It was imperative to maintain some semblance of control on the situation before chaos could erupt. As much as Kaito wanted to be there for Wil, he needed to help draw away the crowd so the on-campus doctors could move Mew to the hospital wing. Kaiko took over calming down his mother and led her back to her rooms, and Kaito promised to catch them up on the situation as soon as he was able. From there, Kaito helped the faculty usher any wandering Cinderellas who heard the shot and scream back to bed while assuring them everything was all right.
Nothing was all right.
Mew had been shot in the head.
She was in critical condition, odds of survival slim to none.
"I don't like lying to the students," Kaito heard one of the teachers tell Mistress Prima as he and others began filing back to the headmistress's office an hour later.
When Mistress Prima arrived at the scene in time to witness Mew gently being picked up and carried away, she looked horrified. Either she was a talented actress, or Mistress Prima truly was appalled someone, even a former student she openly disliked, had been shot in her school. Kaito didn't totally dismiss her as a suspect, but her reactions and responses alone heavily implied Mistress Prima had nothing to do with the shooting.
"We can't have anyone worrying all night," Mistress Prima replied. Normally she would add something like, "They need their beauty sleep," at the end, but she didn't. When Mistress Prima spoke, she sounded genuinely concerned. "We will wake the girls an hour earlier tomorrow and make a public announcement. If any feel endangered and choose to return home, we will provide help to get them packed and send them away on one of our hovercrafts no later than tonight."
"You're not going to send all the students home?"
"Mew wasn't a student. She visited for personal reasons. Until we learn more about what happened, I can only assume Mew was attacked for those same reasons, making her a target in the first place. If that's the case, isn't Wil in far more danger than anyone else here?"
"But what if it was random?" this same teacher asked. "What if Mew was shot because she was out of her rooms and anyone else not in bed would have met the same fate?"
Mistress Prima sighed heavily before she answered, "Let us hope that isn't the case. If I were to lose any one of my students . . ."
"What are our next orders?" Kaito questioned, calling attention to himself. As upset as he was, now was not the time to be emotional. Mistress Prima needed to realize the same thing if she was to lead everyone through this terrifying time.
It appeared Mistress Prima realized this immediately. She pushed her shoulders back and held her head high, her normal stance of confidence and power. "If all the Cinderellas have been ushered back to bed, then you may either do the same or help the guards locate the suspect. So far, nobody has found anything – not a smudge of dirt or a hair out of place. Whoever . . . did the deed knew how to get in and out without leaving any traces behind. . . . Or he was already within the academy in the first place."
"I see. Where's Master Tonio?"
Mistress Prima actually snorted, the action so out of character for her it surprised Kaito more than what she had to tell him. "I don't know, but I would have to guess a brothel. He and I had another fight, and how he loves to run into the arms of Juliets when I won't give him what he wants."
Now that is an unhappy coincidence, Kaito thought. It was a rare thing for Master Tonio to not be on the premises, and to be missing on such a night would undoubtedly make him a suspect in the eyes of some. Not that it could have been the man. Mew was on Master Tonio's team – there was no way he would take her out like this. However, not very many people knew that. There was no way to argue Master Tonio's innocence without also giving away all he had been working on in secret.
Looking at Mistress Prima's sour expression, Kaito had to change his mind about the possibility of her being a suspect. He didn't know of what this woman was capable. Until he began to gather the facts of what happened to Mew and why she was out of her rooms in the first place, anyone and everyone should be considered a suspect.
"I alerted the Juliets," Head Juliet said as she came down the hall, back from her own errand. "They are understandably scared."
"Why would you inform them what happened if you knew this was how they would react?!" Mistress Prima snapped. "I told you to talk to the students and assure them everything was fine. You deliberately disobeyed me."
Head Juliet narrowed her eyes and didn't falter as she replied, "With all due respect, mistress, it is my duty to watch over the well-being of the Juliets that work themselves to the bone to make certain your students are constantly treated like princesses. That shot echoed throughout the castle - they heard it too. Part of my position is to keep them properly informed so they can adjust and adapt in order to serve this school to the best of their abilities. Yes, they are scared, but they will overcome this. However, they need time to do so."
"I don't care what your reasoning is," Mistress Prima growled. "That doesn't change the fact you contradicted a direct order."
Head Juliet blinked and tilted her head to the side. "Do you really wish to do this right here, right now?"
Going quiet, Mistress Prima looked around. Some of the staff pretended to not listen while others didn't hide how intently they watched this play out. Kaito all the while kept his arms crossed and observed Mistress Prima as if at any moment she would say or do something that would prove her guilt or her innocence.
"You have personal grudges against Mew," he pointed out, loud enough for all gathered to hear. The lack of gasps and looks of shock confirmed that this was no secret to anyone present. "Your own guards cannot find any trace of who would go after Mew's life. Yet somehow your biggest concern is Head Juliet choosing to inform the Juliets – she's the only one who would willingly do so, might I add – instead of joining literally the rest of your staff to talk to the fraction of Cinderellas who happened to be awakened by the shot and wandered out of bed to figure out what had happened?"
Face burning red in the nightlight, Mistress Prima snarled, "Are you accusing me of having a Cinderella shot inside my own school?"
"I wouldn't dream of such a thing," Kaito calmly replied, "but your hatred of Mew alone makes you a suspect. If I were you, I would be a lot more careful in how I acted and talked until we figure out who could have done this. Everyone is watching you. Do you really want to condemn yourself in their eyes?"
Mistress Prima growled. It was a low rumbling in her throat, but a growl nonetheless. She then waved a hand in the air. "Beg my pardon. You are right, Lord Shion. I should have better hold of myself, not just to prove my own innocence, but to best lead everyone in this scary time."
Eyes narrowed, Kaito watched as Mistress Prima begrudgingly turned to Head Juliet and apologize for her outburst. Back to everyone else, she said, "If you feel you can sleep, return to your rooms and rest. Tomorrow will undoubtedly be a long day. For those of you who can't sleep, perhaps you could assist in the search party. Lord Shion, you seem to be an observant, analytical man. Would you care to lead a group?"
It was a genuine question, and something Kaito planned to do anyway. He knew he needed to speak with his mother to assure she was and would be all right. He knew he needed to see Wil and check on Mew. Yet there was a duty to be done. They would have to forgive him for keeping them waiting.
"Those who want to search for clues," Kaito said as a way of answer, "meet me in Master Tonio's office in ten minutes."
Rin gritted her teeth. One day soon her back would stop hurting, but that day wasn't today. Not as she disobeyed Head Juliet's direct order that all Juliets stay in their quarters until they were summoned for the morning announcement.
Guided by the moonlight, Rin creeped about the academy in search of something, anything, that would reveal what had happened. A Cinderella was shot, that much she knew. Who it was and why were a mystery to her.
All else Rin knew was the victim wasn't a student. When Rin first heard the news, her heart sank. Learning none of the students were hurt instantly relieved that pressure. Miku was safe. . . . For now.
None of the Juliets bothered to stop Rin from sneaking out. Cul looked displeased, and Ia frowned at Rin, but Rin didn't pay them much mind. If there was something to find, Rin was going to be the one to find it.
Light as a feather on her feet and as invisible as air when need be, Rin was able to hide from any approaching guards as they walked past in search for any clues. From what Rin heard, none was found. Whoever did the deed was extremely careful to not leave any traces behind.
Perhaps the attacker was still on campus. Perhaps the attacker was long gone. Either way, Rin risked more than her life wandering about. Not that it mattered. Her life ended the moment she said goodbye to Miku.
It was extremely risky, but Rin entered Mistress Prima's rooms. While the headmistress dealt with trying to keep everyone calm, now was a better time than any to go through her belongings. Rin might have even more time if this whole ordeal left Mistress Prima too restless to sleep and kept the mistress out of her rooms.
Rin beelined for Mistress Prima's desk and quickly rummaged through the papers. It was hard to read in the dark with only moonlight illuminating the room, but Rin still made out what the documents said. They were nothing of interest to her.
Quickly and quietly, Rin checked through every drawer in the headmistress's dressers and every box in her closets. Pictures of Mistress Prima's daughter were the most protected, but nothing else revealed any information on the woman's personal life. There wasn't even a journal or diary kept anywhere within the room.
After she listened closely for anyone coming down the halls, Rin emerged from the rooms and kept looking. Master Tonio's rooms were next. Although she doubted the man had anything to do with this, Rin did not want to leave any stone unturned.
As Master Tonio's rooms had fewer decorations than Mistress Prima's, it took Rin less time to go through everything she could get her hands on. There were more pieces of Master Tonio's life scattered about – pictures of him and his wife and daughter, awards and certificates hanging on the walls and kept straight and pristine in folders, favorite books stacked on his nightstand – but hardly anything of interest. Then Rin noticed something.
On the bottom of Master Tonio's nightstand was a secret compartment. Rin felt around for a moment until she found something most unusual. Sticking her index and middle fingers on both hands into the holes on either side of the stand, Rin pushed them upwards and still flinched when the secret drawer popped open.
It wasn't necessarily a diary hidden away in the compartment, but there were dated logs documenting important and critical events in Master Tonio's life. Even though she often saw Master Tonio with a tablet in his hands, a physical notebook didn't surprise Rin at all. Any logs written on a tablet, even a personal one, could be hacked into. A handwritten journal couldn't be traced and could only be read by the one holding it. Rin skimmed through most of it, knowing she was quickly running out of time before the sun rose and daylight would give her away as it encouraged others to also leave their rooms. Rin took the time to read some passages, and what she came across made her blood run cold.
This was something she had suspected for a long time, but the confirmation still sent a wave of disbelief crashing through her as Rin sucked in a sharp breath.
Skipping multiple pages, Rin began to focus more on the logs dated for this academic year. There were a lot more record this year than in years past. How interesting, Rin thought.
Rin flipped back a few pages to find the earliest entry recounting the events of the past year.
I received word from the Winter Continent today, he wrote. After decades of silence, the Benevolence has reached out to us again. Their demands have not changed. If we do not give them what they want, they will destroy us from the inside out. They made such very clear. This instance, they will not give us much time to make up our mind.
Frowning and pinching her brows together, Rin read through the later logs. Nothing else spoke of the Benevolence, but there was plenty written about the Thorns, a group of rebellious Juliets. The very people Rin was helping stop when she more than anyone should want to join their cause.
Master Tonio, the foolish man he was, named those he enlisted the help him in this investigation. Zola Wil and Mew. Wil's brothers Kyo and Yuu. Hiyama Kiyoteru. Campos Ona. Shion Kaito.
Gasping, Rin read that name again. Shion Kaito. Miku's beau.
Shaking, Rin struggled to read further and saw her own name listed as well. Nobody else was named, but there was plenty more written. The Thorns attacked at random, and they appeared to be nothing more than a small, dauntless, disorganized group. Not that Master Tonio was taking any of this lightly. There was no knowing the kind of threat the Thorns posed. After their failed attempt to assassinate Lord Shion, he knew without a doubt they weren't messing around.
Rin flipped through the pages and then backed up before Master Tonio's logs were regularly documented. Only that one entry mentioned the Benevolence.
Perhaps it was an early name for the Thorns, Rin reasoned. Master Tonio did say that was the first time he had heard from them in decades, and the furthest back this notebook went was a little over ten years prior. There had been two or three uprisings in the past half century. Rin didn't doubt that the Benevolence was the last name of the rebels and they had renamed themselves the Thorns for this attempt, messy as it was.
The lavender hues of the rising sun told Rin that time was almost up and she had far overstayed her welcome. She shoved the notebook back where it belonged and popped the secret compartment back in place. Listening for anyone outside the rooms, Rin emerged when she heard no one walking down the halls.
Rin was nearly back to the Juliet quarters when she heard a set of footsteps coming her way. She looked for a place to hide and found none. All she could do was keep walking as if she had an errand she needed to fulfill and hoped whoever she passed wouldn't be suspicious of her presence.
Her heart caught in her throat as she rounded the corner to see Lord Shion walking in her direction. Rin kept her head down, the always lowly servant. It wasn't easy trying to avoid looking at him now that she would forever see him through new eyes.
You're working for Master Tonio, too. You're working to put an end to this Juliet rebellion. You have been keeping all this a secret from Miku, haven't you?
Not that Rin was one to judge Kaito on any of it. She was doing the same things. Never once did she breathe a single word of it to Miku.
"Juliet CV02, isn't it?"
Rin was forced to stop at Lord Shion's addressing her. If he had an order, she would be obligated to follow it. After all, she wasn't Miku's shadow anymore.
Even though Rin didn't look at him, Lord Shion continued, "You shouldn't be wandering about. Didn't Head Juliet share the news with you last night? It isn't safe to be traveling the campus by yourself."
That doesn't seem to be stopping you.
Shoving the thought away, Rin kept her head bowed. Never before had she been grateful for the school's no speaking policy. If she dared open her mouth, Rin couldn't trust how much she would reveal.
"Unless you were using the opportunity to do some snooping without anyone's noticing, I assume."
Rin's demeanor remained set in stone. She remembered when Ms. Campos helped Rin when she was nearly caught by Mistress Prima and said she did what she did because they were on the same team. Now knowing what Ms. Campos meant, Rin wondered if Lord Shion knew that she was also on his side. By the way he talked to her, Rin wanted to think no. However, his prejudices could have been strong enough to cause him such intense negative feelings for her regardless of their being "on the same team."
It was why Rin said nothing. Revealed nothing. She and Lord Shion both may have been under Master Tonio's umbrella of trust, but that did not necessarily mean Rin and Lord Shion had to trust each other.
Although she possibly should have waited for a dismissal, Rin stood where she was for only so long before she began to walk away again. Lord Shion didn't call after her or order her to stop. Regardless of what he knew or what he thought, Rin wasn't on his side anymore. His side didn't care about the likes of her. From now on, she was on her own side, and she would fight for it.
When the girls were awakened an hour earlier and told to meet in the auditorium, Miku's heart nearly stopped. Rin! was her first thought, but then she remembered that Gumi was executed in the stadium. However, none of it eased Miku's concern for the blonde until she heard the rumors.
"Someone was shot last night!" Gakuko whispered as she, Miku, Luka, and Ona found their seats.
"How do you know?" Luka asked.
"The sound woke me up," Gakuko answered. "It sounded way too much like a shot from a blaster, and it was too close to be a firework. Didn't it wake you?"
Luka shook her head. "I'm a heavy sleeper. How about you, Miku?"
"I have been told I snore loud enough to drown out a hurricane."
"You both have to be pulling on my skirt." Gakuko shot her gaze towards their silent companion. "What about you, Ona? Did you hear anything last night?"
Ona stared off into the distance and had to be asked twice more before she blinked and looked around, once again back in reality.
"I heard it, yes," she said. "I was already awake and rushed to see what was wrong."
"Did you see anything?" Luka asked.
Hesitating, Ona shook her head and answered, "I was ushered back by a teacher who insisted nothing was wrong and that I only imagined the sound."
She's lying, Miku noticed. It wasn't like confrontational Ona to avoid eye contact when speaking.
"A teacher did the same to me," Gakuko said, oblivious to Ona's fib. "Whatever it was, they're hiding it."
"So what do you suppose this is then?" Luka questioned. "A gathering to tell us some fictitious explanation to explain what some of us heard last night?"
"I bet my buttons it is." Gakuko crossed her arms, glaring ahead at the stand where a speaker would soon tell the girls why they had been awakened an hour earlier to meet.
As they waited for the announcement or news or whatever it was, Miku looked around. No Juliet in sight. However, she noticed Lord Zola's brothers hanging in the back, arms crossed, barely looking at anyone as if the toes of their shoes were the most interesting thing in the room. A brunet man stood a few feet away, his stance just as depressed. She looked around for Lord Zola and his wife, but both were absent. It was just then Kaito walked in. Miku tried to smile at him, but he walked towards the brothers as if they were the only other ones in the room and began conversing with them. Whatever they discussed, it led to the four men walking out of the room.
However, before they left, the brunet turned towards Miku and nodded. She furrowed her brows in confusion, but the man already turned away. Spinning back around, Miku held her hands and squeezed her fingers.
Not even half a minute passed before Ona said, "I need to use the ladies' room. I'll be right back."
"It's about to start," Gakuko argued, jamming her thumb towards Mistress Prima as she began setting up the podium.
"You can inform me what's going on later," Ona replied as if she couldn't get away fast enough. "This can't wait."
Before another argument could be made, Ona scurried out of the row and rushed out of the room. If anyone else noticed her leave, they didn't stop her. Miku frowned at Ona's retreating figure and turned back around. None of how Ona acted was like her at all. Something was wrong, and whatever Mistress Prima had to announce may or may not have had anything to do with it.
"My students," Mistress Prima began, sounding tired and sad and hopeless all at once. "I'm sure you are wondering why you were awakened an hour earlier and told to meet in the auditorium. You see . . . I have horrendous news to share.
"Last night, a guest within the academy walls, Zola Mew . . . was shot in the head by an unknown attacker."
The air was sucked from Miku's lungs as the other Cinderellas began to cry out. Not Mew! That outgoing, loud personality could not have been shot. She couldn't be . . . Mew was not—
"Girls. Girls!" Mistress Prima waved her hands in the air, signaling for everyone to calm down and remain seated. "Mew is still alive, but she's in critical condition."
Miku began clutching the fabric of her skirts.
"We don't know who shot her and why," Mistress Prima went on to say. "All we know is whoever it was covered their tracks well. As a result . . . if any of you feel unsafe and wish to go home today, get with me or anyone on staff. We will send help to make sure you're packed and off campus no later than tonight. For those who wish to stay, we promise we are doing everything we can to find the culprit, increase security, and keep anyone else from getting hurt."
As more Cinderellas continued to cry out, some rushing out of their seats and charging towards teachers, Gakuko whispered, "I can't believe Ona went to the bathroom and missed out hearing this!"
"This isn't real, right?" Luka asked nobody in particular, her voice raising a pitch too high. "Mistress Prima did not just say that someone got shot in the head last night, right?!"
While so many others like Luka asked things nobody had the answers to, Miku had her own questions. "What was Ms. Mew doing last night? Where was she if not her rooms with her husband?"
"That's right, you know her!" Gakuko covered her mouth.
Without giving it much thought, Miku jumped to her feet and fled the room. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew for whom she was looking. Following the little of the voices that traveled, Miku turned down the right passageways until the growing voices confirmed that she headed where she wanted to go.
The door was left ajar, and Miku stopped without either opening the door or entering the room. She peeked inside and saw Kaito with the two younger Zola brothers, the brunet from before, and . . . Ona. They were all talking to Master Tonio, who for some reason was absent from the meeting.
"—a lot going on that I don't understand either," Master Tonio was saying. "I don't have any better ideas than you do who could have possibly shot Mew."
"What about your security cameras?" Ona suggested, arms crossed. She spoke as if she had been in meetings such as this countless times.
"Kiyoteru already checked them," Master Tonio replied.
The brunet man, who Miku assumed was Kiyoteru, added, "Mew was shot in a blind spot, and the figure we saw in nearby cameras was too pixelated to see."
"Well that's freaking convenient," Ona muttered, and to that, nobody had a response.
"Look, we're doing everything we can to figure this whole mess out," Master Tonio tried.
"Mess?" the youngest Zola brother snarled. "My sister-in-law was shot!"
Things were silent for a heartbeat. Two. Miku was about to pull away when she heard Master Tonio speak.
"Enough eavesdropping, Ms. Hatsune. If you have questions, why don't you come inside and ask them?"