(A/N: I'm so sorry for neglecting FFN! I've updated a bit more regularly on AO3 but I completely forgot to add Ch 10 to FFN. I also failed to see the kind review a reader left; thank you very much for your kind words! I appreciate it :) I'll be sure to remember to crosspost in future.)

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"So, we seem to be quite literally stuck in here..." A heavy sigh comes from Gakupo.

Can't be blamed for making an attempt at escaping before actually solving the problem, right? We've been pushing with all our might at the bookshelf that knocked us on our asses, but it still isn't budging.

"Yep. And here I thought I'd seen it all already," I laugh lightly, though a hint of bitterness remains. The most logical thing to do would be approaching that suspicious floating book, but then again, it could still be a cruel trap set up by some other Mahogany or Oak Valley student.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He raises a brow at me, pacing slowly over to the pedestal.

"Hold up, don't go touching that..." I ignore his question, pacing after him instead. His naivety is kind of surprising, but also kind of irritating. Just as he's about to run his fingertips over the damn thing, I slap his hand away.

"Ow-!" His face twists into a grimace, recoiling and stroking at the back of his hand. "What else am I supposed to do? This book could tell us how to get out."

I pinch at the bridge of my nose with my finger and thumb, resisting the urge to groan. "Why did I ever think we'd be able to work together?" I thought he may have been smarter than me, or at the very least, better at solving problems and able figure out the secrets of this mysterious book. It's kind of a given for me to be at a loss here, but this guy is on a whole other level of incompetence.

"You need to think this through. Really use that brain of yours," Gakupo says, resting a hand on his hip. "That's if you even have one..."

"Oi, I heard that!" I huff. Dude thinks he can get away with mumbling things under his breath without me hearing. No chance. That remark of his makes me wonder if this is one big prank or not after all. "You're just fucking with me, aren't you? I actually thought this was legit, too. Wow. You Mahogany Creek kids are good at acting, I'll give you that. Those girls are in on this with you, I just know it."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not acting!" He lets out a tut, turning his back to me. Although a moment later, he glances over his shoulder at me, expression dropping to one of confusion. "Wait, what girls?"

"Y'know, those ones with the matching necklaces. Your year group's second team," I answer. "That's what I meant when I said, 'I thought I'd seen it all already'. Their strange necklaces sure were enough to creep me out, but this apparent hidden library takes the cake..."

Gakupo simply narrows his eyes at me as I go on. "Is that why you were yelling at them earlier…?" he bluntly asks. Wait, did he just admit he's been following me around?

"Wh-?" I choke on my words, unable to get anything out. There are far too many responses circling round in my mind to that absurd revelation he made. "You're seriously obsessed with me. Why have you been stalking me?"

"Obsessed?" he repeats, and even though I expect him to snap back at me, he lets out a cool, composed laugh. "I was simply trying to catch you in the act of cheating. Sneaking around school when everyone else is supposed to be in their designated classrooms for the Talent Trials is pretty suspicious, in case you weren't aware."

Oh, the irony is astounding. "I'd hardly call it sneaking around," I scoff. "And for your information, I was trying to catch your buddies and expose their cheating. In case you weren't aware, there's some sort of cheating going on in these events… Ya know, the ones where your group stole our ideas?"

"For the last time, we haven't stolen anything," he speaks through gritted teeth, as though he's on the verge of losing his patience. "You know what? You were right. There's no possible way we can work together." With a huff, he plops himself down onto the floor and crosses his legs, back leaning against the pedestal.

Narrowing my eyes at him rather sharply, I demand to know what he's doing. "What are you-…? Hey, we can't just sit around here…! I hate working with you just as much as you hate working with me, but there's no way I'm giving in so easily."

"Yeah, so how about you try moving that bookshelf again?" comes his rhetorical snort, as he folds his arms over his chest. "Clearly we're the victims of a prank here. I'm going to wait until they get bored and let us out."

Well, I have no idea how to do this alone, so perhaps I have to play along just a little longer with this purple-headed demon. Taking a few light steps forward, I set myself down a small distance away from him against the pedestal. Pulling my knees to my chest, I run a hand through my hair with a sigh. "Fine. You wanna be stubborn and sit around like an idiot? That's great. But don't start complaining when you realise this is a dumb idea. We'll stay here all fuckin' night if that's what you want so badly."

So much for making an attempt to work together. It's impossible. Some people believe in the idea of soulmates – that when you're born into this world, the red string of fate ties you to someone else, no matter where that person may be. Everybody knows the concept of soulmates. Destined to be together, to fall in love and live happily ever after. Yeah, well this Gakupo and I are the opposite of that. Some sadistic being put this bastard on this earth and tied me to him with a yellow-green string, to signify that we have been destined to cross paths all along and fall into a harsh rivalry. I wouldn't be falling for that nonsense if the universe didn't constantly put us together in these awful situations.

And so, we sit in silence. There's a faint humming resonating from the supposed 'floating' book, and that soon becomes deafening the longer I stay here. It's slowly becoming more and more irritating; I'm about to get up, until Gakupo finally says something, which stops me short of jumping up.

"Why is it we can't get along, anyway…?" At first, it sounds more like he's thinking out loud, rather than asking me directly. In fact, it's an odd question to take in, so I'm not really sure how to respond for a few moments. He lets out a heavy sigh, turning his head to stare off at the bookshelves and avoiding eye contact. His tone is strangely sincere, and I'm left wondering whether this is genuine or yet another prank.

Being cautious and slightly defensive in my answer, I speak. "Because you've made no efforts at all to be nice to me and my friends. We've done everything we can to try, but you continue to bully us and invade our personal space as if you've been here longer than us." My tone remains calm, as I find it useless to raise my voice at this point. That doesn't mean I still don't have irritation burning away inside me.

"Don't act like you haven't been hostile towards us as well," he tuts. "I figured you Oak Valley kids despised us, so why should I have made any efforts if you didn't?"

I take in a deep breath to keep calm. Has he already forgotten our first 'meeting' in the dorms? "I didn't mean to crash into you with a pile of books. Yeah, I get it wasn't the best greeting of all, but you could've at least helped me pick them up and not be a huge dick about it," I respond, that all too familiar bitterness seeping through my voice as I recall the harsh way he had snapped at me.

"Ugh…! You see what I mean?" Gakupo lets out a groan, appearing to be visibly fed up. He pulls his eyes from the far end of the room and locks eyes with me.

That simple, yet serious stare causes me to freeze on the spot. My eyes widen a little bit. Right now, he's staring into my soul, and trying to figure out what makes me tick… Yet at the same time, I'm doing the exact same to him. Those blue eyes reflect a mix of confusing, unknown emotions… And without fully realising, my heart begins to pound in my chest.

"We can't have a normal conversation without breaking out into an argument. Why do you hate me so much?"

The accusation that spills from those words catches me off guard, and I snap back to reality in an instant. I was just staring into his eyes again, wasn't I…? I barely heard anything he said, except for that question of why I don't like him. What is going on with me? This is about the… third time…? I've lost count of how many times I turn into a wide-eyed mess whenever our eyes connect.

"I… I don't hate you," I manage to mutter out, breaking eye contact and gazing down to the floor like the coward I am instead. In fact, I don't hate him at all. There's a slight burning in the pit of my stomach, and a strange warmth spread across my cheeks, but it's not the same feeling as anger.

"Then what is it? You just like to pick on people for the fun of it? Steal their ideas to get a rise out of them?" He challenges me, urging me to explain further. Slowly backing me into a wall… Not physically, of course, because I can easily stand up and tell him to drop it, but I'm unable to do so.

He must be displeased with my silence, because a moment later, I see him extend his arm out toward me, and I'm forced to make eye contact with him once again as he tilts my head up with a finger and thumb, grabbing at my chin. That only causes the blush on my cheeks to grow darker.

"No more running away or avoiding it. I want an answer now, Kaito-san."

For some reason, the way he hisses my name causes a shudder to run down my spine. I'm sure his intention is far from seductive and teasing, but that whisper is so low that it's hard to think otherwise… And my eyes subtly trail along those lips of his, which are now so close to me that they're slightly more visible despite the darkness that surrounds us. Wait, am I seriously thinking that sort of crap…?! I immediately rip my eyes from his lips, although I still can't bring myself to push him away.

Gakupo glares right into my eyes again, determined to understand what's on my mind. Even I'm not sure of all that any more. "So?" There's that hint of impatience in his voice.

"It's not that I hate you, I'm just… fed up of all the tension between us. N-Not us, but my school and your school," I trip over my words, realising the implications of my first attempt at that explanation. "You all act like you're soooo better than us, and then you wonder why we don't put up with it?" I huff lightly, not exactly wanting to go at him from a confrontational angle, though I can't help but being petty.

"Like I said, we're not the ones who wanted your hostility. There was no reason for us to bother being nice if you're going to be rude." Rolling his eyes, Gakupo lowers his grip from my chin and runs a hand through his fringe, fluffing some of it to the side.

Wait, so… I've been hostile to him because he's been hostile to me. Yet from his perspective, he's been hostile to me because I've been hostile to him. As that realisation starts to sink in, I can feel the urge to laugh bubble up within me. This would be the worst time to burst out laughing, not to mention it'd be incredibly rude right in his face. "Pff… Hahaha…!" All within a couple of moments, that laughter spills out as genuinely and softly as can be.

His eyebrows furrow at my strange reaction, and it's clear from that one expression alone he thinks I'm either stupid or I've lost my mind. "H-Huh…?"

Pressing the back of my palm to my mouth, I continue to snicker for about another moment before stifling it. "I'm sorry, I just… you don't see the delicious irony to all this, do you?" Letting a heavy sigh pass my lips, I lean back against the pedestal, taking a short time to rest my head and relax.

"Forgive me for being unable to see the 'humour' in all of this," he grunts. With a sort of snort, I briefly explain to him the revelation I came to, and once he gets it, a smirk pulls at his features. "Ahah… I guess that is kind of funny, actually. So, we've had this preconceived notion of rivalry since the beginning, all for nothing. I mean, I've heard things about this school and the students here for quite a few years, so I kind of expected the hostility upfront and decided to… put up some sort of defensive barrier, I suppose?"

"Hmm," I thoughtfully hum, rubbing at the back of my neck. First of all, it's kind of weird that he talks like a living textbook even when not around his fancy friends, but that's beside the point. Second of all, this is all so weird. "So, back at your school are you just some normal nice guy or what?"

"Well, I… wouldn't exactly say 'normal' or even 'nice'," Gakupo admits, averting his eyes for a moment. "It's been pretty much drilled into my head from a young age that the most important thing is to work hard, never trust even your closest friends, and succeed at everything you do."

So, it's exactly like Ms. Yuzuki's outlandish expectations. Can't say I'm surprised. "I assume that's what made it so easy for you to just… be mean?"

He gives a shrug of his shoulders. "It's complicated to think about now. Seeing that you and your friends here weren't exactly the nicest only played into the lies Ms. Yuzuki told us about you, which… Yeah, pretty much, just made it easier for me to be mean. I had this vague hope of making friends with somebody from your teams, but since there was no chance of that happening, I could switch into competitive mode without any regrets."

I'm only left with more questions than answers, but that's alright. It's not like we can get out of this hellish library any time soon. My mind jumps to his other friends. "What about uhh… those twins? They seem nice enough, but, well..."

"You've noticed that, too?" Gakupo's response isn't one I anticipated. "Gumi-chan and I aren't particularly close to them at school, they just sort of latched onto the two of us before this event. Don't get me wrong, they're nice enough, but ever since Gumi-chan became closer to Rin-san, she's… changed."

A scoff pushes its way up from my throat. "I'm not surprised at all. Neru-chan has been the exact same way. I know you think it's funny to make jokes about 'lover boy' and 'trouble in paradise', but Neru-chan has been one of my best friends for a long time. She meets some guy from another school, apparently falls in love, and now she hates us."

"Honestly, even I'm not sure why I've been making those immature jokes. They're not usually my style," he shyly admits. I squint my eyes at him, taking a moment to truly scan that appearance of his. I could very well be falling into another trap here, but… This feels real. "And it's not like I even have any solid proof that Rin-san and Len-san are doing some sort of scheming. I'm not even trying to imply that. Well, not really… But it's the same with Gumi-chan. We're really close, friends since childhood. But when I messed up at that event against you, she was so cold and so unlike her usual self."

All this speculating is starting to make my head hurt. Apparently there's a brand new 'mystery' with the blonde-haired twins, or maybe it's something we're making up amidst this petty rivalry. As if those dumb necklaces aren't enough already. "Yeah, whatever is going on, it's messing up my friendships," I sigh softly.

"Hah… Tell me about it," Gakupo casually agrees. This is absurd, but okay. "I was actually considering finally asking Gumi-chan to be my girlfriend, but… Ever since the Talent Trials, it's like she's a completely different person… I guess I don't really know everything about her like I once thought."

A strange pang of what I can only assume to be jealousy strikes at my heart. It's not that my mind is screaming I'm jealous, but it's some sort of unknown hurt sensation as he mentions his feelings for someone else. But why is that all I can care about in this moment, with so much more happening?

Just as I open my mouth to answer, I'm cut off by the rather abrupt sound of a thump from directly behind. "Oh-!" Blinking rapidly, I then realise it's now pitch black in the room once more. Shifting up onto my knees with Gakupo, I turn around and set eyes upon the once floating book now resting shut on the pedestal.

"That scared the hell out of me," the purple-haired male mutters, in a childish, whimpering tone. He props his fingertips up onto the pedestal and barely peeks his head over to take a look at it.

I, on the other hand, prop myself up higher so that I can actually see the book. It's closed now unlike before, and that light is completely gone. "You think the one behind this got sick of their prank after all?" I suggest. I don't see why else the book would flop back down.

"Mmh..." Gakupo simply groans in response, in a tone that suggests he has absolutely no idea, but doesn't like the direction this is going. Neither do I, honestly.

It's kind of comedic how we're both essentially poking our heads up to get a look at the pedestal. I'd say we're both reluctant and a bit of concern lingers within us, but I take the initiative and flip the book open. "Ah… See? Nothing strange here at all." I breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that no more weird lights come out of nowhere.

But of course, I speak too soon.

About a split second after that stupid sentence passes my lips, there's a flick that comes from somewhere close to us. Then another, closer… And by the third flick, a dull light follows and makes itself visible along the pedestal. I'm not sure how I missed the outline of those lights on there in the first place, but… They move up, each turning on with that same soft flick noise, until it highlights the pages of the book itself, making it the only thing in this whole room we can see.

"Nothing strange here, huh?" Gakupo side-eyes the hell out of me for that comment of mine, and I can't see myself living that one down any time soon.

Pulling myself up from my knees, I stretch my legs out and decide I want to get a better look at this book. The male beside me reluctantly follows my movements, folding his arms over his chest and glancing around in a sort of paranoid, unsure manner. I don't even know why I'm the one taking charge here when I'm always so indecisive with other things, but… That feeling of being drawn to it is once again taking over. Like before, I run my fingers down the page, greeted by that familiar thick layer of dust. It's open to the first page of the book. Taking in a deep breath, I blow at the page, hoping to clear some of that dust.

"Pff-! H-Hey-!" Gakupo rather uncharacteristically yells out in protest, throwing his arms up to shield his face, but still ends up spluttering dramatically and such.

Sure, the dust is gross and there's a lot of it, but it's not exactly enough to send me into a fit of wheezing. Is he really that much of a drama queen? This is interesting to say the least. Narrowing my eyes to make out what's exactly on the page, I'm left at a loss for words. "This is… uh… this is all a bunch of nonsense."

"Yes, it's quite absurd, isn't it?" Gakupo agrees with me, yet isn't looking at the pages as I speak.

Grunting quietly to myself at his ignorance and scaredy-cat behaviour, I speak more directly. "No, it's literally a bunch of nonsense."

"I know, I already agreed to-..." Midway through answering, he turns his head to peer down at the page, and once he sets eyes on it, he simply falls silent, as though no words will do justice to how he feels about this utter bullshit we're witnessing.

"It's some sort of… I don't know..." I can't understand a single bit of it. It hasn't been written in English. It's not even some sort of 'language' as far as I'm aware; it's more like small graphics all strung together like a picture code. But it can't be counted as a picture code either, right? Because there are larger illustrations printed delicately onto the corners of the first two pages. Is printed even the right term for this? It's as though someone scribbled this onto the paper themselves, which certainly says a lot about its age.

"And you're absolutely sure you've never seen this room before?" Gakupo questions me once more, perhaps to test the authenticity of the whole thing. Can't say I blame him, but I think it's best that we start to trust each other at this stage.

I give a single nod. "It's safe to say this is definitely not a prank anymore."

"Hello? Is this working?"

With a blink, I look around in confusion. "Uhm," I mutter under my breath, not sure if I really just heard what I think I heard. Some sort of muffled voice sounds out from somewhere – like they're far away. On the other side of the bookshelves, maybe. But it's not exactly the 'typical' kind of muffled sound… "Did you hear that?"

Gakupo balls his fists up and clutches at his chest, a look of terror crossing his features. "What? Hear what? Don't try to mess with me, or I swear to-"

"Hellooo? C'mon, I know you can hear me…!"

"Wah!" Gakupo gasps, jumping back a good couple of steps away from the pedestal.

"Stop being a big baby," I scold him. I'm scared too, but that doesn't mean he has to be a total wimp about it. That muffled voice is no longer muffled like it had been before. At first, it had sounded like some interference on a phone or something. But now, it's clearer and evidently a lot closer to us than I first figured. So that rules out someone outside messing with us.

"Wh-Who is it?" Gakupo reluctantly steps forward again, regaining his composure. Gotta be a big tough man and whatnot, right?

"Oh, thank the stars, it's working…!" Listening as carefully as I can, I realise it's a woman's voice. Strong, confident, mature… Yet rather panicked.

"W-Wait..." I peek down at the book. "Are you… umm… inside the book…?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Gakupo scowls, although he's obviously just trying to deny the whole thing in favour of being oblivious and not on the verge of pissing his pants.

"Why yes, I am. You always were a smart one, Kaito." A playful snicker comes from… well, not her lips I suppose, but from the book. Ignoring the whole weirdness and technicalities of that, the way she laughs and teases me comes across as though she's known me for a long time. Some sort of old friend. I'm not even going to ask how she knows my name, but rather, what the hell is going on.

"Hey, I'm smart, too..." Pouting, the purple-headed male seeks attention from this woman-book-thing.

"Oh my god, are you actually jealous of the way a talking book addresses me?" I glare at him, unable to believe how his dumb mind prioritises shit like this.

"Ahaha~!" A hearty chuckle comes from inside the book, which cuts us off mid-argument. "You're more of a scared little baby than you are smart. But that's alright. You'll see there's no need to be scared of me once I explain things."

"What's even going on right now…?" I mutter in disbelief. Am I going crazy from all the pressure and stress? Shaking my head a couple of times to pull myself together, I take in a light breath and approach this as best I can. Even if this is some sort of weird dream or sanity break, I might as well go with the flow, huh? "Okay, okay. So, who are you? And where are you?"

"Ooh, starting off with the good questions, are we?" She snickers, before continuing. "See, I don't think I can really answer that without giving too much away. Everything will be revealed soon, but I contacted you to tell you there's something bad going down, something that I can't deal with alone."

Gakupo glances over at me, and I catch his eye. He's just as confused as I am. "I don't get it," he huffs, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Why me? Sure, I understand you'd want Kaito-san to deal with whatever this is, but… I don't even attend this school. Maybe you're getting me confused with his best friend Dell-san."

That's a good possibility that I haven't thought of yet. He's right, this doesn't make much sense. "Yeah, Gakupo and I, uh… don't exactly get along. We're not friends and we're not even sure if we want to be right now." I don't mean to speak so bluntly – I offer him an apologetic shrug.

"That's okay. I contacted you while knowing you'd only be at this stage," the woman says, probably with a hint of a smile if only we could see her right now. Still, what 'at this stage' implies is unknown. "I'm not mistaken at all, trust me. Now, do we have any other questions?"

Letting a small huff out, I pause for a moment to really think. This woman knows us, but we don't know her. I feel like I should trust her… But is it too soon to let my guard down? "Okay, sure. What's this bad situation of yours? Why do you need us to get involved?"

"Well, you see… I really don't want to worry you two, and I really wish you had more time to find these things out on your own, but…" Her voice trails off for a moment. There's a hint of hesitation in there.

"Just tell us. We'll figure out some way to help you," I urge her on, before glancing at Gakupo. "Right?"

He narrows his eyes as a response, mirroring the same sort of hesitation that the woman has in her voice. "Maybe? I don't know about this," he hisses in a quiet, strained tone.

"Okay," she sighs, after a rather long pause. "Our world is in danger. I thought I could handle this on my own. In fact, I did handle it on my own, for a short time… But things are getting worse. I don't know how much more I can disclose, but we can't waste any more time. We have to act. Now…!"

As she announces all of this, my eyes grow progressively wider in an almost comical mix of shock and confusion. My jaw is close to dropping open by the time she takes a break, and even though she expects some sort of answer, I can't find any words.

"Wh-Wha-? Are you serious, lady…?! What kind of sick joke is this?" Gakupo is the first to choke out a response, and it perfectly echoes my own thoughts. Although it comes out as a sort of wheeze, I can hear the irritation he's holding back.

"It's not a joke!" The woman snaps back defensively at Gakupo, but it's quickly followed by a soft gasp and an apology. "I'm… I'm sorry, Gakupo. But I'm taking a huge risk just by reaching out to the two of you like this. If… If they were to find out..." A quiet whimper comes from the book, the fear she feels becoming more and more evident.

The purple-haired male in question averts his eyes, a stern, serious expression crossing his face. It's hard to tell exactly how he feels at this moment. It's sort of clear that he's not sure how to deal with this, though. And I can't say I blame him, because I'm not sure what to do either.

Deciding to take a gentle approach, I ask again what exactly she means. "When you say our world is in danger, how exactly is it in danger? The more we know, the easier it is for us to try and help."

"I can't believe this," Gakupo mutters. When I flick my glance over to him, I see that he's now standing with his back facing me, arms folded impatiently over his chest.

"It's a long story," she finally answers, with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to tell you what you need to know the most in order to effectively deal with this." A light red glow begins to form around the edges of the book.

"Whoa..." I watch intently with widened eyes as the book slowly lifts itself up into the air above the pedestal. It's one thing to set sight upon a floating book when your back is turned, but it's a whole other kind of weird experience to watch it actually lift up right in front of you.

With the way the red light comes out of nowhere, Gakupo swiftly turns back around to face the pedestal, greeted by the sight of that same red light now surrounding the entire book and securing its position up there. Wordlessly, his arms drop to his side from his chest.

The softly glowing light moves its way over to one of the pages, wrapping itself around as carefully as can be, and with a light flick, it shuffles through the book until it lands on one specific page. It's a bit hard to tell exactly what's on there since it's quite high up, but I'm able to see some sketches – four familiar shapes etched into each corner of the two open pages. The instant I set eyes upon them, my mind flashes back to the ruby gems that hang from the necklaces of those Mahogany Creek girls.

"H-Hey, wait a minute..." Gakupo must realise, too. After all, he must have seen their matching necklaces at some point during the Talent Trials, or even back at their school.

"The text on these pages is mostly irrelevant, but the gems themselves are important," the woman speaks up, her voice now echoing through the room. Given the maturity and serious, booming nature in her tone, it's easy for me to picture this woman as some sort of leader. That friendliness and playful banter she had with us earlier seems like it had come from someone else altogether, which only makes her case more believable than before. "I'm sure you've seen them already. That's why you came snooping here in the first place, is that correct? I am truly grateful for your nosey attitude, Kaito. I never would have found the right time to contact you otherwise."

Rubbing at the back of my neck with a nervous, sticky palm, I let out a feeble laugh. "Well, what can I say..." I hope she's not about to say that me snooping around is the cause of this disaster.

"Yes, we've seen them," Gakupo answers in my place, gaining a bit of confidence. "A group of girls from my school wear matching necklaces, and the gems are just like the sketches here."

"Hold on..." Something hits me, and for a moment, I truly believe I've had a strike of mass intellect. "I think I understand. Those girls are the cause of this disaster, aren't they? I knew it! They've been acting suspicious all this time. Well, don't you worry, because we'll definitely-"

"How dare you!" the woman gasps in horror, apparently extremely offended by my words. She immediately stops me before I can continue, and I'm left surprised. "Those girls are most certainly not suspicious, and for your information, they're part of the solution."

"Huh…?" I mumble, caught off guard by her overly-defensive response. Not only that, but I really thought I was onto something there for once…

"Tch, how rude of you to jump to conclusions." Now that I'm the one being scolded by the woman, Gakupo takes the opportunity to mock me with his usual irritating manner of speaking. That stupid punchable smirk pulling at his lips.

"Grrr…!" I puff my cheeks out, resisting the urge to yell back at him.

"Calm down, you two!" The woman cuts our argument short. "Gakupo, please don't start acting like you're better than him. And Kaito, I hope you've learned your lesson. Making baseless accusations doesn't help anybody. Now, if you two children are finished bickering, can we please move onto the facts?"

Sinking down, I exchange glances with Gakupo with a hint of fire in my eyes, silently vowing that this isn't over yet. He simply sticks his chin out, huffing before looking back at the book above us. She really knows how to effortlessly shut down pointless fighting, huh? I feel incredibly small after those remarks of hers, and I bet Gakupo does, as well. "Y-Yeah, go on..."

She lightly coughs, before beginning to explain. "I understand these girls may have been 'acting suspicious' as you put it, but I can assure you that they're not doing anything that contributes to putting our world in danger. These gems have been around for… Hmm, a few hundred years, I'd say. They've been used for nothing but good since the time they were crafted. That being said, I'm not entirely sure how these girls found them… But at the very least, they're harmless. They most likely don't know anything about the power these gems hold, which is a good start, but also kind of bad."

"Um..." I blink a few times, at a loss for words. There's a lot of information to take in from just that, and I'm sure this is only the beginning. But she does mention 'power'. Glancing down to my palm, I start to understand. Or at least, I'm able to slowly piece it together. "Are you sure they're not aware of how important these gems are? I barely even touched one of those gems earlier, and I was left with a super sore hand."

"Wait, really?" Gakupo tilts his head to the side slightly as he asks that. Oh, right. He doesn't know that little detail. I give a nod, and his face twists into a thoughtful expression. I've probably just added multiple layers of confusion to this already messy situation.

"I'm not entirely sure about that, actually," she shyly admits. A light hum comes from the book, as if she's contemplating what to say next. "Well… I think in that case, it's a good idea that you two try to get those gems away from the girls. They're better off in our possession rather than theirs. They have no idea what's going on, and it's best that it stays that way."

Hold up. Is this ancient book casually suggesting we steal potentially precious jewellery from four teenage girls? I'm not too sure I like the mixed morals of this woman.

It's not like I get a chance to even ask about that, because she continues without waiting for a hint of a reaction from either of us.

"These gems will be able to seek out possible power sources dotted around your school," she says. Huh? Around my school? Is she saying that the evil beings or whatever are lurking around campus somewhere?! "They'll glow a light red if there are traces or remains of power near a certain spot. That would mean some sort of power was used maybe a few hours back, or even a day or so. If it glows stronger than that, it means some sort of power was used very recently, so I'd advise you to be careful if there are any strong spots. You'll know how recent it is by how hard the gems vibrate."

"Time out, time out…!" Gakupo suddenly blurts out, holding his hands up. He's visibly flustered. "Let me get this straight. You're telling us these girls are unknowingly wearing magical gems that can seek out when other magic has been used? And there are different indicators of how much magic has been used, depending on how much it glows and shakes?"

Honestly, I understand that frustration. It's absurd to hear, and maybe I still haven't fully taken in just how serious all of this is, but… I kind of believe everything she's saying so far. But that's only because I've witnessed it myself when I went to grab at one of those gems.

"Pretty much, yes." She answers in such a nonchalant, calm voice, and that seems to send the poor purple-haired male over the edge.

"Bu...but… That… that's ridiculous!" He trips over his words, unable to get them out properly at first, before finally shouting in the quite possibly the most melodramatic tone I've heard in a while. Then out comes the rant. "Kaito-san, you can't tell me you're really buying this utter nonsense? I've been staying quiet the entire time because I thought maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't turn out to be as crazy as this, but I can't hold it in any longer…! Now, I don't know what type of guy you really are, Kaito-san, but surely you're not as naive as this. Magic? Glowing red gems? This isn't an anime or some manga book, this is real life! Magic does not exist, rubies cannot 'detect power spots' or whatever it is she claims! Please, tell me I'm not the only one in this room with common sense…!"

Half of that comes out in such a rushed, desperate voice that I can't really register anything he says until he's breathing heavily and staring at me with eyes that just scream 'please be on my side'. At this point, I realise I'm stuck with an ultimatum. I either have to believe this so-called 'magical' book and in the existence of magic itself, or come back to the side of logic with Gakupo. If I ignore this book, will something bad really happen…? Or is this just some kind of trick like I suspected at the beginning?

"I..." All I can manage is a slight mumble, darting my eyes between that book and the purple-haired male. If I indulge in this strange fantasy of magic existing, I'm sure to ruin any developing friendship I have with Gakupo. This is too much of a huge decision for me to make. This book could be real. Or it could be a joke. The fact that the voice in the book seems to focus so much on the group of girls, it could very well be a trick manufactured by them. My head is spinning. So much has happened the past few days. I can't choose. No, I won't choose. I've been forced to make all these ridiculous decisions lately, but this one time, I want to take back control. Why would I pick between two Mahogany Creek sides anyway?

"I need to get out of here." My head is throbbing pretty badly. The hot air is becoming unbearable and suffocating me in here.

"No, wait-!"

The second I step away from the pedestal, the sound of the book crashing to the floor with a heavy thud echoes out from behind me. Despite the voice's desperation, I shake my head and don't bother to look back, knowing that this rivalry and these childish pranks will all be over by tonight.

"Oof..." Gakupo mutters, wincing slightly at the harsh thud of the book.

I head towards the bookshelves; more specifically, the ones that locked us in here in the first place. Gritting my teeth together, growing fed up of this nonsense, I push hard at the edges. To my surprise, the bookshelf finally budges from its once stiff, unmoving position. Although it catches me off guard, it's certainly a relief. And this time, there's no spinning or falling to the floor.

"Hey, wait up." Gakupo calls out, still a few paces behind in that stuffy, dark room.

Ignoring him, I push my way through to the main library. The fresh, cool air and blinding lights flood through the gap the second it opens, causing my eyes to squint on impulse. When it hits me, that sharp tension in my head immediately begins to relax, but I know that stress is far from gone. The library is still empty, which is probably a good thing, considering I just waltzed out of a bookshelf.

"I told you to wait up…!" Just as I'm about to get the hell out of this cursed library, a firm grip to my shoulder yanks me back a step or two.

Spinning 'round in frustration, I stare up at the purple-haired male, glare sharpening as I silently challenge him to dare to piss me off even further. "Get your hands off me," I tut, pulling back and freeing myself from that surprisingly strong grab. "What do you want, Kamui?"

"Huh…?" He stares back at me in disbelief, his voice trailing off. "Why are you mad at me? I thought I actually talked some sense into you back there."

This guy still acting like we're best buddies is really starting to irritate me. I should've avoided Mahogany Creek students from the beginning. "Look, you can drop the act now. I won't tell anybody about this dumb prank you and your girlfriends tried to pull, so let's just move on and forget this ever happened, okay?" I don't know how I could've fallen for this in the first place.

"Prank?" He repeats, half-spluttering. "Sure, maybe those girls tried to trick us, but I wasn't involved at all…! Oi!"

Shaking my head with a groan, I turn around and begin to walk away while he's mid-sentence. I need to focus on getting these Talent Trials over and done with. No more time to waste on those Mahogany idiots. Prepping myself the best I can after an undeniably crazy turn of events, I push it all to the back of my mind just as usual, ignoring Gakupo as he calls after me and instead make a quick escape to the hallway.

…