Oh my GODD finally I'm back. I'm already editing the December chapters, so hopefully I'm back to posting weeklyy ^^ And if I can't I'm gonna make sure not to break a month in the middle ^^

November. Undercover as the part of yourself you just can't accept p.2

Victor and Garth got down from the bus at East High. Vic stared at the building getting taller as they reached the main gate. "I can't get over how great this school is. You guys actually get prepared for the future."

"Hm, I don't know, I mean. You guys have an Olympic pool. For me that's cool," Garth returned blithely.

"Yeah," Vic conceded. Then he started up again. "But we also have like, three AP class. Murakami's so bad for college prep compared to here."

Garth looked at him. "Hmm. If it bothers you so much, you should consider transferring here."

"My friends are all there," Vic said mildly.

"Sure, but if you really think you'll have a better future somewhere else, you can't rule it out."

Vic said nothing. He could tell the other boy had said it lightly, as a platitude, but now the statement trapped him, because it was an undeniable truth.

They arrived at the gym. The first portion of the big competition day was all about test-running the robots, making them run back and forth picking things up. Victor, Jerry and Thandi watched in pride and relief as it performed as well as it had that day in the bowling alley.

He used the break between the test runs and the obstacle course to roam the halls and picture himself attending this school. On the one hand, if he transferred now and started a path towards an academic-based scholarship, his dad would get all self-satisfied and insufferable; on the other hand, Vic would be better suited to get into a good college and get far away from him. But he couldn't think about this emotionally.

Objectively speaking, he was a guy who'd been in an accident and lost all chance of a sports scholarship; Murakami had been a good enough school if you were on an athletic path, but it was lacking in every other type of college prep. But he had the brains for excelling in other areas. If Vic looked at himself from the outside, he'd tell that guy to transfer. He had always been goal-oriented; it was like him to take the necessary measures to ensure a good future. The Vic he knew would take the plunge. What did he have in Murakami? Only his amazing friends, and he didn't have to lose them. It wouldn't be the same, but he could still see in the afternoons.

Being deep in thought, he only noticed Bee when he practically bumped into her.

"Hi." She had a big smile on her face, planted before him like she was unafraid he might topple her.

"Oh. Hey." Vic took a cautious step back and smiled hesitantly. "Uh, what can I do for you?"

"Have you had a tour of the school yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, a bit."

"Have you seen the computer room? It's really cool."

For this, too, Vic had to separate his emotional side from his rational thoughts. Bee had been rude to him at registration; but then she'd smiled at Jerry and Thandi and backed off about the rules. Maybe she wanted to make amends with him, too. So he decided to allow himself a very pretty girl who wanted to hang out.

"No, I haven't," he said. And off they went. "They call you Bee, right? What's that? Beatrice? Bethany?"

"Karen," she smiled. Then she laughed. "Karen Beecher," she explained. "So how long have you been interested in robotics?"

"Oh, this? It's not really… my thing—no offense." And he stopped there. What he wanted to say was the truth, that he preferred sports, but he never felt like telling people he'd used to be a football star.

"Not your thing? Then how'd you wind up here?"

Vic launched the story he'd decided on with his friends at the start of the week. "I wanted a change. I was looking at clubs to join at the start of the year, and I just went for robotics."

"You're pretty good at something you've never had any interest in before," she said. "What are you? One of those natural geniuses?"

He laughed. "Nah. But my dad's a scientist, so I guess I grew up around this stuff."

"Ah, so it's your dad who helped you write the code?"

Vic stopped walking. "Uh, what?"

Bee was looking at him with her hands on her hips. She was still smiling, but it was dark now, like she'd caught him at something. "Or maybe he got you a special motor? That's a classic move."

"Whoa, why'd you think that? We did all our own work!"

Vic felt himself go red with anger, finally realizing she'd ensnared him and put him on trial. Never mind, he thought. She's not pretty.

"Then how did Jerry and Thandi's prototype suddenly get so much better?"

"Because I helped! Because I'm good at this!"

"Mr. Too Good For Nerd Clubs?" she retorted. "An ex-jock who never had any interest in robotic winds up making vital changes to a robot just in time for a competition?"

Vic's stomach dropped. Ex-jock? Was she cold-reading him—or did she know who he was? Had she been asking around, researching him? And if she knew that, did she know everything else? In any case, he was done with this tour. "Oh yeah?" He spread his arms wide. "Well, I'm half machine myself! I fit in in there better than you, lady!"

And he walked away.

"You think that's clever?" she yelled after him.

"If you really think we're doing something wrong, you should go to the judges, not me!" he returned from across the hallway.

When he rounded the corner she was shouting, "You bet I'm going to file a formal complaint!"

Vic just kept walking, hardly knowing where he was going in the unfamiliar school.

The half-days without Vic had all stretched endlessly for Gar, way more than he thought they would. By Thursday, as he went to lunch without Vic for the sixth time, he was just about holding his breath for this Robotics thing to end.

His best friend being gone didn't just bother him, it had upset the balance in their friend group. Gar and Dick got annoyed at each other more easily, and it took Gar a while to realize it was because there was no Vic to mediate. At Club, no one other than Dick ate Kori's food, which put him and Raven into a more vulnerable position.

Also, the girls had taken to splitting off from them and eating lunch outside, leaving him with just Dick in the cafeteria. And Gar had come to the unfortunate realization that Dick was rather boring without Kori there to mess him up a little.

That day, he decide to shake things up and followed Kori when she left the cafeteria with her tray.

"Kori!" he called out to her retreating form.

She stopped cold before she turned to him. "Where are you going?"

"I'm having lunch with you guys!" Gar grinned.

Kori didn't react like he expected her to. "Um…" she faltered.

"What is it?" asked Gar, smile dropping.

"Would not you rather go with Dick?"

Gar blinked at her. "…Oh, I get it. You're scared for Dick and I's friendship! It's okay, look—I know things are weird without Vic, but some distance will do us good! And some sunshine will do me good!"

And he walked out. Kori followed after a moment.

Raven frowned when the two of them sat down next to her. "What's going on?" she asked, mostly at Kori.

"Gar shall be spending lunch hour with us instead," Kori said, apologetically.

"Why?" Raven asked.

"Why not?" he returned. He looked from Raven's pissed expression to Kori's reluctant one. "Hey, what's going on with you guys?"

"Nothing," said Raven, turning to glare at the distance instead.

"Nothing," affirmed Kori. "Please have lunch with us, Gar."

But he caught them giving less than enthusiastic glances to each other as they all ate. "Hey, I didn't fight with Dick or anything."

Kori made the effort to smile. "Good."

"Yeah," went Raven.

"Okay, what is it?" Gar asked, putting down his carrot sticks. "Why don't you want me here?"

"It is not that, friend." Kori sounded guilty.

"It is, actually," said Raven.

"I'm getting that, but why?" demanded Gar.

And Raven couldn't answer him. So they were back to square one.

Gar remained baffled a few minutes longer. Eventually, Garth Rivers came out of the pool building. The brunette noticed Kori and Raven and said, "Hey, guys!"

The girls waved back, smiling.

Gar looked at Garth –his hair wet and glistening, his shirt sticking to his chest like he hadn't dried himself all the way, smiling and generally looking like a high school Neptune coming out of a chlorine-saturated sea-, then looked at the girls –all smily and blushy, and quickly focusing back on their food and avoiding Gar's eyes as soon as Garth went out of sight.

"Oh," Gar made out. "Oh!" he repeated. "…Are you serious!?"

"Shut up," Raven muttered.

"You guys didn't want me to be here because you ogle at Water Boy when he comes out of practice!?"

"Gar, it is not that." Kori put a hand on his shoulder. "We only preferred to look at him than be accompanied by you," she said.

Her tone told Gar she'd meant to say something reassuring, and instead that had come out.

Raven, who looked like she'd been gearing up to say something to diffuse the situation, could only freeze when Kori said that. Kori herself seemed to realize what she'd actually said, and leaned back, and looked to the distance in mortification. Neither she nor Raven seemed to know what to say to fix things.

Gar looked from one to another. In light of things, the only thing to do was stand and leave with his lunch. Kori called after him to come back. He noticed that Raven didn't.

Gar didn't see any of his friends for the rest of the day, and waded through the school day with even less enthusiasm than usual. When the day was over, he stopped before the clubroom door to text Vic, where he felt a soft nudge on the center of his back.

He looked up. It was Raven. "I'm sorry about earlier," she told him. She sounded austere but sincere, as was her way.

"Huh?" he laughed. "What happened earlier?"

Raven looked at him. Just looked at him. She waited until his ridiculous grin dropped, and only then went on with the apology. "All Kori meant was that the three of us hang out all the time, but there's only one moment in the day to see Garth come out of practice. We're sorry, we didn't mean to ice you out."

Her eyes were focused on him as she spoke, and Gar wondered why he felt like he was buzzing. The apology was good, but Raven staring at him to make sure it landed well and that he was soothed was the best. How long had it been since Raven looked at him squarely, without fear, and talked to him all calm like she used to? Should he get angry at her more often?

He had to look slightly up; she was still taller than him. Lately she'd been doing something different with her makeup –Gar couldn't begin to describe it. He had no idea how makeup worked, but her eyes looked prettier than usual- but it was her gaze that was elevating. Her eyes were calming like water herself; did she see that in Garth? Did she like him because she thought he was like her in that way? The guy was fake deep, he was sure of it. Why did looks get you so far in life? But right now, he had her full attention. He had the sense he had to lap it up, do something important with it. But he never knew quite what to do.

He made a "Hm," sound, as if to stifle all the thoughts that had toppled over in his brain in such a short time. He considered her for a second, then threw his arms around her in a way that trapped her arms to her waist. "Soo are you guys in looove with Water boy? Are you both gonna marry him? Are you gonna have little swimming babies?"

"I regret everything," Raven said, wrangling out of his hold.

Raven hadn't quite managed to shove him off by the time they walked into the clubroom. On the other side was Kori, who jumped when she saw Gar. "Gar, I am sorry. Did Raven tell you I'm sorry?"

She jumped to hug him, and so also trapped Raven in the hug.

"Yeah, Kori. It's fine," Gar smiled.

"Ugh!" went Raven as she finally managed to escape the embrace. She went to the other side of the room and left the other two to hug it out to their hearts' content.

Dick had looked up when the hugs had begun and smiled at them all without asking any questions.

There was a knock on the door, then a boy came in without waiting for a response.

"This the Project club?" he asked, and closed the door with a careless bang. "Name's Grant. Grant Private."

He was tall, wide and muscled, with sternly cropped blond hair, pale skin, and rosy cheeks that clashed with everything else he had going on.

"How can we help you, Grant?" asked Dick, sitting at the table, slipping into leader mode.

Grant put both his hands on the table in front of Dick. "I'm gonna help you. I'm new in school, I wanna join the prestigious Club that made it to the news, and it seems you're short on the big kid." He smiled, showing perfect teeth. "I can be the new big kid."

"Vic's coming back, though," Gar called out.

"Well, whatever. Still." Grant walked around, looking through the room, picking up at the boxes of decoy files Dick had been meaning to get rid of.

"Why'd you wanna join?" Dick asked, cutting to the chase.

"I love the idea you had. Going out, chasing bad guys… I want in."

Dick was unimpressed. He sought Kori's eyes, and even she looked unsure. Dick looked at Raven and Gar next. Gar shook his head while Grant's back was turned.

Raven shrugged and said, "Just, let him go through the test and we'll see."

"Test?" Grant turned on Raven. "Is that some kind of code?"

Raven was unsettled. "No. Everyone at the start of the year did a test to see if they could join."

Grant went to where Raven was standing, and leaned in unnecessarily close. "You're not lying to me, are you, little girl?"

Raven's stomach dropped, but she refused to shrink back.

"Hey!" Dick shouted at him. He stood at the same time Gar and Kori preemptively jumped to Raven's side. "With that shitty attitude you're never gonna get in this team. Chill out."

Grant was glowering at Raven, who hadn't broken the gaze. "Don't bother," he spat out. "I see you branded me as soon as I walked through the door."

He walked out, kicking a chair on the way out, and slammed the door.

Gar stared from the door to Kori who'd moved to hold Raven's arm. "What the hell was his problem?"

Halfway through the obstacle course, Victor figured that if Bee had really reported him, nothing had come out of it, seeing as he was still there actively competing. For their fourth round, they were paired up against East High, where Vic and Bee glared at each other as they were announced.

It's Bee for Beelzebub, he thought.

Vic had told Thandi and Jerry the whole story, and though Thandi wisely held Vic's arm as they came within earshot of the rival school on their way to their spots, Vic still called out to Bee, "So? Did you report me?"

She replied, "Of course I did. I said I would. They said I didn't have proof, and it's true, I don't." She shrugged, smiling, and her eyes shone like she'd never doubted she was wrong a day in her life. "We'll have to wait and see."

Vic left it at that, because then the obstacle course started. Through the event, Tutankhamun ran into trouble: he still had a problem with sharp corners, where if he bumped against something he was left feinting in place, unable to walk on. Vic, Jerry and Thandi met the robot where it had stopped and reworked the code to let it move on.

Bee slipped away from Vic's mind during the course. The next time he remembered to glare at her, he found no venom from her returned gaze. He wondered what had made her look at him differently, and then it hit him: they had never been pitted against each other in competition yet. This was the first time she saw him in action.

Perhaps, he thought in self-satisfaction, he had fixed her perception of him without even trying.

After lunch, Victor set out to roam the other half of the school he had yet to explore. He turned a corner and saw Garth walking towards him, deep in conversation with Bee of all people. Vic froze and tried to sneak away.

"Hey, Vic!" called Garth.

Vic reluctantly came back. "Heey."

Bee was smiling as they got to him. "Garth tells me you may be joining our school?" she asked. And at Vic's surprised face, she nodded at Garth. "He was my friend first."

"Uh. Yeah, I might," said Vic. He tried to see through her smile, because she'd used those to attack before. He wondered if they were playing nice for Garth's sake or if she had really changed her mind about him.

Garth, innocent Garth, was looking between them, until the confusion on his face gave way to realization. "Oh, that's right. You know each other from the robotics competition."

Bee said, "Oh, yes. I extensively accused Vic here of cheating his way into it. Possibly through it."

Her directness made Vic smile. It looked like they were friends, then. "And I strongly defended myself from Bee here."

Garth furrowed his eyebrows at them. "No kidding?" he replied, not knowing what to make of the interaction.

Bee nodded. "Yep. You see, I saw a new contestant in a competition I've loved and championed for years, and suddenly his team's robot is a lot better–suspiciously better- overnight, and well, wouldn't you suspect something else is afoot?"

Garth let out a, "Um…"

Vic answered instead. "Maybe I would. But I wouldn't go around accusing people of things I can't prove."

"Well, maybe if you'd seen so many people cheat their way through a competition that's supposed to be about sportsmanship and self-reliance just to get the college credit, you would," responded Bee.

Vic acknowledged this with a nod. "Huh. Is that so?"

Bee nodded soberly. "It's a real problem."

Garth looked at them as if trying to gauge if they were done. Then he said, "Okay? Um, Bee and I were gonna go to the pool, so…"

Vic looked at Bee. She was still smiling at him. Now he thought he could trust it.

He smiled back. "Let's go."

By the side of the pool, while Garth swam his heart out, Vic emptied the contents of his bag. He produced a spare DC motor and taped it to the plastic cup he'd gotten from the hallway water dispenser. He connected sensors to four pencils –its legs-, and cranked his laptop open. Under Bee's attentive eye, he wrote a simple code for the robot to walk forward. He activated it and they watched the little cup-bodied creature take tentative steps. Then he turned it off.

"There you go," he told her. "See, I'm not a sham. And I'm not a genius either. I did pick up stuff growing up with my dad, so this stuff probably comes easier to me than others. But I'm definitely not cheating. Happy now?"

Her eyes snapped up. "Happy? 'Course I'm not happy. I gotta go tell my mentor you're not cheating, you're just that good. You ruined my whole day." She said all this with a teasing smile.

Vic chuckled.

Garth arrived to their end of the pool and came up for air. "So? Did he do it? Is he out of the doghouse?"

"He is," said Bee.

"Cool!" Garth sunk backwards into the water again.

For a while, the only sound was the splash of water of a lone swimmer. In his school's short course pool, Garth did 125 yards for each repeat instead of the usual 100 to make up for the resting time he got in each turn.

"So what's the rest of the story?" Bee asked.

Vic rose an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"You're in a competition for a club you don't belong to, for something you claim not to be interested in… What's your motivation here?"

"I was helping out those other two," Vic explained. "You heard them, they needed three people to compete."

She narrowed her eyes. "Soo you're just a saint."

"It was a… request." Vic couldn't bring himself to say 'mission'. "It's kind of a long story."

Bee stretched out her legs, as if to say 'I'm comfy, tell the story'.

Vic sighed. "I'm really in another club. The Project Club. My friends and I… decided to dedicate it to helping people."

Bee cocked her head. "Helping them… academically, or…?"

"Helping them in any way, really. We're still settling what concerns us and what doesn't."

"Hold on," she said, almost angrily, kicking the floor with her foot. "Project Club? You're the guys who wrecked that fake charity last year?"

Vic scratched his neck. "I didn't know if it had been a big deal outside our school," he muttered. "But anyhow, yeah, I was just here so Jerry and Thandi could qualify. I was supposed to be the dead weight. My friends and I decided I'd do it because I'm good at computers. I guess I was too good. Made myself a target to you."

Bee shook her head. "I still can't believe I'm talking to one of the Teen Titans," she said, evidencing Vic hadn't managed to distract her.

"Please don't," he laughed. "That name never stuck. Don't try to make it a thing. If you have to refer to us as anything, call us the Five."

That was what people in their school had started referring to them as. Which had set Dick's mind at ease when it happened. They all agreed it was much more elegant, besides patently accurate.

"Why'd you do it?" Bee asked.

"It's hard to explain," Vic said after a while. "I think I never would have done anything like it if my friends hadn't thought of it. But my life changed so much last year…" he trailed off, staring at his hands. He looked up. Bee was watching him with patience. It was time to decide whether to open up. He extended one arm. "This is recent. All the prosthetics, the whole shebang. I was in an accident over a year ago."

"Wait, you don't have to tell me that if you don't want to," Bee interjected. "I didn't realize it got so personal."

"It's fine," Vic said. But it had, in fact, kind of gotten overwhelming. He chose to focus on Garth. "Does he need to breathe?" he quipped.

"I feel like he needs to soak more than he needs to be on land sometimes," she replied, readily following his cue to lighten the subject.

Vic breathed and tried again. "I used to be a football player. Then when this happened, I couldn't do football anymore, because they told me I'd have an unfair advantage. My own friends told me they'd rather lose me than have others question the team in any way. But in the Project club…" he smiled wistfully. "We're just going out and solving problems. And there's no one pointing fingers if I go above and beyond. There's no fair play. I used to love this… this spirit of fairness in the game field. How everyone was the same and had to follow the same rules. But even that's only illusory, right? I mean, everyone has different capabilities. And when some of them are against the rules, that has less to do with the advantages themselves and more with the people who have them. But when me and my friends are out there getting some mission done, there are no rules. Anything goes. Using what makes you unique to get an edge isn't bad sportsmanship, it's required. It's your responsibility. And I haven't felt so free in a really long time."

Bee looked at him with a pensive smile for a moment longer, as if to see if he was inspired to say more. When she considered he was done, she said, "And that's why you would never transfer here."

She'd realized it before him. But she was right. He chuckled back. "What other school has a club like that?"

Garth got out of the pool. "I tried doing mid-pool crossovers. Did you see it?"

Bee stood. "I didn't, but good job." She looked back at Vic. "You got yourself a nice life project, Sparky. Keep it up."

Sparky? he thought, as Bee walked out. Garth blithely gave him a thumbs up before he left for the locker rooms. Vic shook his head and set to leave the pool area as well.

As he approached the door, Jerry burst it open from the other side. The shock seeing of his angry face when Vic was still thinking of Bee's beautiful smile sent him reeling.

"Ah! Fuck!" he went.

"Consorting with the enemy? Really?" Jerry demanded.

"Whoa, man, I wasn't consorting! Watch your mouth!"

Jerry actually got on his tiptoes to grab Vic by the ear. "That girl already reported you once! What if you gave her more ammo!?"

Vic had to choose between reacting to the gall of this boy pulling him by the ear or his accusations. What he ended up saying was, "You got it all wrong—we're friends now!", his baffled voice echoing back to him as he was led away from the pool area.

Dick, Gar, Raven and Kori waded through the bleachers of East High's gym.

"Okay, I can see why Vic fell for this school," Raven said as they got to their seats. "This gym could eat our gym."

"So what's the deal here?" asked Gar. "These robots fight to the death or what?"

"Vic said it was like a match," Dick said. "Like a one-on-one soccer game where the robot who scores more goals wins."

"Oh, I think he saw us!" Kori said.

Victor had looked at the audience, done a double take, and now was raising his arm high at them. His four friends waved back.

"Aww. Those guys," Vic said to himself down on the field, feeling himself blush.

When the final match came down to Murakami versus East High, Vic found he didn't care about winning against Bee anymore. But the improvements they had done for the robot since Vic's stint did their trick. Jerry and Thandi celebrated their winning so willfully after the robot scored the winning goal, it reminded Vic of why they had taken this mission.

He leaned in towards Bee when they were standing side by side for the awards ceremony. "Sorry I had to beat you at your own game."

She looked up at him with a smirk. "I'm good at a lot of things. I'll live."

His friends came down to meet him after the end of the event.

Kori hugged Vic when she saw him. Raven told him she'd filmed the competition, to which Gar teased her about being obsessed with her phone lately. Dick said, "You were amazing, Vic. I didn't wanna put pressure on you by telling you before, but Blood may or may not have taken retaliations if you didn't win this for the school."

"This the rest of the Hero Project?" Bee asked.

"Come meet them," Vic told her.

As Vic made introductions, Garth, who had come down to congratulate Bee, tapped Dick on the shoulder. "Hey, Dick… you don't remember me, do you?" he asked.

Dick panicked, because he didn't, at all. "Uh," he went. "I knew a Garth once, in primary school…" He'd said that just to gain time: the Garth he'd known was a skinny, frail kid, with scraggly hair, greyish skin, and eyes perpetually open wide in an anxious expression that set you on edge too. But then this Garth smiled, as if to say he was on the right track, and Dick saw an old friend in his features. "…No way. Garth? You got… so tall!"

Gar was dismayed to see that while Garth talked to Dick, Raven and Kori kept staring at Garth.

Then he turned to Bee, Vic's new friend he was definitely going to tease him about later, and noticed she seemed unaffected. "You're not gonna go gaga over that one too?" he asked her.

"Me? Oh, no," said Bee. "Garth is… a shock thing. I go to school with him every day. His effect wears off."

"Really?" asked Gar, perking up. "You promise?"

Bee smiled. "It's just the wet hair thing. And the tall thing."

"And the deep soulful eyes thing?" added Gar.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "It passes. Trust me. When you know him as well as me, you get tired of it in no time. He's… not exactlyeasy to be around."

Now he was really interested. "Like how?"

Bee looked around and then leaned down towards him. "For starters? He has a hair and skin routine to rival mine," she said, giddily.

Gar was over the moon with that information. "Tell me more!"

As they packed up the robot, Dick told Vic, semi-sarcastically, "Well, at least now you can quit this thing that was boring and lame."

Vic smiled at him. "Don't be like that, Dick. This was fun and I was really good at it."

End of November.

I just find it funny how Aqualad's attractiveness has been portrayed to opposite extremes in his publication history, from how he was the awkward comic relief in the 60s comics (and then allowed to progressively grow into a conventionally attractive, more capable hero), to how the 2003 cartoon did what the hell they wanted as per usual and just introduced him as a PG-rated sex symbol. So I bridged both extremes here and blamed puberty. His child version is based on how Amy Wolfram's Teen Titans: Year 1 revisited and exaggerated his 1960's status, and his teen version is himself in the cartoon.

Also, new antagonist has joined us! No he's not an OC ^^

On to some replies!

krumelmonster: BOY HAVE I GOT BAD NEWS FOR YOU. Ahem. But seriously, yes we're gonna have some hurdles on the way to the OTP. Like, just when you think it's over and they're in for their happy ending, another thing's gonna come. And then another. Until the happy ending, which DOES come. But before all that: yes we're gonna see Terra this year, yes she's gonna have a thing with Gar, and yes we're gonna see Rae suffer about it. And then we're gonna have Malchior next year, and it's gonna be Gar's turn to suffer! (Also, remember I *AM* BBRae shippers too :D Doesn't mean I'm not gonna put us through a little hell :D) Thank you for reading and reviewing!^^

Alonsuias: Thank youu! We're gonna see plenty of what Jenny does to figure something out about the club! Halloween is gonna be a running gag for this series, and you'll see why Jump City doesn't do Halloween in Year 3. But the why is less important than what Gar's gonna do about it. ^^

PenJunior: Lol I wouldn't ever have known you subbed to the wrong fic if you hadn't told me, the way this website sends me or doesn't send me email notifications is so erratic. But anyway, you're here now! Welcome, friend! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! And thank you for rereading Year 1! I'm glad you're willing to tell me how the pacing's awkward to you, it really helps me see the story from the outside. Keep in mind though that a lot of the time I *want* the pacing to be snappy, especially in earlier chapters, where I'm setting up a lot of stuff that will come back later.

I'm so glad you feel my OC's blend into the world! That's all I want for them! Yes this Year has some OC's, as before, but also some well-known and some obscure minor characters from the comics, so I hope it's interesting to you, to see if you can tell the difference!

I'm OBSESSED with 'schools full of weird' as a setting. And like you're about to see, the concept's gonna spread to more than Murakami! :D As for Adonis—just like in last series, you're being extremely clairvoyant about what I have in mind for Adonis, although that particular subplot is gonna have to wait for next year. :D Thank you so much for your long, thought out reviews that I always enjoy! ^^ (I'll be in your PM's to reply your other reviews, or this would just be us talking)

And finally for that one Guest: Acá estoy corazón, no desesperes T_T

Next up: December: Alien territory. (The focus character of next month is exactly who you'd think from the title ^^)