Another chapter done! I'm dead!
J: That's just because you went jogging in the afternoon.
Disclaimer!
Shindou: NemesisGoddessOfRevenge does not own IE or any of its characters. They all belong to Level-5.
Right on! Enjoy!
Ch.3
"What's wrong?" asked Taiyou, peeking out from behind Midori's back.
"All of the adults have passed out, like downstairs." Midori replied.
True enough, Aphrodi and Fubuki were sprawled on the table, a pile of documents in front of them. Kazemaru was sitting on the couch, with Endou, Gouenji, Kidou and Fudou next to him. The television was playing the recordings of Raimon's past matches with the Second Stage Children.
"What happened to them?" Shindou walked over to Aphrodi. "Hey, look at Aphrodi-san's face!"
The others rushed over. Aphrodi's face was watery, his features blurred. They couldn't even see his face clearly.
It was the same case with the other adults. It was as if the faces of the adults were shifting into something else.
"Now that," declared Kariya, "is super weird."
"Yup." said Tenma. He stood next to Endou. "What would happen if I poked Kantoku's face?" Tenma raised a finger in the air.
"Don't do that, Tenma!" Kirino said. "You might leave a dented hole in his face…"
"Really?" asked Tenma.
"No, but just don't do that!" retorted Kirino.
"What should we do, what should we do, what should we do?" Hayami started running around in circles. "Is it the end of the world? Help us!"
"Calm down, Hayami." Hamano said, shaking his head. "Stop being so pessimistic."
Meanwhile, Shindou and Kirino were checking the rooms.
"Kira-san and Midorikawa-san are in that room." said Shindou, pointing inside the room on the left.
Kirino peered inside. Both adults were sleeping, their faces watery and unclear. "It seems that the situation is the same with all adults."
Shindou nodded. "Let's check the next room."
They bumped into Tsurugi and Taiyou in the corridor. "We've checked the other rooms," explained Taiyou. "All of the adults' conditions are the same!"
Tsurugi nodded absentmindedly. Kirino frowned. The first-year looked as if he were in a trance or daydreaming.
"Hey, Tsurugi." Kirino said. Tsurugi didn't respond. Feeling a bit annoyed, Kirino waved his hand in front of the latter's face to get his attention.
"Kirino-senpai?" Tsurugi looked up with a jolt.
"Are you okay? You seem so out of it." Kirino said.
"It's nothing." Tsurugi straightened and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
Kirino sighed. It seemed as if Tsurugi was back to his old stubborn self. He turned to Shindou. "We can split up into small groups and check if there are any adults unaffected by this…" Kirino didn't know what to call the mysterious thing that had made the adults fall asleep. "…change. I'll go with Tsurugi. It might be safer that way, as we second-years can keep an eye on the first-years."
Shindou smiled. "Come on, Taiyou!" The orange-haired boy followed his senior obediently.
Tsurugi didn't show any sign of having listened to the conversation. Kirino felt impatient. "Tsurugi!"
The first-year bolted. "Yes, Kirino-san?"
"What's wrong with you? You've been acting weird all night. What's on your mind?"
Tsurugi hesitated. "Well, there's this thing…"
"Yes?" Kirino pressured him.
"Remember J, from the last time we went camping?"
Kirino nodded. "Natsumi's assistant?"
"Well, I caught her talking to someone she called 'Commander' on the phone." Speaking quickly, Tsurugi explained what suspected of J, and what she had told him after she caught him eavesdropping.
Kirino's eyes widened. "So you think she was a spy?"
Tsurugi nodded. "That last day at camp, she was wearing two rings on her right hand. When she was leaving, she dropped one." Tsurugi dug around in his pocket and brought out a silver ring. Strange letters were carved on it. "I tried experimenting with it, but I can't find out what it does."
Kirino took the ring. "Hmm, it looks like it's engraved with a computer code or key."
"A key?" asked Tsurugi.
"Have you tried searching anything about the symbols on the ring on the internet?" Kirino stared at the ring.
"No. I showed it to my brother, and he said that it looked like ancient Greek." Tsurugi said.
"I think Shindou can help us. He's good with computers." Kirino raised his head. "Shindou!" He called out.
Shindou popped out from the far end of the corridor. "What?"
"Come here! Do you know how to decode this thing?"
Shindou walked to them. Kirino showed him the ring.
"I'm not sure. But there's a computer software that can translate languages. Let's try it out." Shindou led them to a study room. "Try the computer."
Tsurugi switched on the computer. "What should we search, Shindou-san?"
"Ancient Greek to Japanese dictionary."
Tsurugi did as Shindou said. He clicked on the first website.
Kirino sat on the revolving chair next to Tsurugi. "Huh. Phoenix Academy Elite? What's that?"
"Type it in the search bar. Maybe we can find something," said Shindou.
Tsurugi did as he said. "Here," Tsurugi pointed to the screen. "It's a… school website?!"
"Are you sure?" Shindou moved closer to the computer. He opened the link.
Instantly, the screen started to glow. The boys shielded their eyes. When the light faded away, there was only a username and password on the screen.
"What is this?" Kirino stared.
"Username? Let's try J." Shindou said. Tsurugi obliged.
"Password?" Kirino tapped his chin, thinking hard. "I dunno."
Tsurugi clicked on the 'lost password' link.
A message popped up. "The password is on your ring, dummy!"
"Whaaat? Now that is really, really strange." Shindou scratched at his head.
"Oh. There's a number here." Kirino typed on the keyboard and pressed enter.
…
…
Somewhere far away, a girl stared at her computer screen. "It seems like he's found out…" Flipping open her phone, she dialed a number.
…
…
Tsurugi's phone rang. "Who is this?" Tsurugi looked at the caller display. He nearly dropped the phone in shock.
"Who?" Shindou asked. Then he gasped as well. 'Caller: J.'
"Hello?" Tsurugi picked up the call.
"Tsurugi-san. You have cracked the code. Now listen to my instructions very carefully." J said.
Finished! (dances around in joy)
J: Why, congrats!
Oooh, you look like the big baddie here…
J: You're the one to talk. Keeping all that suspense from the readers…
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