Chapter VII
Complications
Judai slides the door of the meal hall open, his eyes skimming through the people there as he grins, Shou tags behind with a nervous sweating:
"Aniki! Wait a moment!"
"Eh, professor Daitokuji is not here, aw, I wanted his portion of sardines too!" he grins scratching the back of his head.
"Hm, that's strange…" Shou's brows arch up, intrigued. "He's never late for the meal."
"Ah, you two!" Hayato greets them from a table, they come close "You're a bit slow today."
"That's because Aniki wanted to check his deck ten times before coming!" the blue-haired complains pettily, clenching his fists.
"My bad, my bad, Shou!" he laughs carefreely. "Do you know where our teacher is? It's quite rare he isn't around today…"
"Ah, earlier he received a call on his PDA and he looked very shocked, then he rushed out, he looked very preoccupied too."
The other two teens exchange a bemused glance, did something happen to make their usually tranquil professor agitated? The scene fast forwards to the same three students walking on the school corridors.
Judai has his typical posture of arms thrown to the back of his head, a positive smile stamped on his face.
"I'm super excited to know who our opponents will be!"
Shou and Hayato follow behind him silently while he blabbers about the tag duel; those two, unlike their friend, can't help to notice the dense mood in the corridors and the whispers everywhere.
"Did you hear about it? Someone from our dorm visited that witch hut last night?"
"Don't the girls often talk about it? What's so special?"
"I know, right? I've heard some colleagues went there with their girls, man, that place must be nice."
"What is the problem, did they get caught while doing something there or what?" he cackles mocking the possibility. "That would ruin all the experience."
"Worse than that, the one in there was the Kaiser!"
"What?! And was there a girl inside there with him?"
"Sure thing, it seems it was that mute girl who transferred not long ago. Go figure the guy, strange taste."
"Or just a very sordid one. Now, that's something we didn't expect from our Kaiser, isn't it?"
The boast into a low laughter, Shou frowns upon hearing the rumors, his eyes wavering as his fist clench.
"No, my brother… He wouldn't…"
"Hey, Shou!" Judai slaps his shoulder. "You've gotten pale! What's the problem?"
Ignoring his friend's call, the blue-haired stomps his trail, approaching the boys, a scowl on his expression as he starts talking louder than they ever remember hearing him:
"Hey, you two! This can't be true! The Kaiser would never do anything like this!"
"What's with you, midget?" The other boy looks at him from up to down with derision. "You can ask everyone about it, there was a big turmoil this morning in the obelisk dorm, unfortunately an Osiris loser like you wouldn't know because you're inhabiting that low level building."
"Hey, buddy, tone down a bit. He was just asking a question…" Judai comes forth, his lips drawn in a single line, a serious tone on his voice.
"Well, tell your friend that he can hate it as much as he wants, the truth about the Kaiser came to light! He poses like he's some big figure around and trashes people with his dueling, but in the end, he's no royal-blood, he's just like the rest of us inside, isn't he?" he says the last part acidly, his smirk enlarging as he sees Shou gritting his teeth.
"You two are the ones who were held after class because the teacher wanted to give you a scolding, aren't you?"
A voice startles them, coming from behind. Misawa has crossed arms and a sharp glint on his eyes as he stares at the obelisk blue students.
"Ugh, this guy…" They snarl back at him. "Whatever, those losers will be expelled after their tag duel, anyways. I can't wait to watch the spectacle!"
They laugh and leave the scene, Shou's brows curl up in distress, he lowers his head, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes, his teeth still clenched as tight as before.
"Ignore them, Shou. Those guys just like to make fun of us red students, they're not worth your time." Hayato places a firm hand on the friend's shoulder in an attempt to console him.
"Yeah, we will beat whoever comes to the tag duel and stay, right, pal?!" Judai grins to assure him, but none of their tries seem to have an effect.
"What they said… Can't be true, right? The Kaiser is the pride of the academy, there's no way he'd do something stupid, right? He's the best duelist here… He wouldn't…"
This is the only response they get with him dismissing their questions and dwelling into his own, they all exchange a worried glance, wondering what's gotten into him right now. Judai angles a brow up considering whether he is a Kaiser fan or something, it's all very strange.
"What's so important about it anywa-" the brown-haired was about to disrupt the topic, but someone else speaks before him:
"Hm, now that you mention it, the fact that professor Daitokuji left in a hurry this morning… Didn't those guys say it was a transfer student who was found with the Kaiser? You know, that girl who can't talk? Maybe the reason he was so concerned was because his niece is really involved…?" Hayato traces a line of logic, forgetting his friend is still there listening. "Ah, I mean-"
"No way! There has to be an explanation for this!" Shou burst into an emotional yell, looking angrily at them and crushing the ground under his feet as he runs off.
"Why is he so edgy? That's not like him…"
Judai stretches his hand, a flawed attempt of stopping him, he's far gone now. His facial muscles tense up as he wonders what is happening.
Meanwhile,
Asuka dashes through the corridors, panting and looking around, searching for something. She halts her steps after visualizing the locker that should belong to Ryo. Edo was just closing his locker when he hears the heavy and exasperated steps of the blonde. Making him raise a brow.
Is she coming to scold him again for something random or what? He stuffs his chest, crossing his arms to prepare for the discussion, much to his surprise, she isn't interested in verbally assaulting him in the least. Her eyes fickle with affliction not finding what she seeks for, her eyes finally turn to him.
"Did you see Ryou today?"
"Pardon?" he is startled with her question, his lips frozen open for a second before he elaborates a sentence "No, I haven't."
She frowns dissatisfied with the answer, her fists closing shut as she looks around once more, he is afraid to even ask with how she could just explode at any moment from what it looks like, but he does it regardless:
"What happened? Are you worrying that the rumors circulating around about your boyfriend are true?"
"He's not my boyfriend! What's your problem?!" she retorts indignantly. "And no, I'm not worried whether it's true or not, Ryou is not the type of person who'd do something this irrational! But I can't find him anywhere! Something must've happened!"
Her voice trembled while speaking to him, an insecurity he didn't see in her before. For her to be speaking to him whom she seems to hate, she must be really worried, he is sure of that. He shouldn't be helping or saying anything at all, it's not his fault, but… That weak spot he has, it strikes again, he can't just not help. With a deep sigh, he admits:
"To tell the truth, I saw him yesterday night… And he wasn't with you at that time…"
"He was probably going back to the dorms…" She is half shocked he spoke and also in disbelief he is correct in what he is implying.
"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you that, but I know the way to the obelisk dorm and he 100% wasn't going there… He was up to something else… And here I thought you were good friends enough to tell each other things." he shrugs off, not his problem.
"And you did nothing?! What if he was going somewhere dangerous!" she grabs his collar, shaking him once
"Listen," he grabs her wrists, but not strong enough as if he knew exactly the amount of pressure he could put, his voice shouting in a very silent tone. "I acknowledge you and him were searching for your brother and I agreed to turn a blind eye to it, I didn't exactly plan on prying on what he's doing or whatnot, I'm not his babysitter."
"Turn a blind eye? It's just convenient for you, we could also just tell that you were breaking the rules."
"I'm not saying I believe the rumors either, he doesn't strike me as a guy who'd go around causing problems and secretly meeting girls, besides you, I mean. But it's a fact he was called to the principal's office this morning and the boy's dorm was quite hectic because of all the gossiping too, everyone was flabbergasted."
Her grip mitigates after hearing that, she slowly lets go of him, her eyes almost pleading him to tell it's not true. He lets her go with a deep sigh and a frown.
"I can't vouch for anything, I don't know him. If you're really interested, you should just ask him in person. But he's probably getting an earful now if he was caught outside at night."
"He wouldn't do anything, especially not to Rie, she was there with you too that night, you should know that…" her forehead wrinkles as she stares irritated at him.
"Unfortunately for you and him what I believe does not affect the outcome of the current situation, and this isn't my problem."
He clicks his tongue, turning away his face annoyed at all the drama, she doesn't say anything else before leaving, he just watches as she disappears on the corridors, he was feeling a tad guilty for not questioning the Kaiser the night before, however, he did what he was told, considering the somber predictions of Saiou, he's glad the only consequence was a possible warning from the educators of the school.
At the principal's office
Samejima looks into Ryou's eyes, the teen can feel the amount of expectation put into his honesty there as he is questioned:
"Ryo, I have to ask this again, did you do anything to Rie-kun?"
Chronos nibbles his nails, switching his glance from the principal to the teal-haired boy, anxiety consuming him from inside out.
"No, I didn't!" His tone is steady.
"I understand you both are young, but our school does not endorse certain practices under our watch on the island and we have to answer to your parents too because here, you're all under our supervision."
"Principal, he's our best student, I'm sure he isn't-" the blonde man stops upon seeing the director lifting a hand sternly.
"Nothing happened!" he continues with confidence: "I told you… I was locked inside there and she was already there when I arrived… She's been bullied for a while now and I think it's related, but all we did was try to find an exit."
"Professor Ayukawa said you got bitten on your hand. Where did that come from?" he throws the words shrewdly, Ryou gulps looking at his bandaged hand. "Listen, Ryou. I don't particularly take you as a troublemaker, but I have to ask this. Put yourself in our shoes, I wake up with a call from my colleagues telling me they found you and Rie-kun locked inside a hut in the middle of the woods, alone. Not only that, but you both spent the entire night there, breaking a bunch of rules in the process if I may add, and when I ask you if you did anything you say no, but your hand looks like it was bitten out of self-defense. On top of that the student that happened to be there with you is none other than the niece of one of our teachers and she can't speak, this couldn't look more wrong if you ask me."
"I know how it sounds, but nothing happened besides us staying awake the whole night worrying about how to get out or if someone would notice we are missing."
"And in that whole time, you two did not do anything reckless or improper? I won't judge you, you're seventeen, and so is she, but I'm positively sure your parents and her uncle will not be as happy to hear if something happened."
The teenager takes a deep, slow breath, he could stay the whole day explaining, but of course they'd interpret it all wrong. That enters his book of "the most shameful moments" in his life, being wrongly suspected of taking advantage of a girl. It's embarrassing he even has to explain himself this much.
"I understand it's complicated, but I'm not lying! You can ask her! This was just… She thought I wanted to harm her, but that was because she was…"
"I know the rest, that's enough. Chronos, please accompany him outside and ask Rie-kun and Daitokuji-kun to enter."
The Kaiser covers his eyes with a hand, impatient and half-abashed of how big of a misunderstanding he has to deal with. The pink-haired girl passes by him, entering the room next, they exchange a concerned glance before Daitokuji closes the door shut. They can't really tell the truth about having their own investigations and agendas at hand.
When she takes a seat, the questioning starts again, Samejima looks into her blue eyes. She can feel the concern shaping his expression:
"Rie-kun, it's very important you are sincere with us. It doesn't matter who Ryou is and his fame in the academy, he's not above the rules, but you need to tell us. I'll ask again: Did he do anything to you?"
She shakes her head negatively, almost biting her lips, typing a message hectically:
"No! He didn't!"
"What about the bite mark? And the bump on your head? Did you try to defend yourself from whatever he tried to do, something that made you feel uncomfortable? You can also tell professor Ayukawa in particular, if that makes you feel better, you don't need to give details, just tell us if he tried something or not."
"Rie." Daitokuji lands a hand on her shoulder, bending over to look into her face "Tell us the truth. Did something happen there? Were you hurt in any way?" Her eyes waver at all the questions.
"NO!" she types in capital letters on her message "I told the story before, I was hit on the back of my head by some people, it wasn't him, the ones who hit me were girls and when I woke up, I was tied and couldn't see anything, someone approached and I thought they wanted to hurt me, so I reacted because I couldn't see them. But once I saw it was him, I noticed something was off. We talked and he explained he also got locked in there. We tried to get out and spent hours searching for an exit until the teachers found us during the morning, that's all."
Daitokuji has a blank, cool semblance, his arms folded as he awaits for the conclusion of the tale. Rie sighs, troubled with the situation.
"Fine, please, Daitokuji-kun, can you call them to the office now? We need to wrap this up."
The scene changes, Samejima has his elbows supported on his desk, his back bent forward as he hides his mouth behind his intertwined fingers. Across him are sitting the two rulebreakers, Rie and Ryou. Behind each of them, their respective responsible teachers.
Chronos sweats aplenty, casting a side glance to the stoic-looking students of his. When Daitokuji spelled that curse, almost a threat saying he could find a list of obelisk students breaking rules, he certainly didn't expect he'd be seeing Ryou here, likewise, the other teacher wasn't in a better situation, so it seems his curse went back to him too by his niece being the other part involved. Serves him well.
"P-Principal… Marufuji-kun is a model student, right? I'm sure there is a proper explanation. Rie-kun also confirmed his story. They both affirm nothing happened, yes? Some other students might have really tricked them."
"I won't even comment on the amount of inconsistencies in the story, we have students who claim you were setting up a meeting with a boy late at night, Rie-kun. And we have people confirming they saw Ryou going out around the same time."
"I don't know who did it, but someone played a sick prank on Rie and locked her inside the hut, when I arrived she was tied up there and as soon as I entered, someone closed the door behind me. I believe it was someone different from the ones who attacked Rie, but I can't confirm… It's impossible we locked ourselves inside there, you heard from the professors that the mechanism to close the door was outside."
"And you both happened to not see who it was…" The director arches his brow up showing his distrust. "I get that she was attacked by surprise, the nurse Ayukawa confirmed there's a bump on her forehead from a blunt hit, but what about you, Ryou? What were you doing there?"
"I…"
He opens his mouth, but hesitates, his eyes narrowing slightly, his heartbeats accelerate as he thinks on the words. He can't tell a boy was coming to the hut and… He casts a side glance at her, his eyes squinting more as she inadvertently looks ahead, her expression wears concern. He couldn't possibly just admit it here in front of her or of them, that's why he lied to her before.
"Really a great way to solve it, Ryou, getting yourself even more trapped in lies, but it's not like you should tell them the reason you were there…" He reprimands himself mentally for lying yet again, proceeding with it:
"... I was curious about the hut everyone was talking about."
Samejima can pinpoint that it's a lie, but closed as Ryou is, he knows he won't get much in a more general talk. Then, he turns to Rie.
"What about you, missy? Why did you go there in the first place?"
"I got a prank note on my locker asking me to go there."
Daitokuji's lenses reflect the natural light in the room, but Rie feels he is observing her and her answers, ready to interfere if necessary, she casts a side glance at him before typing more:
"It had a message asking me to go there at a specific hour and they threatened to defame me if I didn't go."
"Why didn't you just ignore it?"
"I wanted to know who was trying to scare me and face them in person."
She answered simply, a sour taste as she gulps dryly, wondering if that is enough to stop the questions.
"And you're telling me nothing else happened after you were freed? You spent a night in clear, but nothing happened between you two?"
Samejima swings his finger at both, raising his eyebrow in an attempt to make sure they comprehend he's not gonna fall for lies or let them go without a good lecture and they better recognize their mistakes. The teal-haired can feel the eyes under the glasses of his teacher throwing knives at his back, that's all left, to initiate an enmity with one of the school teachers.
"No!" they both express in unison, he exclaiming in an audible voice and she with the communicator.
"Principal, I swear, after I was helped out of the ropes I was tied with, we only talked about how to find an exit and spent all the time searching for a way out. At some point we were both tired and I think we just fainted on the ground, but the reason I'm even able to speak here now is because Ryou gave me his PDA, mine was stolen when I was knocked out cold by whoever tricked me and locked me there."
They gasp at the mention, looking at the teal haired in search of a confirmation whether her story held up or not.
"Is that true this is your personal PDA?"
"Yes. I don't know what happened to hers, but she had nothing with her, though, even having this PDA did not help, there was no signal inside the hut for some reason…" he folds his arms, a knot on his brows, his stance is one of someone in deep thought.
"Well, Principal, we see that it's all but a misunderstanding, no?" Chronos interrupts "They're good studenti, I can assure that, let's not be too harsh, right?" He tries to smirk as convincingly as possible.
"Yes, I suppose this solves the case of what happened inside the hut. Notwithstanding…" he puts a lot of emphasis on the last part "That still leaves us with the problem that you both broke the curfew rules and the rules of not entering unknown zones that do not count as the school territory." he glares at both in a kind, but scolding tone.
"I'm sorry for that." Ryou grabs his own knees, staring back at the man in an apologetical, but cold expression.
"That will go to your files as a first call for you two… You know how it works, right? You have one more chance and if this happens a third time, you both will need to face harsh punishment like expulsion." His warning seems to be taken as they uncomfortably adjust in their seats.
"Please, let's not talk about expulsion. It was just a minor offense." Chronos rubs his hands trying to dissuade the principal as the other man already writes on both their files.
"You were very eager to expel the Osiris red students before, professor Chronos, I see your enthusiasm dimmed out."
The teacher almost jumps back at the remark, the two teens just observe quietly seeing even their teacher is not free from scolding.
"Ryou, your parents will be notified about this. As for you, Rie-kun, well, I'm sure Daitokuji-kun will also talk to you later."
The brown-haired man smiles under his glasses, looking gently at the girl that seems confused, Ryou just casts a side glance, he's happy it's over, but worried at the same time. He was always careful in his night investigations, the last night was a result of him being careless. Why was he so distracted? He wanted to hope he'd find something, but in the end he found close to nothing but an old, strange atelier of sorts, and then, lost it right in front of him.
"I hope this will teach you two a lesson and make sure you stick to the curfew this time. I'll ask your respective dorm leaders to check if you're in your room for at least a week."
Ryou pinched his temples, feeling the headache of having to find loopholes on the vigilance to work around it, if he wants to risk going out. To think he even instructed Asuka to stay quiet for a while after Judai and Shou were in trouble, then he ignores his own advice and goes alone.
"You can go now. You still have classes to attend to." They both get up extremely tired from all the turmoil. "Not you, Ryo, You stay. I want to talk in private with you."
He gapes in response, his hand unwittingly clutching the back of the chair he was sitting on seconds ago. Rie peeks curiously at the scene, an arm comes softly around her shoulders, breaking her concentration. She looks up to her uncle who gently guides her out of the place.
"Let's go, Rie-chan, you need to go to your class, we can talk about what happened later, okay?"
She nods firmly. As they leave, she takes a last glance over her shoulder, Ryou has a bothered, strict expression, her brows furrow up in pity, wishing he'd have a break from that predicament too.
A minute of silence passes after they hear the click of the door closing. Samejima looks at him earnestly after he sits down.
"Ryou, as a student that has been here for almost three full years, I expected more from you, you should know the rules, and you were never keen on breaking them up till now. What happened? It's just the two of us here, will you tell me the real motive behind your night trip? Because I doubt it has to do with meeting girls alone at night."
"Rules? My reason is the same as before…" despite his voice never raising, there was some defiance in his tone, anger even.
"We've gone over this, Ryou. The prohibited areas in the school grounds exist for a reason. Believing or not believing in extraordinary circumstances, those areas are out of limits for students, we're just thinking about your own safety here, you should know that better than anyone else."
"No, I'm sorry but I don't. I can't comprehend why everyone is pretending as if making a zone off limits will work."
"This is not a matter of understanding, but of obeying rules that exist to prevent certain situations from arising and going awry."
"You should've have prevented it form happening before it happened! Making curfews and stupid off-limit zone rules will not bring anyone back! If none of you can pay attention to what happens in the school, I won't hesitate to go and see it for myself what is so dangerous about it if it tells me the truth of what transpired to those students. They were here for a whole year and no one did anything, they're just forgotten by now and the school lies about them being out studying. I can't just see this and feel like this is fair. It's not."
"I know Fubuki Tenjouin was your best friend, but we are investigating-"
Ryou scoffs, the lack of persuasion he has and the level of annoyance the teal-haired displays alarms him.
"You said that before." He retorts. "This is not just about Fubuki and the other students. Rie has been receiving hate letters ever since she arrived and got locked in that hut by some sort of awful trick played by other girls, and all you can do is call us and demand explanations when the true culprits are out there! You're thinking about the safety of the students? Don't pretend this school put their best efforts for that. You all stopped caring and I don't want to hear those excuses. I'm tired of the excuses and I'm sure Mr. Tenjouin and all the other parents feel the same as me."
Samejima sighs deeply, afflicted by how his students has absolute no trust in the adults and in their solutions to the problems in the school. It's what he'd expect of other boys around Ryou's age, but not of his disciple. Not of someone as calm and dedicated as him. Perhaps losing his best friend really broke a part of him, but what can he do as a person and as a responsible for overlooking the students in the matter?
"If you excuse me, I have classes to attend to. I wouldn't want to get another warning for not coming to the lectures."
He stands up abruptly, the chair makes a squeaking noise as it's dragged on the ground, his fists clench, a distinct scowl on his face, he turns around without receiving any permission.
"Ryou!" Samejima calls him out one last time, he looks back, visibly annoyed. "We didn't forget any of the students, we're still searching for them. As for the bullying issues, Rie herself has to come here and tell us so we can take the right measures. None of those issues can be solved easily, you have to understand that too."
"Principal, I respect your efforts, but respect alone for you will not make things happen. There is a limit to how one can withstand when nothing effectively changes. I don't intend to wait forever standing still, even if that means losing this respect I have. If I can do anything to help, I will, even if the rules of the school do not support my decision."
The harsh and arrogant statement can only shock Samejima when he hears the door closing with a slam behind Ryo as he leaves.
He sinks his face on his hand, exhaling heavily. His best student is turned against him, or rather, cannot bend to his authority. He knows it's partially his incompetence for not noticing the shady and obscure schemes unraveling under his nose, on the school grounds, but he couldn't have imagined it would have such dire consequences and scar the lives of so many people.
Outside the room, Ryou's fists tighten even more, his nails making a thin cut open on his unbandaged hand, his expression stagnating in a standoff, but a weary, subtle hitch on his brows.
He almost stumbles upon someone when they suddenly appear on his way, his feet staggering back a step to not collide. His cold expression turning into awe as he stares at the pink-haired girl.
"Rie…? What are you doing here…? You'll just get in trouble if you don't go to the classroom quick, you know?" He pauses, taking the conclusion himself. "Were you waiting for me…?"
She confirms with her head, then takes out his PDA from her pocket, timidly stretching both her hands that hold it.
"You want to give it back to me?" He is amused, she nods shortly. "But you can't communicate without one, right? Just keep it until you get a new one, I don't need it for the most part."
He shakes off his head in denial, raising his hand to dismiss the gesture, and averting his gaze coldly, it seemed as if it was just inconveniencing him at the moment, she gasps. He stops himself for a moment after walking a step past her, his head turning so faintly to the side, she can barely see his profile.
"And Rie, next time you decide to go out alone, be more careful."
Before she can write any message he threads imposingly out of the place, under her watch. Her eyes flicker saddened for him as they linger on the PDA on her hands, squeezing it, her lips gluing together, he was usually a collected and kind person, but he's in such a bad mood now, what got him so upset? What exactly did he discuss with the principal?
Across the building,
"… And that's why she won't be able to come… But if it's fine for you to find me another duelist partner, I'm still in! Contact me if you're up to it, okay? See ya, teach!"
The cheerful male voice of the mysterious figure blocked by a flower vase declares cheerfully, ending the call. Chronos sweats after ending the video call with that person. He grabs his handkerchief and bites it, pulling it and he almost successfully tears it apart in nervousness.
"Pesche! I need to find a duelist! The drop-out boy has to get expelled! And there was our great Kaiser situation, the problems are endless!" He cries while beating himself over with his closed fists "I need to find a professional duelist! I promised I'd announce the opponents of the tag duel today, if I fail that, I will be a reason for laughter, won't I? Gee…"
He makes a strange noise while unlocking the door and going out. A professional duelist with experience in the pro leagues and that can completely obliterate the two dropout Osiris red students…
That same second, he hears an explosion, rushing immediately to the site, inside the practice stage they held duels and some events, in the middle of the place, Edo is surrounded by some fans and alike again, dueling some random Osiris red student as the holographic smokes dissipates.
His haughty dark-blue eyes and his overbearingly solid posture gave the illusion that a burning aura surrounded him, the students cowardly stepped back, scared of him. But as Edo disses the loser of the duel with passion, Chronos' face is enlightened by a smile of pure joy.
The Osiris student runs away crying, Edo huffs, disapproving of the demeanor of his opponent, the crows disperses with loud chattering, when he thinks it's over, suddenly someone grabs his hand with a clasp.
"Edo-pro boy!"
The face of the blonde teacher is awkwardly close, looking him into the eyes with a creepy and somewhat delighted smile. His face goes back in reflex.
"You're just who I needed for the job! You'll help me with something."
He pulls his hand away from the teacher and raises a brow disturbed at the assertion. The teacher rubs his hands together, grinning at him.
"Are you accepting jobs?"
"Talk to my manager." he tilts his face to the side looking at the teacher from up to down in distrust.
"You'll get extra credits!"
"Okay… This is getting a little too awkward for my comfort zone. What exactly do you want from me?"
"That's simple!" he raises a finger confidently "I want you to take part in the tag duel, of course! But you must tell me your decision now, penne!"
"The tag duel…?" He is relieved it's just that, but bewildered at the same time.
"Indeed, if you take part in it, I'll make sure you get enough credits to have more free days to go to the pro leagues, or even to vacation!" he smirks like a salesman. "You're also qualified as a pro duelist, so I'm sure you can take part in it…"
Edo is stunned at the proposal, he knows the ones who'll be his opponents, particularly, he heard about Judai who defeated this very same Chronos in a duel.
"Is this guy choosing me out of a grudge…?" He meditates "Well, it doesn't matter…" a smile spread on his lips "This is a good chance to test his true abilities, even though I feel I'll be disappointed at the end…"
"Fine! It's not like I will lose, even if it airs on TV!" He exclaims his answer. "Who will I be having as a partner?"
"Hehe, I'll announce it soon!"
His teeth are shown from a corner to another of his face as he guffaws victoriously, a drop of sweat forming on Edo's face, he has no idea what plans this guy has, but the professor is pretty satisfied with the results.
As long as this duel is not against Saiou's predictions, it doesn't matter to him, he was not warned before, but he can always confirm later. Judai and Shou are still in the dark about their opponents, and they can't even fathom one of them is from their school.
At the classes, Daitokuji smiles light-heartedly giving his alchemy lessons, his eyes stopping on Ryo's stern face for a moment, then he continues; Rie has a pouting expression, until she hears some very low chuckling and some rustling in the air, an ominous sensation overwhelm her senses, as if the eyes of the whole class were on her and she can feel it piercing her back, but when she looks around, they all turns their faces away, pretending they're not doing anything wrong, what is happening?
At the hut
Branches crackle and some small rocks roll around, the two girls step right in front of the hut. One of them tugging the arm of the other:
"Hey, Izanami, let's go back! What about the classes?"
"We're skipping it, this is more important! Did you not see the same as me this morning?"
"I did and I also don't get what happened, but, to be honest, I don't care with how many girls the Kaiser slept with, he's still my idol, really! Now, let's go back!" She pulls stronger, but her friend answers with an enraged glare.
"Stop whining, Ayako! I have to find out what happened! That useless boy, he dared to pretend as if he didn't know us when we asked him this morning what happened!"
"Forget it… I…I don't want to go into the witch's hut! It sounds so scary!"
"Argh, you're such a crybaby! We're already here and don't be silly, witches don't exist! This was probably all just strange rumors, the only magic this hut has is probably how many people lost their virginity here!"
She shakes off the hands of her friend and with a snotty huff, she enters the place. They were very shocked during the morning, but she is sure she saw some sort of trapdoor in the background. Her blood boiled furious at the sight. The failure. A boy was supposed to have his nice time with Rie, but the one behind the door was the Kaiser. What exactly happened between them, if something really happened.
The bed and furniture look like they were moved around, they can see marks on the wood as if the sunlight burned everything around but specific spots in which the furniture covered.
Their eyes widen at the same time after seeing there is an opening on the floorboard. Izanami gesture with the head for the other to follow her and turns on the flashlight function on her student device.
The stairway creaks ominously as they descend into the odd room full of dust, baffled by the sight, it was the depiction of a witch's atelier from a children's book. Izanami smiles excitedly, but Ayako shrieks, creeps crawling under her skin.
"Let's get out!" She whines.
"Ah, please, this is absurdly interesting!"
Ayako steps back, her feet stumble and she swings forth and back until her feet skid and she hits one of the shelves, a flask drops from it, but Izanami grabs it in reflex, saving it from death. They both sigh in relief and she gets a scolding glance and the other clasps her hands into an apologetic gesture.
"What is all this anyways?" She puts the flask back on the shelf, her eyes are mesmerized by the other dozens of flasks with differently colored liquids. "Looks like some kind of potion…"
"Iza-chan, come here!" Her friend calls waving the hand inwards.
There is an open book on the desk, it was written in a strange language, there were some dubious drawings too, they skim through some books and smile at each other as if they've found a hidden treasure. Ayako gasps, and shows the page of the open book she was checking.
"This one is in our language…"
Izanami's eyes read quickly the contents, she gapes, a smirk forming on her lips. She quickly reaches her hand to the shelves, her fingers dancing between the tags until she stops and turns around, Ayako is already demonstrating her disapproval by swinging her head frantically.
"Izanami! We can't! We don't know what those substances are! It could be poison!
"Ayako, please…" She rolls her eyes "I have a plan, we will test it first, of course! And if this book is not lying, we're winning big here!"
The friend stomps the ground, once again giving in to the mischievousness of the other. What they did in the hut is yet to be seen and the consequences of what they will do next. Some secrets are better hidden from prying eyes, unseen to the world for its own good.
Far away from the island,
In the exaggeratedly bright room, a single sound distills in the air. A flip. Then the sound of a thin paper sliding. Saiou has a dire, somber glint in his glassy eyes, distaste curving his lips down.
His fingers slither on the next card atop his divining deck, as soon as he pulls it, the card slips away from his hand and falls to the ground. At his feet, a graveyard of unseen cards lay resting on the same position, set down, as if the future itself refuses to come undone in front of his eyes.
He slowly lowers his arms resting it on the table. Two cards already flipped there: the hierophant and the wheel of fortune, both upwards. His finger taps on the table before his eyes narrow, a smirk forming.
"A great change… It seems time is coming for you, Edo… And for me too…"
His smirk turns into a grin and escalates to a laughter that echoes in the empty space, deflected by the cold stone walls. His eyes become bloodshot, someone is messing up with both his plans and now, even his predictions are blocked off by whichever powers they're using.
"This is intriguing… Very intriguing… I hope you can do your job properly, Edo, our enemies are not to be taken lightly… Maybe I'll need to pay a visit to the academy…"
He occults his smirk with his slim hand, as it twitches in an attempt to contain his guffaw, the defiance of his opponents could only make him laugh, because in the end, he will be the one getting his hands on that power.