faculty¡¯s doing?¡±


    Stephen raised an eyebrow. He didn¡¯t expect Mayumi to be aware of the politics behind all of this.


    ¡°I¡¯m still Mira¡¯s pawn, for better or for worse. I was briefed on some things about his return, like how she¡¯s gonna soft-support him politically upon his return, but I feel like I¡¯m still missing some pieces. But that¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve decided that I¡¯m not here to cause any more trouble. I¡¯m retired, so to speak.¡±


    Laying bare her intentions, she sighed in resignation.


    ¡°Missing pieces? How so? That¡¯s about it, right? Madam President owes the faculty a lot in exchange for her Hearts membership recommendation¡ªwhich I don¡¯t even know how far that has progressed¡ªso she¡¯s gonna follow the faculty¡¯s orders for the foreseeable future. Mona¡¯s AC days are numbered.¡±


    ¡°I mean, even if it was an order from the faculty, it wouldn¡¯t make sense for Mira to swallow that without any resistance. At most, I expected her to take a non-intervening stance. In fact, never mind non-intervention, I thought she would outright veto his return to this school.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°He was a creep who was obsessed with Mira in a very¡­ warped way. And that was from when I was still a wee lass more than seven years ago. You think he¡¯s gonna be any different, if he¡¯s already been banished from here once before for a real crime?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­you do have a point.¡±


    ¡°Plus, from what I heard between the grapevines of the organization, that crime involved Mira, too. Obviously, she wasn¡¯t an accomplice, so she must have been a witness or a victim. I dug a little into it what I could with my future sight, and in my own personal judgment, I can comfortably say that that¡¯s true, so when I heard about this soft-support thing the first time, I was genuinely shocked.¡±


    ¡°¡­wait a minute. The crime he was officially censured for was physical assault against Eternian dignitaries. After that, Eternia decided he was also too temperamental to be kept around other children, which I agree with, and he was expelled from school. You¡¯re saying that assault was not the crime, and it involved Mirabelle?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t figure out what the specific crime was, either, but simple assault wasn¡¯t it. And to be fair to them, if li¡¯l old me could figure it all out easily, then Eternia can just close up shop and never work in this town again. Give them some credit for covering this all up.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. They never did explain the details of his crime. It¡¯s totally possible that they just put out something that would be very believable to the public, and we ate all that up in relief, to be totally honest. We were ready to buy anything, cuz we just wanted that bastard out of here.¡±


    ¡°You see? That¡¯s why this baffles me.¡±


    ¡°¡­is this something we can share with the others?¡±


    ¡°You mean with Gilbert and Kato? Hmm¡­I don¡¯t really care either way, but would it do any good for them to make moves based on my speculations? Or worse, you¡¯re probably not supposed to dig deeper into it.¡±


    ¡°So you nonchalantly told me something that could lead me and the others into actual trouble? Really now?¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the esteemed head of the Liguro family now. You can handle a li¡¯l heat, can¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Now I kinda get why you¡¯re described as a ticking time bomb. There¡¯s no chill with you around.¡±


    ¡°Oi, who said that?!¡±


    Stephen shook his head bemusedly as he ignored her question. It seemed like he would have to consider the best time and place to mention this bit of detail, though luckily it didn¡¯t seem to be anything time-sensitive. At the very least, he would consult with Gilbert first, before anyone else.


    ¡°Anyway, enough of Class F¡¯s problems. How¡¯re you faring here, brother? It¡¯s been a few weeks since you¡¯re kicked out of Class A.¡±


    ¡°Never been better. I could use a break from politics.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re mellowing out quite quickly. What happened to the oaf-faced no-nonsense cutthroat mobster?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still here, isn¡¯t he? Right here.¡±


    He pointed to his signature default harsh expression. Mayumi wasn¡¯t convinced, though she was somewhat putting up a face as she did so. A spark flashed in the corner of her eye, and she immediately started talking again.


    ¡°Is it because of Celia that you¡¯re mellowing out? Love does that to a man, as they always say.¡±


    ¡°Please. We¡¯re talking about family here.¡±


    ¡°Your father is a great example of that, though; obsessing over his sister, that is. Can¡¯t say anything about the mellowing out part.¡±


    ¡°Just because I love Cecilia a lot, doesn¡¯t mean it has to be a toxic relationship like my father and Aunt Nellie. In fact, I¡¯d like to avoid that as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°Oho? You love her a lot, huh? You should say it out loud and on its own. Declare it like an eternal promise.¡±


    ¡°You and Cecilia are my beloved sister and cousin, and I¡¯d cherish you both as such.¡±


    ¡°My God, that sounded really corny.¡±


    ¡°You asked, and you shall receive.¡±


    The deadpan delivery of humour probably fit Stephen¡¯s character the most, so Mayumi was quite pleased with how the whole situation turned out¡ªespecially when she was getting so much fun out of it as she tried to stifle the silent laughs that were shaking her.


    ¡°¡­just what was that all about?¡±


    Behind them, Cecilia stammered. She had just returned to their seats, while the other two boys were still at the door with lunch sets in their hands, held back by an inquiring classmate and unaware of Mayumi and Stephen¡¯s conversation.


    Mayumi, naturally with her demonic eye, knew the exact timing of Cecilia¡¯s two-steps-early return and decided to prank her a little. The deepening colour in Cecilia¡¯s cheeks and flickering eyes demonstrated that it was all working as intended. Mayumi couldn¡¯t hold it back any longer and burst out in laughter.


    ¡°Did I stutter?¡±


    Stephen, however, was unperturbed by how Mayumi manipulated him into saying some really embarrassing things for Cecilia to hear. On the contrary, he didn¡¯t think much of it, as he had nothing to hide about it. If anything, as a political operator, he was on red alert for eavesdroppers who might use this against him, more worried about their political fates than Cecilia¡¯s scorched face.


    ¡°No, but¡­!¡±


    As a not-a-political-operator, Cecilia didn¡¯t think about any big picture, and proceeded straight to speechlessness. She even forgot she was holding onto a couple of bags, which she now gripped to the point of permanently warping the plastic. The stun skill was very effective from Mayumi, who was still doubled over and laughing.


    ¡°Hey guys¡ªwhat happened? What¡¯s so funny?¡±


    After finishing their brief conversation with that classmate, Caius and Eon returned to find a bizarre situation. Of course, they were by no means distracted by it. In fact, it was obvious to them that Mayumi engineered this, given she was the one enjoying it the most.


    ¡°Nothing of importance. Now, let us have our meals. Time is at hand for lunch.¡±


    Stephen replied coolly, perhaps to give Cecilia a chance to sit down and move on from the encounter entirely. She got the first part, but not the second. Instead, she felt like she needed to address it, no matter what. She sat down in her seat and turned around to face Stephen.


    ¡°I¡­I appreciate the sentiment. The feeling is mutual¡­probably¡­yeah. Something like that¡­¡±


    Stephen snickered as she continued to stumble on her words. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was more than enough for him.


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    The other three were already immersed in a chat about the trading card game they played, and apparently their classmate played it too, which was the topic of their doorway conversation. They missed out on the cousins¡¯ tender moment, luckily for Cecilia.


    ¡°T-then great. L-let¡¯s eat.¡±


    She quickly dove into her bento box and shifted herself back towards Mayumi and the others. Stephen, too, graciously retreated into the group¡¯s backseat. And with that, their youthful days continued.


    <hr>


    The student council executives¡ªthe Jupiter sisters¡ªsans Mirabelle were huddled together on their own on the opposite side of the classroom from the old Elites. Usually, they would¡¯ve been busy with student council work, but ever since Mirabelle returned to school, she took them on and also delegated a lot of their responsibilities to their classmates. It was on the whole a welcoming arrangement, since there was too much going on for the three of them to handle. On the other hand, it was still a de facto demotion, and with Ariel¡¯s authority specifically undermined with the shuttering of the Records Office, there was no one in Class B who could theoretically challenge Mirabelle¡¯s regime.


    ¡°Uuu¡­¡±


    Ariel raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Scarlett¡¯s despondent face.


    ¡°What are your thoughts, Scarlett?¡±


    ¡°¡­I think it¡¯s fine the way things are, actually. I get that emotionally, it¡¯s hard to accept, but in practical terms things have played out the way it would have nine times out of ten.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    Ariel agreed with her. As the least involved, relatively speaking, Scarlett had a muted reaction to the fallout. Even Ariel, who threw so much shade at Mirabelle, didn¡¯t do it purely on emotional terms. It was a reaction to something she thought was wholly unjust to her friends; not because she was already standing on any particular side.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Bianca stayed mum, unsure of what to say. She had it the hardest, being an intimately involved individual by way of many threads, yet having meagre influence on recent events. Being strung along for a rough and potentially traumatizing ride was not on her to-do list, for sure.


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t do anything about Arnold¡¯s return. We also can¡¯t really do anything about the fissure between the Elites. On top of that, our place on student council is relegated to a subservient role, now that she¡¯s taken on a lot of executive responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of things slipped away from us, huh.¡±


    ¡°Given that sombre evaluation, what do you think we should do?¡±


    Ariel asked Scarlett earnestly. They were her sisters, and she always gave them their fair due, even if they were sometimes irascible by virtue of being siblings. Bianca¡¯s melancholy was already one thing she was putting up with. Luckily, Scarlett was also similar to Ariel in that she was never at the centre of the Elites¡¯ attention like their other two sisters were, so she should have a more level-headed picture of everything.


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotta be honest: I think we¡¯re gonna be fighting against Mira in the coming days, but I¡¯d want to protect her from Arnold at the same time. Man, this is gonna be difficult.¡±


    ¡°Do you think she still has any plans for the Elites? She¡¯s gone and lit the Mayumi timebomb already. Can it get any worse?¡±


    ¡°I mean, if I were to bet on anything, it would probably be about Kato himself this time.¡±


    Scarlett gave a side glance at Bianca, who shirked a little from her accusatory look.


    ¡°W-what about Kato?¡±


    Ariel, realizing what Scarlett was alluding to, heaved a big sigh.


    ¡°I see. You think Mira¡¯s already caught on?¡±


    ¡°She dug herself into this hole, but yeah, there¡¯s no way she won¡¯t catch on. And once she makes a move, we¡¯ll notice it right away from Kato. We¡¯ll have to work something out from there.¡±


    ¡°Huh? I¡¯m not following. What is she catching onto?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that your escalating intimacy with Kato will inevitably push Mira into making a move.¡±


    ¡°My i-int¡ª¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Bia. PDA¡¯s only natural. And even with their extenuating circumstances with the organization, you¡¯re still rivals in love. All¡¯s fair in love and war, but we¡¯re gonna step in if it¡¯s gonna wreck us.¡±


    Scarlett, with a heart of gold, smiled widely and patted Bianca on the head almost like a parent, amused as they caught their child doing something naughty.


    ¡°A-are you suggesting I should lay it off for a while¡­?¡±


    ¡°Nah, you should go for the jugular. Swallow Kato whole and don¡¯t give an inch to Mira. Make him yours.¡±


    Bianca¡¯s face turned deep red, unable to muster any counter to Ariel¡¯s very explicit interjection. Scarlett laughed, and provided the counter that Bianca should have.


    ¡°Won¡¯t that make Mira even more desperate? That doesn¡¯t sound like something we should encourage. A desperate Mira is gonna make things worse.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but I wanna get one back at her, even if I¡¯ll eventually forget about this. She needs to learn a fine lesson in not stepping on other people¡¯s toes.¡±


    ¡°Even if Arnold is in the fray this time?¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re absolutely right, Scarlett. I just wanted to let some steam off. We can¡¯t be doing something reckless with Arnold returning. Bia, please don¡¯t escalate any further than what you¡¯ve done already.¡±


    Ariel relented after displaying a rare instance of her ego. However, Bianca turned sheepish, as if the child who was caught in the naughty wrongdoing, was about to make an outrageous request.


    ¡°But¡­I agree with your ego, Ariel¡­¡±


    ¡°Now, that¡¯s your ego speaking, too. But, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand where you stand at the moment. I¡¯m pretty certain Mira will eventually make a move regardless of any external factors¡ªthat¡¯s her ultimate goal in the end. The key here is that we don¡¯t want to push Mira over the edge too soon.¡±


    Bianca sighed. As conflicted as she felt about Mirabelle, there was no question about the shadow of Arnold.


    ¡°No, yeah, I get it what you¡¯re saying.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re on treacherous ground because I didn¡¯t prepare for this eventuality. We all wanted a peaceful year, but I guess it was na?ve of me to assume it would go smoothly. This is my fault. Sorry, sisters.¡±


    Ariel bowed and apologized regally. Perhaps it was her competitive nature that produced a strong sense of responsibility in her.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right. You¡¯re still the most dependable out of all of us here. You¡¯re not to blame for any of this, anyway.¡±


    Both sisters shook their heads, slightly resigned.


    ¡°I guess this means we don¡¯t have a clear road ahead of us. We¡¯re stuck.¡±


    They all sighed at the same time, almost telepathically in sync as quadruplets. Still at a loss of what their next step should be, they continued eating quietly, pondering about the calamities that would eventually come to pass.


    <hr>


    Kato was seated slack in one of the many chairs in the children¡¯s side of their home, right next to the bulky radio set that was in fact playing radio-wave music. The many women of the household were on the other side, either chatting idly or helping out in the kitchen: while Teto and Evie didn¡¯t cook, the rest of them sure did. Before supper was the only time he had some time to himself before the others inevitably invaded the space for their own activities and/or roped Kato into whatever they wanted to do.


    Mirabelle moved into Alice¡¯s room on Karl¡¯s side of the home, so now the allotted rooms were as follows: the three Eternian children; Yui; Sisi; Alice and Mirabelle. Frankly, the noise of six kids was way too much for one apartment suite, so he was thankful that their home was doubled up the way it was.


    It had been a few weeks since she moved in, and as a good-natured young miss of a noble family, she had no problems adapting to the working class lifestyle of the von Habsburg household. Thankfully, nothing special changed in the home, only that it was one person noisier. It certainly wasn¡¯t as if an adversarial in-law was moving in¡ªit was more like a friends¡¯ pyjama party every night.


    ¡°Kato, it¡¯s time for dinner.¡±


    Kato was torn upon hearing the soft, refined voice of his most precious childhood friend. He genuinely didn¡¯t know how he should interact with her, given the troubles¡ªirredeemable ones¡ªshe had caused in recent times, and his relapse of intimacy with Bianca. The double whammy was enough to put his thoughts and actions into flash-freeze, and he couldn¡¯t come up with an answer.


    When he eventually picked himself off of his lazy chair and dragged his feet to the other side, the first thing he noticed was Mirabelle¡¯s tied-high ponytail for kitchen work, giving her a refreshing look from her usual tied-low double pigtails. What was unfair was that she was the spitting image of Bianca¡ªand vice-versa¡ªand despite being able to discern the difference between them, he still felt irrevocably guilty that he held feelings for both of them. Their conventional beauty was peerless, and he fell for both their traps. Even with incredible contemporaries seated next to her¡ªAlice and Evie¡ªtogether making up the Three Heroines of the class of 87-88, Mirabelle stood out in front of them to Kato.


    Outside of Kato¡¯s rose-tinted glasses, though, in a hypothetical popularity contest with the boys of their year, it was likely a race between Alice and Evie for the top prize. But even if Mirabelle held a steady third place, the fourth would be so far behind that it wouldn¡¯t even be a real contest.


    While it was unreasonable for Yui to match the extremely high bar that the Heroines had set, she would definitely hold her own in a world without such outliers. She had a well-formed and aesthetic face, and if it weren¡¯t for the malnourished childhood that all orphans went through, she could have been a popular girl who would attract the eyes of any male passersby. In fact, her recently improved material and nutritional conditions had already started her in that direction, garnering increasing furtive glances from the boys in their class.


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    Thankfully, his designated seat was in between Sisi and Teto, both safe neighbours at the dinner table. It would likely be a turbulent meal if he sat next to any of the Heroines, and all in different ways. It was starting to become the case where he wanted to stay away from them, just so he could catch his breath, calm down, and not deal with the open problem between Mirabelle and the Elites¡ªhimself, really, as the contemporary leader of the Elites. He sometimes would get momentary urges to run away from home and hide from all of this, almost as if his home of more than a decade was no longer his safe haven. He couldn¡¯t shake off this strange feeling, no matter how much thought he put into it.


    Was he afraid of Mirabelle¡¯s future schemes? Or was it just plain cowardice in that he didn¡¯t want to face the problem? Perhaps it was a fight-or-flight response to an emotional ordeal, and his gut was telling him that he couldn¡¯t overcome it. He couldn¡¯t tell as of yet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat.¡±


    Sisi slapped her hands together, and the children followed suit. Their dinner was the usual classical Yue dishes, from variety stir-fry with soy sauce to steamed garlic-and-onion fish. Even with more hands in the kitchen, earlier when Kato helped along the wet market trip to buy their groceries, he already realized that making a meal for seven people was very hard work. This newfound insight made him much more appreciative of maternal heads of large families, and how much effort it must take to make not just supper but all three meals of the day, every day. There was actually so much work to be done to prepare large meals, not to mention cleaning up afterwards.


    In these bigger parties, Kato usually kept quiet as the girls at this table always had something to say, and he didn¡¯t want to walk on any eggshells. He listened intently to the chatter, which despite the exceptional personalities at the table it was fortunately everyday, mundane and normal. It was always a godsend to have this many people shoved together in a tiny space and got along well.


    By chance, he made eye contact with Mirabelle, who averted her eyes just as quickly as he did. Even though they lived under the same roof, they had no time to themselves to talk to each other in private. They were always in the presence of others, and since they slept on different sides of the home, it wasn¡¯t like they had time after hours either. Even with such a unique situation¡ªan unimaginable situation, for one¡ªthey only had the room to manoeuvre as mere dorm mates. In the conscious aspect, it was frustrating to Kato that he didn¡¯t know how to straighten things out with Mirabelle. Subconsciously, though, he also felt relieved that he had an excuse to not deal with the elephant in the room. These contradictory trains of thoughts were the basis of his recent troubles.


    And at school, a larger spectre was soon to loom over Korolev Senior¡ªthe spectre of Arnold Hedonez, just as Class F¡¯s political struggle ended in failure. The Class A forces for good (relatively speaking), Gilbert and Mona, were weakened, fractured and scattered as a new Class A faction was forming around the underdog Fabian. The three other Jupiter sisters were stripped of their independent authority by Mirabelle, essentially keeping Class B under her thumb. The faculty was making active, overt moves to crack down on the student body. Millers were arriving in less than two weeks. There were so many moving parts at school that it overwhelmed him.


    Most importantly, though, it was the split of the Elites that disheartened Kato to no end. Putting it all together, it felt as if everything was slipping away from him, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. If there was any consolation, it was that looking back, he thought there was probably nothing he could have done better¡ªthere wouldn¡¯t be any beggars in the world if you were equipped with hindsight to start with.


    ¡°Kato, my child. There shall be an Eternian dignitary visiting us next Saturday: a kabinet by the name of Madeleine Parma. Sisi presumes this is the Aunt Maddie of which you spoke of?¡±


    Sisi began with her usual hundred-year-old speech patterns. Kato was unsurprised.


    ¡°That¡¯s Aunt Maddie, all right. It¡¯s about time she visited us. She visits three or four times a year, basically our relative. Is Karl gonna be here, too?¡±


    ¡°Karl shall be meeting with Parma on a separate basis. She is here for business with him, apparently.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see. That makes sense, I guess.¡±


    Madeleine di Parma was the Eternian children¡¯s only relative-like existence, while Karl was the single father figure. They all liked her quite a lot, who as a pseudo-relative visited them regularly ever since they were adopted, and on a children-friendly basis at that, showering them with gifts and treats any child would receive positively for.


    Of course, she was invariably a high-ranking person in the Eternian hierarchy, and thus was ostensibly responsible for the Eternian children; she was Karl¡¯s boss, so to speak, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that she was back in town for business with Karl.


    ¡°Also, she has prepared a mission for you to take on. Sadly, Sisi does not have more details about the mission itself, but apparently, it concerns you personally, not Evie or Teto. It is indirectly related to your place of origin, she mentioned. Do you have any idea on what that could be?¡±


    Kato was bummed by the first half, but then instantly turned alert by the second half. Though he couldn¡¯t know the nature of the mission in any case, if he wasn¡¯t wrong, then he had an idea of what that related point was about.


    ¡°Yeah, I think I do. I¡¯d have to at least listen to what she has to say.¡±


    ¡°Sisi does not think you have a realistic choice in the matter either way, but perhaps something could be negotiated.¡±


    Sisi said snugly, leaving Kato to wonder what Aunt Maddie could ask of him to do. If it had anything to do with his place of origin, then it really wasn¡¯t something he could ignore. There was no way he could ignore it, given how vividly he remembered of his time before his orphaning. Even the mere thought of it casted a long shadow across his face.


    It also made sense that anything related to his and Teto¡¯s origins wouldn¡¯t be something affecting Teto today, as at the time Teto¡¯s physical maturity was only that of a toddler. Her memory of her time before the orphanage was only of her dear brother Kato, and nothing else.


    Of all the time periods in his illustrious past, his pre-orphan era was one he held deep, irreconcilable misgivings and regrets about. He clearly remembered being torn away from dear people he cared about¡ªas dear as a small five-year-old child could lend their emotional attachment to. To a child of that age, those people were their whole world, and for them to be taken away so violently was sacrament to Kato¡¯s ego. It was something he would hold onto forever.


    He was prepared to never find any peace with this part of his past, unlike his acceptance of the memory wipe of his friends. However, if Aunt Maddie had something for him about it, then he would gladly hear it all out. Just like how she mentioned, it was going to be personal¡ªand even a personal vendetta at that.