On the roof of Midgar Academy two students are standing facing each other. It is the beginning of summer. One is a silver-haired girl, the other an ordinary black-haired boy.

"This incident has been resolved, superficially at least, but I feel like something is going on behind the scenes," the girl says. "Iris is preparing to deploy a special squad, and I plan to help her. So this is the beginning."

"Everything in moderation," adds the boy.

""Which means you been cleared of suspicion. I've really dragged you into all this trouble."

"Do not worry about it."

A gust of wind passes through the two of them, slightly lifting the girl's skirt and revealing her white legs.

"It's hot as hell out here. Can we go inside?"

The midday sun covers them, two shadows are cast from their feet. They can both hear the loud song of cicadas in the distance.

"Wait. There are two things I have to tell you."

"Here?"

"Here," she confirms, squinting up at the blue sky. First, "I want to thank you. You said you liked my sword, right? Well, I know it's late, but I really appreciate it."

"It's not important."

"I has come to like my swordsmanship. Not that I attribute this development to you."

"Was it necessary to say that last part?"

"It's the truth"

They both look into each other's eyes. The boy called is the first to look away.

"Anyway. If you've learned to like your swordsmanship, that sounds good to me."

"Yeah, I really like it," the girl smiled.

"So what's the second thing?"

"We have pretended to be dating until now, but the instructor Zenón died in the accident."

"Which means I'm released from my duties."

Cid snorted as if he had gotten rid of a weight.

"But I have a proposal." The girl herself looked a little uncomfortable as she chose the right words. "If you don't mind we can…" Alexia looked down as she nervously twirled her hair with her finger, "continue this a bit more. What do you say?

Alexia mustered a peculiar courage to say that. However, Cid was lost in his thoughts.

(How long am I going to have to put up with this? I should ask Alpha to give me another burger. Oh, that's right. I owe her one. Well, let's forget about that, the first thing is to get some money)

Then Cid realized that Alexia was looking at him out of the corner of her eye as if waiting for something.

She had a flushed face and after a moment her red eyes settled on Cid's black ones. Alexia spoke again, and this time Cid heard her.

"What do you say?"

(What are you saying about what?! I haven't been listening to you at all!)

Cid wanted to answer, however, he kep it inside

"Yes what sea."

Cid didn't expect at the time that what Alexia was asking him would be such a pain in the ass that it would almost ruin the facade of her as a Mob.

Alexia seemed to change into a surprisingly feminine face for her and with an even bigger blush than before she approached Cid and gave him a kiss on the cheek before running away.

Cid stood still as a statue, his eyes wide.

As Alexia disappeared from her sight, Cid placed her hand on her cheek, still feeling the soft touch of Alexia's lips. However, for him, there was nothing to celebrate.

"Since when have I gone back to the romantic comedy route!"

He screamed to himself as he surrendered to an invisible pressure, his hands and knees touching the ground as he sank into the misery and future trouble that he would cause if he hadn't paid attention to the conversation with Alexia.

"Why I'm so unlucky!" he lamented.

That day the rumor was born that sometimes you could hear the lament of a soul in pain. Some superstitious students wanted to make him a school mystery; however, the most sagacious prevented him. And at the end of the day the six mysteries remained.

XxX

That same day a small, pink-haired girl was walking, or rather trying to walk, through the streets of Midgar Academy while carrying a large number of books in her little arms. Her name was Sherry Barnett and she had been selected for the investigation of the artifact found in the ruins of the Order of Diabolos facility.

Sherry was swaying from left to right trying to balance all the books she was carrying, then there was a boom and she and her books fell to the ground as they collided with someone.

The person she bumped into was a black-haired boy, and who at the moment seemed pale.

"I'm sorry," she said, offering him her hand.

Sherry blushed. Not that she had fallen in love at first sight, but the setting she was in was typical of light novels. She accepted the boy's hand as he helped her up and then picked up Sherry's books.

"Sorry, I wasn't aware of my surroundings," the boy said.

"Nope. It's my fault. I couldn't see the way," Sherry apologized, waving her hands nervously.

"Then it's a mistake for both of us.

With those last words, the boy walked away in the opposite direction of Sherry, who stayed watching him until he was out of sight.

XxX

The boy was Cid, and the reason why he had bumped into Sherry was because his mind still hadn't processed the terrible mistake he had made.

Now he really had screwed up. How he could get rid of Alexia without causing a stir. He was almost trash among the nobles, which she was grateful for, for as an eminence in the shadows, it was imperative that his facade be as unimpressive as possible. But Alexia was the second princess and from how the rumors were going she was dating a lower echelon noble of hers and who had probably cajoled her.

(Is everyone in this kingdom blind? They can't see that Alexia has everything but the qualities of a princess)

That thought was the work of the idealization of Cid as an eminence in the shadows, for him the princesses are key characters who, with their gentle nature, should guide the main character. But in the case of Alexia, she seemed to be the villain behind the bad events that the protagonist goes through.

Knowing that he was in a position where he couldn't go to Alexia and say, "Hey Alexia, I wasn't listening to you, I really don't care about you at all" without ending up being targeted by the other students and possibly suffering the anger of the royal family for such humiliation.

And all of that would bring trouble to his façade as a Mob and to his family.

Cid got to his room, opened the door and then kicked it shut, then threw himself headfirst into bed thinking about how he could make Alexia leave him.

XxX

Meanwhile, Iris Midgar watched as her little sister seemed to be in a very good mood to the point where she didn't complain to any of her suggestions. Iris wondered if something good had happened to Alexia.