"It's so boring up here on weekends!" Lovino complained, "There's virtually nothing to do!"

"You mean, besides go and watch St Spica's show-jumping team practice, study, play a game on the football pitch, make tea, go for a walk in the greenhouse, or attend the next meeting of the baking club?" Antonio responded cheekily, throwing a pillow at his room-mate.

"I don't feel like doing any those things," the boy scoffed, "And the baking club's meeting isn't until twelve!"

"Well, stay in our room and be bored if you want, but I'm gonna go look for something fun to do," Antonio decided, slipping on a battered pair of trainers, and grabbing his room key as he went off to explore Astraea Hill.

Seeing as Astraea Hill was a good ten miles from civilisation, and that there were no bus stations anywhere nearby where the students could hitch a lift to the nearest town, everyone was always stuck at school at the weekends, unless they had to go somewhere because of their club. And right now, Antonio didn't feel like forking out for a cab, seeing as he a.) Didn't have the money and b.) Didn't know exactly where it was that he wanted to go.

"Toni! Hey!"

"Oh, hi Sadik!" Antonio replied, catching his new friend in the common room, "Up to much?"

"Just waiting for a few friends," Sadik told him, "Feliciano suggested that we all get together and play hide-and-seek, since we've got nothing else to do right now."

Feliciano...Antonio hadn't heard that name in any of his classes...

"Bonjour!"

"Yo!"

"Ciao!"

Three boys came into the common room, one blond, one bespectacled, and one with a curl, like Lovino's.

"These are my friends, Francis, Alfred, and Feliciano," Sadik informed Antonio, "Feliciano and Francis are from St Spica's, and Alfred is from St Lulim's."

The blonde spoke first. "Ah, who's the new one?"

"My name's Antonio," Antonio said, "I just transferred to St Miator's."

The bespectacled boy spoke up next. "Welcome to Astraea Hill!"

And lastly, the boy with the curl said, "So, you wanna play hide-and-seek with us?"

With nothing else to do, Antonio accepted the invitation. Sure, it seemed really odd to be playing hide-and-seek when he was fourteen years old, but it wasn't like he had anything better to do, and besides, here he had the perfect opportunity to make some friends apart from grumpy Lovino.

"Hey! Afonso, you wanna join in?" Sadik asked, noticing the student council president of St Miator's sat in a corner.

"I haven't got any duties to attend to right now, so I might as well," he agreed.

"One, two, three..."

Everyone scattered quickly as Feliciano began counting. Now, where could Antonio hide? It looked like most of the spots in the common room and on the stairs were taken...

Antonio stumbled across an empty room at the end of the hallway...It was clear that it didn't currently belong to anyone, since its number appeared to have been hastily scraped off long ago. It was the perfect place to hide!

He giggled to himself as he opened and closed the door quietly...Surely Feliciano would never find him here!

He took note of just how bare the little room was as he searched for the best possible hiding spot; all of the books were gone from the shelves, and the bed had been stripped, leaving nothing but the mattress, which still had hollow imprints from the person who last slept in it. The curtains were drawn, and on closer inspection, it looked like someone had attempted to brick up the window...

But there was a pendant, identical to Arthur's, save for it being red and not blue hanging from a chair at the desk. And on the desk, there was a cold cup of tea, and a picture, of Arthur sat with another boy...

There was little time to contemplate who that boy might have been, as footsteps, along with Feliciano's cries of, "Sadik, Alfred, I found you!" could be heard outside the door. So Antonio dived under the bed frame, and held his breath...

But the boy who came into the room clearly wasn't Feliciano; he had the wrong outfit on, for starters...Hey, it was a weekend, so why was the mystery person wearing his St Miator uniform? And...

That blue pendant...

Arthur! Maybe he had to clean out this room to make way for a new student?

Arthur pulled out the chair at the desk...And wept.

That was it.

He sat there, for God knows how long, just weeping quietly at the desk. But the weak nature of his sobs suggested that the thing he happened to be upset about wasn't new; he didn't seem at all angry, or in denial about it, whatever this thing was, he'd long ago accepted it. But it was tearing him apart from the inside, and the despairing wails he let out every now and again were definite proof of that.

Arthur eventually left, completely unaware of Antonio's presence.

The next people to find the room were Feliciano, and Afonso, thankfully.

"Antonio, I found you!" Feliciano cried, yanking Antonio out from under the bed.

"Ok, you got me," Antonio agreed, graciously accepting his defeat.

"He picked a great hiding spot, right, Afonso?" Feliciano asked, jostling the other boy, "I'd never have thought to hide in this room!"

"He sure did," Afonso grunted, "Feliciano, go and find the others. Antonio and I will stay here for a moment."

Feliciano agreed happily, and ran from the room.

Afonso glared at Antonio, as though he had violated sacred ground. "Antonio, I presume that Arthur hasn't told you about this room?" he enquired sternly.

"N-no, why?"

The boy shook his head. "How were you to know what happened here? Listen, I will let you off just this once, seeing as you didn't know that this room is off limits, but from now on, you are never to enter this room. Is that clear?" Afonso warned.

"Y-yes," Antonio replied.

This forbidden room, and the way Arthur wept at the desk...What terrible story could have unfolded here?