Weeks dragged by, and nothing changed.
Professors still kept their classes online even for the students within the academy's walls.
After screening every student and faculty member twice, nobody was any closer to discovering who shot Mew.
Worst yet, Mew still did not wake up.
The school year that started full of hope and wonder was now ending on pessimism and fear.
The academy's annual fundraiser would begin within the hour. Kaito chose not to go. Instead he sat with Wil, who rarely left his wife's side. The academy was on the brink of bankruptcy. If the lords and ladies and merchants brought in today didn't buy the student paintings or baked goods, didn't participate in the auctions, and didn't make generous donations, this would be the last year the Cinderella Academy of the Equinox Continent opened its doors.
Even if the school somehow managed to scrape by this year, Kaito thought, seeing no hope within the situation, how many new students would want to go to an academy where someone got shot and they never found the attacker?
A drama played on the screen in the corner of the hospital room. It filled the silence between Kaito and Wil. For some reason, Wil always had this particular film playing whenever he needed white noise to fill the room and drown out Mew's monitors. It was a story about a Juliet who disguised herself as a boy in order to join the army and fight in the Continent War three hundred years ago. The film's claim to be "historically accurate" was laughed at by scholars, and very few people even watched a drama centering around a Juliet. Kaito didn't understand how such a story was produced in the first place.
Yet Wil always had this film playing if anything played at all. Kaito once asked why this film, but he received no answer. It was the first and last time he questioned the choice in story.
His tablet pinged, alerting him to a new message. It was from Miku.
I changed my mind.
Since she didn't elaborate, Kaito messaged back, About what?
Selling my paintings, Miku answered. Her messages weren't usually this short. Miku must have been trying to not dwell too much on it lest she overthink herself into changing her mind again.
You really don't have to do this, you know? Mother, Kaiko, and I already made a donation to the academy.
Nothing was to be said of Akaito. Ever since his family arrived at the academy for safety, the safety of this academy of course questionable, Kaito rarely saw his male cousin. He shuddered to think how his cousin responded to an environment filled with impressionable young girls.
I know, Miku replied, but I really want to do my part. Gakuko has decided to participate as well. She even spent all night collecting the short stories she wrote in one of her classes and formatting them into an anthology. If her paintings don't sell, she's going to try to see if anyone wants to buy the first book of a future famous best-selling author.
As if an afterthought, Miku sent another message. Gakuko and I managed to find booths next to each other. Ona even promised to come with us and help pitch our products. I won't be alone.
Ona would have been going even if you and Gakuko sat this out, Kaito thought but knew better than to say. Master Tonio, Kyo, and Yuu would also be present, and Kiyoteru would be in another room, watching the cameras in case of any suspicious individuals. It was a massive relief nothing happened at the last ball, but that didn't mean anything couldn't and wouldn't happen at the fundraiser.
Just be careful, Kaito typed out. Frowning, he deleted the message without sending it. This time, he took a more optimistic approach. That's all right. I just want you to focus on having fun, and don't let anyone try to talk you down on your prices. You're too talented to sell your work at a discount!
Aw, thank you! Now I'm excited for this to begin. Expect pictures of my and Gakuko's booths after we set up!
As Kaito powered off his tablet, he caught Wil smiling at him. "What?"
"I'm happy to see you supporting Miku." Wil stretched out in his chair. He watched the drama for a minute before adding, "It's sweet watching you make each other smile, especially in times when smiling is hard."
"Well, you were right," Kaito confessed. "I wasn't being there for Miku like I should. Of course, I'm still working on it, but we have had less disagreements since I started taking your advice to heart. As time passes, I'm sure she and I will get to a point we can be on the same page about everything."
"Hold on, are you honestly thinking your relationship is something you can learn? There are still going to be disagreements," Wil warned. "Sometimes even fights. Being there for your partner isn't a skill you master. It's something you have to work on every single day. There will be days you two work together flawlessly, there will be days you two can't see eye-to-eye on anything at all, and there will definitely be days in between. You sure know a lot, Kaito, but there's still so much about human relationships in which you are absolutely clueless."
"You don't have to be so harsh," Kaito said, his pride wounded. As he slowly began to learn, having older friends did a lot to keep him feeling young and inexperienced. It wasn't a great feeling.
"Just don't want you to make mistakes you can never take back, not that you won't," Wil replied. "I'm only telling you what I wish someone told me when I was your age."
Not having a reply, Kaito bit his tongue and watched the drama. The Juliet character, still in her male disguise, walked into a meeting and started telling them how their plan was suicide. With an air of confidence no Juliet had any right to express, she began strategizing a better plan to conquer their enemies.
No wonder this film did poorly. Nobody wanted to think a Juliet was smarter than them. Not a soul alive wanted to give Juliets the idea they could make better decisions than their superiors when they weren't supposed to have any ideas at all.
"Do you think I should be there?" Kaito, wanting to get his mind away from the film, asked. "To support Miku in person?"
"Your call," Wil answered. "What you do depends on how you feel."
Disappointed Wil didn't just tell him what to do, Kaito leaned back in the chair. He didn't want to go to the fundraiser, but he didn't want to stay in this hospital room with the Juliet film playing either. Yet there was no third option visible to him.
Reaching out and grasping Kaito by the wrist, Wil exclaimed, "Did you see that?!"
"See what?"
"Mew's fingers! They twitched!"
Kaito focused all of his attention on Mew's fingers. For a while, nothing happened. It was as he was about to infer Wil's wishful thinking was getting the best of him when Mew's slender white fingers jumped as if startled by the rough fabric of the hospital blanket.
I can't believe this, Rin thought as she, Ia, and the other selected Juliets were gathered for the auction. We're being herded like cattle. Guess that makes sense when we're going to be sold like cattle, too.
She and the others were sitting in a penned circle by the stage so the visitors to the academy's annual fundraiser could view the Juliets prior to the auction. On the table in front were sheets for each Juliet, detailing their age and health and skills. The Juliets themselves were dressed in pressed sky blue dresses without the Juliet's usual aprons and new black boots. All the girls had their hair tied into a bun save Rin, whose near shoulder length hair couldn't be styled beyond a ponytail deemed not appropriate for what the stylists were trying to accomplish when preparing these girls. The whole process was humiliating.
"I'm scared," Ia whispered, her voice so soft and quiet she probably wasn't intending to talk to anyone. The others were too scared themselves to reply, and Rin had no interest in starting a conversation.
A young blond man came up, looked at the files, looked at Rin, made eye contact, smiled at her, and pressed a large stamp on her file. "You were so popular," he said, "you sold before we even started the event."
Rin wanted to growl, or snarl, or anything to display her anger at the whole ordeal. She didn't. Even if nobody in the entire facility would want to pay any attention to a Juliet, Rin knew better than to act out in ways that could possibly draw notice.
Then the young man did something strange. He leaned forward and said quietly, "Master Tonio kept his promise."
It was all he said before standing straight again and walking away. Rin quickly scanned the other Juliets. If they heard the man, they didn't show it.
He must be an agent of Master Tonio's, Rin thought. Master Tonio promised Rin she would not be sold where she would be mistreated. It didn't matter to Rin one bit that the master kept his promise.
Eyes scanning the crowd, Rin found Nana helping one of the Cinderellas set up her bouquet booth. When the Cinderella wasn't looking, Nana looked towards Rin. Eye contact was made, and a nod exchanged between them.
We'll make this a fundraiser to remember, Rin thought, fingers balling the fabric of her skirt in her fists. Weeks spent planning and sneaking around would be paid off today. Nobody would ever underestimate a Juliet again.
Rin took deep breaths. As anxious as she was, she accepted whatever happened. It was possible she could die, but Rin didn't care. There was nothing left for her to live for. If this would catch fire to the revolution Gumi's execution sparked, Rin would gladly die today.
With nothing better to do, Rin occasionally scanned the crowd. There were so many wealthy men and Cinderellas present. So many people who would learn to never, ever again think of Juliets as anything less than human.
During one of these scans, Rin's heart jumped in her throat. She swallowed it back down, where it began beating rapidly as if trying to break free from her chest. The calm and acceptance Rin felt disappeared as if it didn't exist in the first place.
Miku isn't supposed to be here! A cold sweat broke out as Rin suddenly found her throat dry. Before agreeing to this plan, Rin snuck around to assure herself Miku would be safe. The Cinderella had no intentions whatsoever to sell her paintings or attend this fundraiser. So why is she and Ms. Yuzuki setting up booths?
Rin frantically looked around, but Nana was no longer helping the Cinderella. Next Rin tried to find any of the others in on the plan, but none were to be found. This was not good.
Shaking, Rin tried to think of any way to stop their plan before it could begin. She would accept her dying. However, she would never forgive herself if her actions got Miku hurt or even killed.
Which was exactly what was bound to happen when the fundraiser officially began.
Miku blew her bangs out of her eyes as she hoisted another one of her paintings on display. For her booth, she tried to create an aesthetic of sunrise to sunset. The paintings of morning started on one end, and from that end to the next, the transition from dawn to dusk wrapped around her table.
"You paint a lot of nature pieces," Gakuko stated as she finished setting up the last of her works. Ona wondered off, and neither girl knew where she went. "Don't you have any portraits?"
"No," Miku lied. Gakuko didn't call out that one of their assignments last semester involved both a self-portrait and a portrait of another. It wasn't as if anyone would want a painting of Miku or Luka, or the ones of Kaito and Rin that Miku secretly did on her free time.
"Well, either way, your paintings are lovely," Gakuko said, taking a few steps back to survey the exhibit.
"Thank you!" Miku smiled, pleased with both the compliment and how the booth looked. "Hopefully everyone today will make enough to save the school."
"I hope so, too." Gakuko frowned. "Not to be pessimistic, but what if the fundraiser doesn't do as well as it needs to? What if the academy goes bankrupt and has to close down?"
"Hire tutors and take online lessons, I suppose. Pro. Stardust and some of the others are planning to start virtual classes regardless how this year ends in order to keep their current state of living. I wouldn't imagine they would be against taking on former students in that case."
"Did Pro. Stardust tell you that?"
"No, I overheard her and the other professors talking over tea in the parlor." Miku hugged herself. "As happy as I would be to keep the same teachers, I would be much happier if it didn't come to studying at home."
"Why not transfer?"
"Ours isn't the only academy struggling, you know."
"Yeah, you got a point there." Raising her fists to her chin and nodding, Gakuko looked at Miku and smiled. Determination and confidence oozed from her very being. "Well, we're going to start the fundraiser soon. Let's do our best to save the academy!"
"I'll get a nurse! Or the doctor!" Kaito jumped to his feet and was about to rush out of the room. However, Mew's weak, "Wait," stopped him.
"There's . . . something . . . you should know," Mew said, eyelids closed but fluttering. Wil lurched forward and grasped her fingers. Mew did nothing to hold onto her husband's hand.
"What is it?!" Kaito asked. Wil talked softly to Mew, begging her to hold on and not push herself too hard.
Mew, however, had every intention of pushing herself. "Thorns . . . on the inside," she answered, each word laborious based on hard she breathed. "I . . . -erheard their plans. Fund- . . . trap. They caught me. . . . I . . . Tonio's office, but . . . greenette shot me."
"Honey, calm down. A doctor needs to check on you." Wil pressed the button on Mew's nightstand, sending an emergency signal to the doctor on duty.
Kaito, however, was frozen in place.
"Did you hear what I did?" He could barely get the words out. "Did she say . . . the fundraiser is a trap?"
Staring at his wife, who had fallen again into the realms of the unconscious, Wil said slowly, "That's . . . what it sounded like."
"If Mew's right, and the Thorns are planning to strike—" Kaito cut himself off, the horror spreading from his heart through his limbs and to his fingers and toes. He felt his heart stop. "Miku's at the fundraiser! Wil, I have to go. I need to warn the others."
"I'll send Master Tonio a message," Wil said. "You focus on getting to your girl and pulling her to safety."
Nodding to express his gratitude, Kaito steeled himself and ran out of the room. The fundraiser had just begun. He had to get to Miku before it was too late.
Rin's heart pounded within her small chest. Her eyes flickered back and forth as an announcer walked onto the stage, tapped the mic, welcomed one and all to the fundraiser, and on and on and on. At any second, the Thorn's plan would come into play.
After Master Tonio announced his plan to sell Rin, she had decided in the moment to give all she had left to fight for the Juliets. Upon learning Nana, Cul, and some others were contacted by the Thorns after Gumi's execution, Rin didn't take too long to join. She now knew this was the rebellion Master Tonio worked too hard to squash, enlisting her help in the process. Although she couldn't undo all she had done already, Rin would help avenge Gumi and give her own life for the cause if it was necessary. That was the plan.
Then Miku had to show and unknowingly put herself in danger.
Wasting no time, Rin stalked towards Ia, put her hand on the other Juliet's shoulder to lower her, and whispered in Ia's ear, "When I give the signal – a wave below my hip – you run as fast as you can and as far away as possible. Don't let anyone stop you."
"But Rin," Ia pulled away only a little, color draining from her face, "if I do that, I'll be punished."
"Trust me," Rin said, believing this to be the only time she could say those words and have them be truth, "nobody is going to care enough to punish you."
The speaker was still welcoming the visitors. Rin didn't recognize who it was. Why neither Mistress Prima nor Master Tonio did the honor of opening this fundraiser, Rin didn't know or care.
With none of the guests paying her any attention and the guards not bothering to watch the caged Juliets, Rin had far too easy a time climbing over the fence. She bunched up her skirts, swung one leg over the wood, and swung over the other after the first was planted into the ground. Quiet as a mouse, Rin scurried over to the buffet table and scooped up a fruit knife. It was a sad weapon, but it was better than nothing. Now Rin hoped she wouldn't have to use it.
"What are you doing?"
Rin's blood turned to ice as she shifted her attention towards Master Tonio. He wasted no time grabbing her above the elbow and hauling her away from the crowd. Heartrate erratic, she watched as where she needed to go grew smaller and smaller as she was pulled away.
"What have I told you about misbehaving?!" Master Tonio hissed. "You need to go back, now."
"I can't!" Rin tried not to shout. She looked around to make sure nobody turned their attention towards her and the headmaster. If anyone saw them together, they thought nothing of it. "The Thorns are going to strike!"
Master Tonio dug his fingers so hard into Rin's arm she winced from the pain. "How do you know that?" he demanded.
"I helped," Rin admitted, not caring if she would die for her confession. All she cared about was getting Miku out of harm's way before it was too late. "I don't know how they contacted the Juliets in the school, but some have joined the cause. We had to avenge Gumi, and they told us how we could! And I helped. I'm tired of keeping Juliets from revolting. We're people too and deserved to be treated like it!"
"You stupid, stupid girl!" Master Tonio shook Rin as he spoke. His teeth were bared, and veins on his neck bulged. When he spoke, his words were laced with an anger and malice she had never heard before. "There never was a Juliet rebellion!"
If not for Master Tonio holding her up, Rin would have collapsed from the weight of his words and what they implied. "What?"
"The Thorns were only a cover, a way for the enemy to begin tearing us down from the inside, make us question our own people. They want stupid Juliets like you to take a stand. Even better if you manage to start a civil war!"
Rin used to think she was scared of Master Tonio, especially when she first was sold to the academy. Then he proved himself to be a flawed man who at least treated her as a person and not a thing. Now as he gripped Rin like a tourniquet and hissed at her and stared at her with wild eyes, Rin realized just what it meant to truly fear a man so much bigger and stronger and smarter than she was. Not fear of what he would do to her, but what he would reveal.
The words slipped out before Rin realized she spoke. "How do you know all this?"
"I monitored my wife's messages and communications ever since you downloaded those files from her computer." Master Tonio spoke quickly, as if he understood just as Rin did that they were on borrowed time. "Prima spoke with the enemy, made deals with them. She had a part in this. Not a big one, but enough for the Thorns to infiltrate. I don't think she realized her mistake until Mew was shot."
"But who is the enemy? If not the Thorns, then who?" Rin could barely hear above the blood rushing in her ears. What she thought was a Juliet revolt was truly a guise for something far bigger, and Rin helped them get where they wanted to go.
Master Tonio opened his mouth to respond. His words interrupted caught when his tablet pinged. Probably acting out of habit, he pulled it out from his pocket, and his face paled when he read what it contained.
Blood draining from her face, Rin looked at Ia. The other girl watched Rin intently. Rin gave the signal, and Ia ran. The other Juliets and those nearby watched the Juliet hop over the fence and flee the auditorium. Nobody acted right away. To them, this was just another sad attempt at an escape. The fleeing Juliet would be captured and returned before she even left the room.
Just then, before anything else could be said or done, the bomb Rin had planted herself the night before went off.
Miku felt the vibration to her very bones and stumbled over her own feet. Falling to her backside, Miku snapped her attention to where the explosion shook the entire room. Her immobile heart sank.
Blood and body parts were the first things she noticed. The stage had been totally taken out, and she didn't dare try to find the remains of the speaker. There was an opening now, letting the insulting bright lavender sky and fresh air enter into this madness.
Then girls dressed in black flocked in. There were dozens of them, and they all carried crossbows and swords. Before the first woman could scream, one of the new arrivals shot her crossbow at the woman and watched without expression as the deadweight dropped to the floor.
This is a nightmare, Miku thought. I'm going to wake up soon, and everything will be okay. Any second now, and I'll be back in my warm, safe bed.
"What are you doing?!" Ona snapped as she ran towards Miku. Without breaking her stride, she took Miku by the arm as she passed and yanked the other Cinderella to her feet. They ran to Gakuko, who must have fallen over and hit her head when the room shook, for she lied unconscious in a pile of her paintings.
"Help me carry her," Ona ordered, somehow calm and rational in the chaotic and irrational situation.
People were screaming. Blood was spilled. A lot of people rushed past only to be taken out by arrows.
"What's going on?!" Miku cried as she and Ona hosted Gakuko up.
"We had enemies on the inside, and we were too stupid to see it." Ona spoke with such venom it scared Miku. "Now quit gawking and run."
"What happened?" a semi-conscious Gakuko muttered. She neither joined the girls with running or resisted being carried away. All she did was allow her feet to be dragged on the floor as she slowly dropped her head forward and let it bob from her friends' running motion.
Ona's strategy was to run behind the booths, which seemed to help keep them safe as the armed arrivals chased after those who were out in the open. The screaming wouldn't stop. Miku kept watching as people who tried to escape were attacked and fell to the floor as if they were nothing more than ragdolls.
Guards came to fight back. They were outnumbered at first and quickly fell to the more prepared attackers. More rushed in, but there was no knowing if they were coming fast enough and would be enough to end this massacre.
Miku was going to vomit.
"Ahh!" Ona collapsed to the floor, taking Gakuko with her.
Already fearing the worst, Miku nearly cried when she saw Ona surveying her wound. Ona was shot in the leg. Unless another arrow struck her somewhere more vital, she would live.
Cursing, Ona looked to Miku and ordered, "Just go! Gakuko and I will drag you down!"
"I can't." Miku shook her head so vigorously her tears were flung from her face. "I can't leave you two behind."
"You will if you want to live!"
"MIKU!" Seemingly from nowhere, Rin arrived. She assessed the situation, eyes flickering back and forth between Ona and Gakuko.
"Take Gakuko," Ona said as she pulled a blaster from her dress pocket. "If I can't run, then I'll let the Thorns know that I won't go down without a fight."
Rin processed everything quicker than Miku did. While Miku stood stone still, uncertain of everything, Rin scooped one of Gakuko's arms over her shoulder and ordered Miku do the same. She had to shout at Miku twice for Miku to act.
Working together to carry Gakuko away, Miku and Rin stuck with Ona's plan of hiding behind booths as they fled towards an exit. Rin ordered where to go, confident in her decisions on what paths to take. Unable to help herself, Miku looked back even as she ran forward.
Ona scooted behind a tipped table and began to fire at the black clad girls. Her leg bled rapidly, but Ona didn't seem to notice. All she did was aim, fire, hide, aim, fire, hide.
Swallowing as she turned away, Miku couldn't fight the feeling that it would be the last time she ever saw Ona alive.