“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—for 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 fiancée 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—?”

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—another 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—but 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—a 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.

“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—as if she was a pure-hearted maiden—but 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—as the West Yunia Company and its partners really was—and 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—or 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—though 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—afraid 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—especially 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—the 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—if they weren’t already—and 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.

“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—the 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.

---

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—and 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—

“—he’s not my type, okay? Get rid of all that facial hair and I might give some thought to it—”

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—at least to her—parting 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.

---

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—and 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.”

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—”

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—and 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—they 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—sort 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—just 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—since 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—not 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—manoeuvres 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.

“—!”

“Oh—Gilbert. 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—though to be fair that’s not very far from the truth.”

“I, too, know Bia has once been an ass—like 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…”

“—I 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—not 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—each upset for their own reasons—he 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—an 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—which 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?”

“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—at 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.”

“—!?”

“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—which 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—!”

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—over 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—but 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.”

“—!”

“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—the 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.

“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 façade 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—I just, you—”

“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—I 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—in both ways. I’m very disappointed, troubled, frustrated, and it all hurt, for what had all transpired.

“I don’t want to hate Kato—and 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—or lack thereof—between 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?”

---

“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.”

“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—infinitely 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—”

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—and 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—which 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—a 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—”

“—that’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—only 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 cliché, 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—and 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.

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 naïve. 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 cliché, 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.”

“—!”

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—”

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.”

---

“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 façade 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—groupies—or 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?”

“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 cliché 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?”

“—!”

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.

---

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—”

“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—well, the first time—to 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!” “—!”

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—pure—heart 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—I’ve never—”

“Don’t kid yourself. You just weren’t aware of it.”

“Wait, that’s—”

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 façade 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—!”

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—as 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—an Alice band, pardon the pun—that 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—even a hundred—of 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—albeit temporarily—her 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—?”

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.

“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 risqué 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—something 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—that 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—!”

“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.”

---

“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?”

---

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.”

“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—”

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.”

---

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—and would conveniently record the tag’s personalized owner—but 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—just as Eon and Kato did—to 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.”

---

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.”

“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—!”

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.

---

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.

---

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—?”

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—well, as normal as you can get for this school—then 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.”

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—sending all my love to you. You are the moonlight of my life, every night—giving 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.”

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 Misérables 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.

---

Monday, September 26, 1887. Korolev Senior, central atrium.

Rrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnng!

“Gimme cherry bombs and gasoline! Debutantes in surgery! And the headline: LEGALIZE—!”

““—the 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—stop!”

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.”

“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-mâché. 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?”

---

“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 protégés. 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?”

“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—Liam!”

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—ah!”

““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—”

“—it’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—”

“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.

---

“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.

“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—”

“—how 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—”

“—and 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—”

“—what’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—pinky and index fingers out while the others curled up—the 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—?!”

“—yes.”

“Were we good—?!”

“—no, but you were popular.”

“Oh, is that good?!”

“It’s very good, Jack—”

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—!”

“Take a catchphrase for example—”

“CARD GAMES ON MOTORCY—!”

“—Jack, I will double your paycheque right now if you never say those words again.”

“What’s two times one billion—?!”

“—two-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.

“Sí, Señor 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—the one that you were in.”

“I was in a band—?!”

“—yes, Jack.”

“Were they good—?!”

“—absolutely! 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.”

“But I haven’t spoken to—YUUSEI——in 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—”

“What—”

“—I’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—”

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?

---

“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—”

“—and 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—very—polite 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—”

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.