The next day, after school…
Juna's eyebrow twitched. She was sitting on a table in Recette Bakery & Café, waiting for Kurt to arrive. During breakfast earlier, the boy reminded Juna about treating her for cake at this very bakery. Something about apologizing to her.
Juna was more than happy to not correct him. She definitely did not remember this conversation before, meaning Musse must have a hand in it. Before class, Juna pulled Musse out of the classroom so she could thank her again and again for this opportunity to be closer to Kurt. She is quite thankful for her.
Until now.
Juna slowly turned her head to the side, glaring at Musse, who is sitting next to her. She was happily texting on her ARCUS.
"Musse," Juna slowly said, her brow twitched. "What are you doing here?"
Musse put down her ARCUS and smiled at her dear classmate.
"Do not worry, Juna," she said. "I am just meeting with a friend."
Juna leaned forward, her face darkening.
"Then why are you sitting on my table?" she asked.
Musse leaned forward too.
"You know why," she said, smiling deeper.
The friend Musse is about to meet was Kurt Vander himself. He promised her classmate to treat her cake, for being rude to her. However, Juna was inside Musse's body at that time.
Juna was about to tell Musse about this promise that breakfast, but when Kurt got a hold of her first, Juna's priorities… shifted. She did not tell Musse about the promise in the end. Kurt could treat her tomorrow if need be. So how could the Musse today know about this promise?
It is because Kurt told her that noon. Kurt asked for forgiveness and requested that they reschedule their meetup. Musse, realizing that Juna lied to her—HER—did something that is expected of Musse.
"Oh, Kurt," she said as he was about to walk away. "There is something you need to know about Juna. She told me that her and her club are going to extend their practice this afternoon. They are way behind schedule, she said. She might be too busy to do… anything later. Juna is too shy about this sort of stuff, so she sent me to tell you this."
She smiled widely.
Kurt, understanding the circumstances, forgot about his plans with Juna later after school. There is no need to bother her when tennis is involved. Since he is free, Kurt asked Musse if she wanted that cake later.
"It would be my pleasure," Musse said. She then giggled.
Liza, the owner of the bakery, was unnerved at the two girls glaring each other. It must be her imagination, but she could see sparks of electricity at the middle of their heads.
"You know why I'm here," Musse said to Juna.
She giggled when she saw Juna grimaced. Juna knew why, but she stood her ground.
"I never knew there was devious side of you, Juna. Did you honestly—honestly—think you could get a step ahead of me?"
"Damn you, Musse," Juna growled. "You already got Instructor Rean. What do you want from Kurt anyway?"
Honestly, Musse wanted to make sure that Kurt shuts about on regarding about her true identity as the most powerful noble in Erebonia. This is a matter of life and death to Musse after all. However, in the light of current events, Musse just wants to screw Juna up for thinking she could one up her.
There is another thing in Musse's mind, but she ignored it for now.
"Now, now, Juna," Jessica said from beside her. She put down her cup of tea. "You two are supposed to be friends. Fighting is normal, but you two look like you're going to claw each other's faces."
"And why are you here?" Juna shouted at Jessica.
Jessica blushed, feeling guilty all of a sudden. She still desires to talk to Kurt about they different fighting styles. Even after the revelation that it was ultimately Ash that did the asking, she always desired for a kindred spirit.
She has no ulterior motives. Really!
She only plans to talk to Kurt for a while with Juna, give her some emotional support, and then just leave. It would make her a third wheel, but she does not mind. However, with Musse setting up this unnerving atmosphere, and Juna's imagination running wild, her plan may have… backfired, to say the least.
At the back of her mind, she thought that she should not have gone with this plan.
"I have my reasons," Jessica said before sipping her tea.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Juna shouted.
She looked at both of them. "You guys! You both know how I feel about—" She covered her mouth.
Musse tipped her head.
"Yes?" she slowly said, enjoying the moment.
Jessica rolled her eyes and started covering her ears.
Juna slammed her palms against the table, surprising everyone. Her shoulders started shaking and her face was getting red.
"I'll never fall in love with an Erebonian! Never!" She screamed.
Like clockwork, Musse and Jessica thought before they removed their hands from their ears.
The door was kicked open.
"Who dares disturb this peace of this fine establishment?" Aurelia shouted as she entered the bakery.
Why me? Liza thought.
"And what are you doing here?" Juna shouted back. Her anger knows no limits at this point.
"J-Juna!" Jessica said, raising her hands. "That's our principal!"
"Bah! And what of it?" Aurelia said as she walked to their table.
"Wh-What do we owe the pleasure, Principal Le Guin?" Musse asked.
"This."
She dropped her humongous sword flat on the table, forcing Musse and Jessica to scoot back. Juna was still too angry to care. Aurelia crossed her arms and smirked.
"I heard that Mr. Vander is coming to this building," she said.
"Oh come on!" Juna screamed, tearing her hair out. She stabbed a finger at her. "You're over thirty years old! Kurt's like seventeen!"
"Juna, wait!" Musse and Jessica shouted. It was very insensitive to her to mention another woman's age.
"Huh?" Aurelia said, raising an eyebrow. She then laughed. "Oh, no, no. I am not here for steal Kurt from you three!"
"Y-You must be mistaken!" Musse said, waving her hands.
"That's not what I'm here for!" Jessica reasoned.
"I won't let any of you have him!" Juna screamed from the top of her lungs.
"I'm just here to challenge Kurt to a duel!" Aurelia said, beating her chest. "'Tis a shame that I fought the wrong Kurt, although Ash will be next in my list. That is for certain. But for now, this is the perfect opportunity to test his sword craft!
"So… Shoo!" She waved at them to go away. "Reschedule your group dates someday else. Tonight, Kurt is mine!"
"Never!" Juna shouted, standing up.
Michael was about to follow Aurelia into the bakery, but after witnessing three girls and his boss having a shouting match over at the table, he thought best to back away. Slowly.
Somewhere in a bush in Leeves, Kurt popped his head. He still has the bandage over his crown. He looked left and right. The girls have been on overdrive lately. They are also spouting some weird stories that Kurt himself entertained all of them at once.
Insane! All of them!
Ash raised an eyebrow as he saw Kurt popping his head out of the bush. He stifled a laugh.
"What's so funny?" the RMP rookie agent asked from one arm.
"Something going on?" the St. Astraia student asked from the other arm.
They were about to look at Kurt. Ash did him a favor by turning them away.
"Just remembered a joke I heard back at Raquel," Ash said as he pushed them at the other direction.
Ash got a small following of his own today, picked from the best of the best, and, to be frank, he wants to keep them small. No need to go crazy like Vander-boy over there. His anger towards him abated slightly, mostly due to the fact that Ash felt sorry for Kurt.
Kurt dashed from bush to bush and successively avoided detection from the patrolling girls. The people of Leeves was getting tired of them, even if some of the girls bought something in town.
He sighed in relief as he reached the bakery. It was odd seeing Instructor Irving here, but he ignored him. Michael was talking to his radio by the entrance.
Kurt pushed the door open.
"Wait, don't go in there!" Michael said, finally noticing Kurt.
It was too late. Kurt expected to see Musse, but not she was there, but Aurelia and Jessica were in the bakery as well. And then like something from a horror book, Juna was there also. They were all arguing at each other, verbally abusing each other.
He slowly backed away. Michael tried to grab him and drag him to somewhere safe.
It was futile.
"Kurt?" Juna said when she noticed him by the entrance.
The four women looked at Kurt, then at each other.
"Kurt!" Juna, Musse, Jessica and Aurelia shouted and ran after him.
"Aidios, save me!" Kurt cried out before running away.
For the first time in his life, Kurt wanted his old admirers back. At least they were tamer than the wild beasts that are chasing him down at Leeves.
"Is this it?" Cedric asked, taking the box from Altina.
"It is, Your Highness," she replied, bowing her head.
Altina answered Crown-Prince Cedric's call and rode all the way to Trista in order to meet him. It was nighttime and the two were in the Old Schoolhouse.
Cedric opened the box and picked up the silver king piece with his thumb and forefinger. He admired the beauty of its craftsmanship.
"And you figured out how to reverse the body-switching?" he asked. "Impressive."
"Correct, Your Highness," Altina said, raising her head. "In order to reel in the threads, I need a catalyst, so to speak. The king piece is just a piece of Argem crystal, so I used Argem crystal powder as a catalyst. It worked better than—"
"Enough," Cedric commanded and Altina shut up.
He chuckled and put the artifact back inside the box. He walked up to Altina and patted her head.
"That's my good bunny wabbit," he said.
Altina turned her head away to hide her blush.
"…Thank you, Your Highness," she meekly said.
"Your mission is now complete, Ms. Orion," Cedric said, pocketing the box.
Altina was ordered to give the Gralsritters a fake silver king piece. It was still made out of Argem crystal, and it is not like they would examine it too closely, unless they want another disaster. And if they discovered that it was a fake… they will have to contend with the Imperial Government, which is not going to happen.
"I shall relay your success to the Chancellor himself," Cedric continued. "You have done a great service to the Empire."
"Yes, Your Highness," Altina said, giving him a sharp salute.
Cedric laughed.
"You may go home. And remember, we have more assignments to give to you in the future, so be wary."
"Your Highness," she responded before marching away. There was a slight spring in her steps.
All she wanted to do is to be useful to Erebonia. And it was nice getting praise from a man of high prestige.
Once Altina exited, Cedric brought out the box again. He examined the artifact and smiled. It was an Imperial heirloom. He ordered one of his classmates to drop this chess piece into the pool of the branch campus. He used Altina to gather as much data about how the artifact works. The data on how to reverse its effects was a nice bonus.
"Amazing work, Altina," Cedric said.
He now has the data, but this is only just the beginning.
A/N: End Credit song: Just Do It – Guilty Gear Xrd –SIGN-