Chapter IX

Elusive

Edo pushes away some tree branches with his arm, threading a path until he gets a sight on the infamous hut. He heard many rumors about it, mostly unimportant ones, but the fact people even started calling it a "witch's hut" intrigues him.

His orbs carefully scan around before he ventures his feet in there, despite being day, the inside is very dark, the only light source being the entrance behind and some faint beams from the crevices on the planked window, he turns on his PDA's light to search better, an inward gasp as he notices the open trapdoor.

Fixating his eyes on it, his feet start leading him, as soon as he steps at the border, his senses are sent into alert. There are voices coming from outside and footsteps approaching, his eyes opening wide, his head fretting from side to side in hopes to find a hiding spot, but there was no escape.

"Damn, who would even come here…?" A drop of sweat rolls as he gulps, frowning at the entrance.

His eyes just open more at the two figures entering, they also gape upon awareness of his presence. He crosses his arms.

"You…" Asuka's voice hitches looking at him, shocked.

"What are you doing here…?" Ryou's eyes narrow in distrust.

"I could ask you two the same. Especially you, senpai… I thought you got a warning for coming here, so I'm surprised you didn't learn the lesson yet." He disdainfully comments.

"And I'm surprised that you would come here after seeing what happened to me. Don't you have a reputation to watch out for? Or is it fine for pro duelists to be caught breaking rules?" He retorts sharply.

"I won't snitch if you don't." He shrugs off admitting defeat. "More importantly, I take it you came back because something here got your attention… If the rumors of you being here are even true…" His eyes traill off, landing on the trapdoor again.

"Why are you interested in this?" The blonde finally overcomes the shock, an inquiring gaze cast at him.

"Probably the same reason as you… A witch's hut and missing students, this couldn't look more suspicious… Don't you agree?"

Ryou and Asuka are struck by awe with his answer, exchanging a glance before looking at the silver haired. He sighs heavily, looking at them earnestly:

"Look, you two have your own reasons and so do I. I'm not gonna share stickers here, but since we're all here, we might as well just do what we came here for. I figure you're not enemies and I don't want to be your enemy either."

The teal-haired still demonstrates some apprehension in his posture, but sighs deeply before answering:

"Fine, let's take a look, but we're sharing all the hints we get."

"We have a deal."

Ryou takes the lead, descending the stairway first, followed by the other two. Asuka casts a side glance to Edo, her eyes squinting and her brows curling up, perplexed. He flinches looking at her, raising a brow. What? Does she want to say something? Before he can voice his inner question, Ryou stops on his tracks, startling them both.

"This can't be…" His steps are so heavy they can hear the wood creaking as he walks around.

"What can't be?" With proper light, Edo skims a glance around, flashing it everywhere, his lips opening in confusion. "I must say this is disappointing… There's nothing here."

The room is empty, not even the chair and table are there anymore, all shelves are dusted and no tags or flasks or books or any sort of paper anywhere.

"Ryou, you said there were many things here…" Asuka declares worriedly. "But this just looks like some sort of abandoned room… Nothing else…"

"No, no, no!" He stomps around even more impatiently, a crease forming on his forehead, trying to figure out what happened. "This doesn't make sense! When I was ensnared here with Rie we both saw this place, it was full of books, this can't…" He gestures, putting a hand to his head as if it's going to blow.

"Oh, so you were locked here with that third year?" Edo's voice doesn't seem amused, but there's a hint of irony.

"Yes, we were here." The reply comes off harsh as Ryou narrows his eyes, already preparing to cut off his assumptions.

"Ryou, if what you say is true, then Rie-chan has to remember it, right? Maybe we can ask her?"

"So much about a witch's hut…" The silver-haired snorts. "Okay, if we consider the Kaiser here is not lying to pretend he wasn't occupying his time doing something else," He feels a piercing glare straight at him, but continues regardless. "If all the things you saw were indeed here at some point, the only conclusion is that someone took them out in between the last time you were here and now." He ponders with a lowered gaze.

"Someone? But the only ones who supposedly could have seen it were the teachers, Ryou and Rie-chan, right?"

"Now that you mention… No, there were two other girls who came in with the teachers…" He recalls, looking at the two younger ones.

"You don't think they…?"

"I don't know, Asuka… But I don't believe in witches and things can't disappear out of thin air… Like he said, someone must have taken it, but who?"

"Couldn't someone have removed it while you were here? Are you sure there was no one else in this place when you two were trapped?" Edo instigates his memory further.

"I'm sure. We checked everything, even under the furniture, no one could've hidden…"

"Were you watching over the place the whole night?"

"We were awake for most part, but I eventually fell asleep and so did she. I don't know when exactly, but we only came to our senses again during the morning…"

"Then, technically someone could have entered while you two were asleep…"

"I have a light sleep. I would have certainly woken up…"

"Hm… Maybe Rie-chan could tell us what she remembers… Who knows, perhaps she could have an idea… Or just to confirm what she saw here…"

"I don't think involving her now will help. Even if we do… I don't know if she will want to say or even remember anything…"

"Why are you avoiding asking her? You just need to be subtle about it, it's not like you need to explain yourself…" Edo suggests, casting a doubtful glance at Ryou.

"That's true, just talk to her, it shouldn't be hard, you're both from the same class. We also need to think about how to find those two girls who were here and talk to the teachers to probe their stories and see if it matches…" She lists it all, concerned with how to best act.

"This isn't the problem..."

A drop of sweat rolls down his face, his eyes thinning troubled. He's unwilling to go into details, closing his eyes while taking a moment to decide how to best explain this. He clears his throat uncomfortably.

"Rie won't speak to me."

"Why? Did you attempt to do something to her or do you just not know how to treat girls?" The last option would be funny if it wasn't depressing that the school's most popular idol has communication problems.

"No, I didn't… I mean… I didn't do anything…" His eyes waver slightly, the last part coming out as an unheard mutter: "That's exactly the problem…"

"How can you be so sure? Have you even tried?"

"No, but with all the rumors and how we both got into a mess with breaking rules, I doubt she'd want to speak to me again."

He saw how much she was in trouble, but evaded it all and pretended to not see, it's just relatable she can't trust him when he was omissive. True enough he changed his mind, but it's perhaps a bit late all things she had to go through considered. His self reflection is interrupted by the other two:

"As if you can speak about how to treat girls, you sure were a gentleman when we spoke the first time." She has the words on the tip of her tongue, riled by his necessity of looking superior.

"You came with stones on your hands to scold me, I have no intention of being submissive. And you're not my fan, I do not have to pretend I like you and smile."

"I'm glad I'm not, that means I have some brains! And Rie-chan also isn't his fan."

"You two!" He stops their quarrelling with an authoritarian tone. "This isn't important right now."

"Ah, but it is! The only person that was here with you and could confirm your story about what was in this room is suspiciously not available to talk to, very convenient! This is the only lead you have so far, isn't it? And think about it for a moment, the fact someone had the trouble of coming here and stealing whatever was stored speaks volumes about it! Someone doesn't want you, any student or maybe even the teachers to know whichever strange things they had here! Forget about teeny dramas, we have to get to the bottom of this."

"If they wanted to hide it, it means we were getting too close… I can't believe this happened right under our noses…" She bites her lips in dismay.

"Not only that. You have to understand, if we are aware that the girl also saw it, it's very likely whoever took the things from here also knows it, since the rumors spread quickly in the school… Which means she could be in danger, and you too, senpai. So I'd watch out if I were you."

"In danger…?" Asuka covers her mouth with a hand, flabbergasted. "Do you think someone like that guy who knocked me out could be one of them or related to whoever is doing this…?"

"I don't know, but this is worse than we initially thought. We don't know how many there are and who they are. If they can easily come and go and take objects like this unnoticed, we might be involved in something very perilous."

"Ryou, I don't like to admit it, but he's right, if you did anything to Rie, just apologize, I'll try to talk to her too, but you can't just avoid it. We have to try to convince her to tell us what she saw and find out if she knows about the other two girls or anything else that could help and also warn her we all might be in danger."

Her brows furrow up in a compassionate tone, he takes a deep breath crossing his arms in a contradictory posture, arranging the words to say.

"Fine. I'll try and ask." He grumbles in discomfort. "But that still leaves the problem of who could've taken the things away from here and what they did to all of that… Moreover, we don't know how many they are and if they are among the people who saw the trapdoor that day… It's possible they just have contacts in the school…" He puts a hand to his forehead, a headache paining it.

"I suppose there's nothing else to do in this hut… Let's get out, the air here feels cramped…" Edo goes up first, his eyes wandering in a distant plane of existence as he remembers the latest predictions from Saiou and tries to make sense of that hut.

"We should get going too, Ryou, classes will start soon and you can't afford to be in trouble again…"

He nods uneasily, they both leave, Edo already went away, he disappeared before they could ask him more, a move they found suspicious, notwithstanding, they can't do anything about it now.

At the Osiris Red dorm

Daitokuji happily hums a song while carrying two cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other, he clumsily stumbles upon the stairway and one of the boxes drops, but someone grabs it.

"Gotcha!" Judai grins victoriously.

"Oof… That was close! Thank you Judai-kun!" He sighs relieved that a disaster was prevented.

"Do you need help, professor?" He offers excitedly.

"Ahaha, sure! You can carry this box and I'll carry this one, let's bring it to my room."

"What are those?"

"I recently purchased some chemical supplies and books to study the subjects I teach you all in classes… I thought I could do a little experimenting on my own since many times, the chemistry lessons fail…" He admits with a wry smile on his lips.

"I didn't know you were such a hard worker, professor! Haha, that's a new side of you!"

"You can leave it here."

Judai lowers one of the cartons to the ground, at the entrance of Daitokuji's room, the professor pats his shoulder in a sign of job well done and beckons, but before he can close the door, his student asks nervously:

"Wait! Teacher, have you seen Shou?"

"Shou-kun? Hm…" he ponders with a hand to his chin, denying with his head a tad curiously. "No, I haven't, why?"

"Ah, nothing…" The brown-haired scratches the back of his head forcing a smile. "I just didn't see him this morning, so I was wondering where he was!"

"You could try asking other students if you are worried, but as his friend, wouldn't you know better where Shou-kun could be?"

His lips were curved up, but Judai felt he wasn't smiling at all there. He had to agree with the statement, though. The teacher simply chuckled and closed the door.

"That was odd…" He thinks in dismay for still not having a hint where his friend is. "But he's right, I should try to think where Shou could've gone, we have lots to talk about to prepare our deck!"

At the same time,

At the border of the woods, near the cliff with sight to the beach, Shou sits down, a bundle of rope by his side and some logs of wood, his hands slowly crafting something, circling the rope around the logs.

"I knew it…! I can't win against them at all! They are pros… If Aniki has another partner, maybe he can do it, but…! I can't…" His hands stop unconsciously, his eyes trembling as he sees an image of his opponents looking down on him with a dire glare. "I just can't! They're a barrier I'll never surpass! Just like…" His hands grab his hair, an image of his brother with crossed arms and a harsh expression looking at him sprouts in his mind.

A hand lands on his shoulder, he shrieks, jumping up in fear that he was caught building a raft and that he intended to skip classes. When he stops screaming and turns around, his eyes oscillate confusedly as the person who just touched him steps back.

"You are… Professor's Daitokuji… Niece… Aren't you?"

Rie tilts her head trying to understand why it's important to mention this now, He flinches, sweating liters as she types a message:

"What are you doing here? Won't classes start soon?"

He panics, his eyes averting to the logs and rope he was using to build his escape vehicle, his hands fidgeting as he steps in front of it to hide, her eyes look over his shoulder, her brows angling worriedly.

"I was passing by to talk to my uncle, but it's not imperative right now. You should go to your classes if you don't want to get into more trouble."

Her words try to relieve the mood, it seems to have worked, as he puts a hand to his chest breathing deeply. She bows her head slightly in a greeting and starts walking off, until she hears his shout:

"Wa-Wait!"

When she turns around, he freaks out again, as if he doesn't know what to do or say, her brows angling even more puzzled. Maybe he's just shy? She tries to help, a vague smile on her lips:

"Did you want to ask me something?"

"Ah, yes… You… You and my b- I mean, you and the Kaiser, you two got into trouble recently, right?"

Her posture changes noticeably, her eyes narrowing coldly, this is all people have been asking her recently, it's all about him and what happened, never about anything else, not that she wanted attention, she'd wish people would leave her alone.

Shou jerks at the icy glance he just got, it happens but for a second before she opens a vague smile on her lips again, her eyes becoming more lively.

"Yes. Are you his fan too?"

"Huh, I-I guess you could say that…" His eyes lower to the ground, there's something sad about his expression, he only raises his head again after hearing the consistent typing noises.

"Rest assured, those rumors are not true."

"B-But… Did he… Did he do anything wrong…?" He looks at her in expectation of freeing himself from this anxiety of not knowing anything.

"Besides breaking curfew rules? No. All that happened was that both of us got caught into a prank of someone that wanted to cause us trouble. Whatever else you heard, it's a lie." She bends over a bit so their eyes can meet at almost the same height. "You should ignore them. Your brother isn't a bad person."

She smiles candidly at the last part, his emotions seem to settle down. After straightening up, she notices it's late.

"I need to hurry or I'll be late for classes."

He doesn't have any time to speak as she darts out, a single "Ah" coming out of his mouth as he stretches his hand, he wanted to ask more, but… She's gone already.

"Well, at least she said nothing happened… It's true, my brother would never hurt someone, would he? Or do anything wrong to a girl too…"

He inspires air deeply, letting it out with ease of mind. His eyes almost bulging out with a startle after he recalls the conversation he had right now.

"Wait… Did she say 'your brother?'. No, I must've read it wrong, right? Did I ever tell anyone? Only Asuka should know it, but… How…? How would she know that…? Nah, it was probably my imagination… Under pressure, people can see things that are not real… Right…?"

He gulps dryly, concerned. What if other people find out? He can't shame his brother publicly like this, even more not after all that happened to them recently, if anyone knows that both brothers are in trouble and who he is, they'll be a laughing stock for a while. He can't tarnish the Kaiser's reputation like that.

Inside the school building,

Ryou and Edo check their lockers before the lectures start as usual, some students pass by, they can hear the whispering and malicious smirks as they look at the Kaiser. Edo raises a brow looking discreetly at them. The teal-haired closes his locker with a thud and scares some people as he glares stoically, following them with his sharp, menacing orbs. They avert their eyes rushing out of his sight, gulping their smiles into the throat.

"You'll be the talk for some time…" Edo rolls his eyes, he's quite used to this type of bad attention from people, but just seeing it happen to someone else already makes him annoyed.

There's no answer, Ryou simply stares blankly at the locker on his other side, an empty space there, as if he's pondering about something.

"She didn't show up today… No hurry, you'll probably be seeing her in classes. And remember, whatever you did, just swallow your pride and apologize. Also try to not be too conspicuous when asking her about the things you two saw."

"I know. And I don't want to be lectured by you, you also owe someone an apology…" His eyes narrow as if giving a warning to Edo.

The silver-haired looks away, waving his hand as he goes to his own class, Ryou also takes his leave stopping a few steps to take a last glance back, his brows unwittingly furrowing up, his fists clenching slightly. He messed up this time, didn't he?

As he leaves, from behind a wall at the corner of a corridor, a pink head peeks out, Rie looks around, to ascertain no one else is there.

"Did they finally leave?" She sighs tiredly. "I have to think of a better plan, they were talking for a while, I couldn't hear anything. Maybe next time I should come earlier… Or I'll end up having troubles with class schedules… I can't attract more attention than I already did, it's very hard as it stands now… I'll need to find a way to break curfew without anyone noticing too…"

She glances over the clock on her PDA, going to her locker, a few people passing behind her and commenting something, she feels stared at, a feeling of insecurity stirring inside her. This is getting on her nerves, but as of now, all she can do is give it some time until the fire dies down.

During the classes she can also hear whispers flying around, but gives them a cold shoulder, passing by without ever looking at the faces of the ones gossiping. When she leaves the classroom after class is over, she catches a glimpse of Ryou, arms crossed, it looked like he was waiting for someone outside.

He flinches upon feeling her brief stare, their eyes meet for a second, his lips eagerly opening to call her, but someone interrupts landing a hand on his shoulder. Some younger boys who sought him for advice again. She turns away and walks towards the opposite direction he is while he speaks to them.

"Do you have a moment?" The boy innocently asks, already with his deck on hands.

Ryou looks over his own shoulder to find that the pink-haired girl disappeared, pinching his temples at the failure.

"I do..."

During the physical education classes, they had designated areas for boys and girls, the whole court separated by a wide net dividing it equally. Ryou stares at the girls' side, deep in thought, an analytical perspective.

They're playing the same sports as the boys, he can see Rie timidly standing on the corners of the field, not interacting with anyone, an ashen shade to her expression, she looked as uninterested as the first day when she came to the academy. Does she want so much to not stand out? Because of her limitations? Or is there another reason…?

"He's so absorbed looking over there…" A boy cackles. "Check this out. We'll get him back to earth."

He whispers to his friend, while seeing the standoff, yet focused posture of the Kaiser, taking advantage of his distraction, he takes a volleyball aiming it at Ryou's face, using his feet as a pillar to get impulse and muster all his strength, he throws it.

"Watch out!" A scream echoes alerting the teal-haired, but his eyes don't avert from the other side.

He raises his arm in front of his face and blocks it single-handedly in the air, by pure reflex, the ball bounces off to the floor violently, leaving a visible red mark on his whole forearm, astounding the students and getting some gasps of admiration from his colleagues around.

As the ball bounces up a couple more times while still losing its momentum, his eyes flash to the side, towards the pranksters, a deep maze of lines twisting on his expression, his glare has an intimidating aura to it that sends shivers down their spines.

The bell of the class' end soars once more. He tries to be quick and catch up to Rie on the way out of the courts, wearing his uniform halfway out of the changing room, while walking towards the exit of the court, still zipping his coat fully. She is no longer anywhere in sight by the time he arrives.

Will he ever get an opportunity to speak to her? At this rate he might as well just let Asuka do it since they're in the same dorm.

Later at the library, while carrying a stack of books to attempt figuring out the language on the note he stole from the hut, he has the impression he saw Rie again, she takes a few books out, balancing them on her arm. Her eyes blink strongly for a moment, noticing someone is watching her, her head moving around to locate the culprit. Their eyes meet again, he can't tell what she's thinking from afar, he doesn't get a chance to guess, suddenly she turns her face away and vanishes into the corridors.

He drops his pile of books on the table, sitting down in defeat. It will take a bit more effort to ask her about the incident at the hut, as if he was not time constricted enough, now he has to face the consequences of ignoring the issue before and coming off as the unsociable one.

Near the entrance of the Obelisk's boy dorm

Asuka threads her way to the dorms, she was meant to meet Ryou earlier for the next few days since the teachers will be keeping a close eye on him. Her ears catch the sound of duel monsters. She hides slightly behind a tree, observing the scene as the rays of sunset fall over the top of her head.

Misawa stands with his duel disk activated, across him, an unexpected opponent: Edo Phoenix. Why did he accept the challenge again? He doesn't care about school ratings, but from what he has seen from the yellow Ra so far, he isn't very impressed.

"I'm amused you wanted a duel, are you not afraid of losing?"

"I'm not. This is but a test to my skills!"

Without delay, he finishes the duel after a few turns, destroying his opponent fearlessly with a secondary deck he put together until the time to use his true cards comes.

"An advice, if you're gonna try dueling someone with such a monstrosity of a deck, try to make it pull itself together. Some of your cards didn't even match the effects of monsters and were not useful at all. I can tell you have the brains to achieve such a feat, which already separates you from most of your peers, but you must use it harder if you want to come up with a good balance of cards."

He scolds cockily, but in a very serious tone, as if he's taking this with professionalism. Misawa guffaws loudly.

"What, have you gone nuts because you lost now?" He folds his arms provoking the other.

"Maybe I did! That was such an enlightening experience!" He claims, a smile brightening his face as he checks his cards quickly.

"Ah, so you are really… What?" He's surprised by the response. Misawa's eyes no longer look at him, he holds his deck as if that's his most precious belonging.

"Just now I tested my deck, I can't believe you accepted! I've learned so much through our duel, all the flaws. And I could get another perspective on my new deck!"

"New deck?"

"Yes! I have many!" He opens his Ra coat and displays at least another six stacks of cards. "This one was my newest attempt, thanks to you, I know what to improve!"

He flaps his mouth animatedly, Edo's eyes squint subtly at it. He was… Having fun with the duel? Despite his attitude in thrashing opponents? It was admirable he kept composed through all of it, and on top of that humbly admitted Edo helped him.

"I'd change a few of your traps and maybe switch some monsters." He says honestly.

"Really? Hm… Now that you mention, I think I know which cards you're talking about… They don't have as much synergy with others…" He mumbles in a deep state of thought, as if the world around him doesn't matter, awakening from his concentration when Edo's voice brings him out:

"Hey, you have good skills, more than many of the said obelisk students I've dueled, if you tinker a bit with your deck, you'll go far."

"Really?" He smiles encouraged by those words. "Edo, let's have another duel when I fix this! Maybe you can help me deciding which cards should go in! We may talk another time!" He beckons, his attention revolving around his cards.

"Sure?" He answers bemusedly. Thinking the last part to himself. "What's with this guy?"

Weirded by the strange duel and the fact Misawa left the scene enthusiastic, his face twists in a grumpy knot, unable to understand what went through his head.

"So you can be nice to people too."

The familiar tune startles him as he swirls around, his arms still crossed as he looks at the blonde girl as she stares at him.

"You… What are you doing here?"

"I was going to the boy's dorm, Ryou should be waiting for me there. Have you seen him?"

"No…" He pauses, casting a side glance at her. "Actually, I think I saw him at the library earlier, but I'm not sure if he's still there."

"Hm…" She ponders deeply, not telling him the part she knows what he's doing there, Edo never told them his motivation for investigating, she should keep her share of secrets too. Ryo is yet to translate that page he got in the hut.

"Is there anything wrong? Are you just going to stand there?" He added the last part ironically, she frowns at him.

"No. And since he's not here, I'll go back for today."

"I'll walk you there."

Her steps halt brusquely, she stares at him gaping, her face has question marks written all over. He walks ahead, uncrossing his arms.

"Why the surprise, I thought we made it very clear earlier today that we might be in danger. If someone dangerous realizes that we're poking our nose where we shouldn't, this won't end prettily." His blue orbs sharpen.

She gulps at the notion they're getting involved in something so dangerous, but again, she has no idea if her brother dealt with the same people and if something happened to him because of this.

"It's very considerate of you to do this. But I don't need your help, really."

"Just because we're not on the best terms, it doesn't mean I want to see you in trouble like what happened with that other guy. If that's what you thought. I dislike villainous types."'

His honesty took her by surprise again. She didn't expect to hear this coming from him, but in hindsight, maybe he had a good sense of justice , despite the qualms she had about his personality.

His words about the ominous people who might be behind the curtains repeat inside her mind. If those people are dangerous, then Fubuki might also have been… Her eyes falter for a moment, paying attention to the leaves creasing under her feet, Edo is the one breaking the silence again, a strange statement.

"Hey… If I find something about your brother… I'll tell you."

She couldn't hide the bewilderment in her voice. Was that some sort of implicit apology or what was he trying to do here?

"Why are you saying this out of nowhere?"

"I just think it's fair. I'm also searching for something here…" His eyes become vacant at the last part.

"Thank you."

That was the first time he heard such a genuine tone on her words, no begrudging feeling or anger in her voice. He couldn't help but feel a tad bit proud of himself for that, a nice feeling of a settled matter.

"How long have you been searching?"

"I have been searching for a couple months, but Ryou was investigating even before me…"

"Him?" His eyes open a milimeter, his curiosity picked.

"Yes. It's a bit hard to imagine, right?" She smiles feeling nostalgic by the memories that pop on her head. "He was- No, he is Fubuki's best friend. We've been searching ever since it happened."

"Hm… So this is why you two are glued together…"

He says it louder than he intended, hearing her steps cease, turning around apprehensive, wondering if she'd snap again.

"Look, me and Ryou, we're friends, he's like a brother to me, so I would appreciate it if you could respect him and me more and stop talking as if we're secret lovers. We're not doing anything wrong, we just want to find my brother!" There are wrinkles of annoyance protruding on her forehead.

"I hear you." He sighs deeply, whirling back into the track.

"What are you searching for here in the academy?"

"I know we started on the wrong foot and I'm willing to fix that, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna braid your hair the whole day and tell you stories, just so you know. We're having an odd sort of situation and we all need to work this together, but I like to keep my distance."

The last sentence sounded cold, but she could feel something else in his voice, it sounded more like he was trying to reaffirm that to himself than a frank answer. The walk continues silently, until he stops, not exactly in front of the dorm.

"I'll be leaving here… If any of my fans sees me I'll have troubles and you might get yourself into trouble too. I suppose we will discuss what we found out tomorrow, your other 'brother' won't let me slip away."

He waves his hand nonchalantly in a goodbye. She is weirded by the fact they got a normal conversation that didn't end in an argument, beckoning at him, watching his back as he is engulfed by the forest.

The more she hears from him the more she can't understand. Why would someone like him come to the academy? What does it have to offer? But again, she also has her own reasons, and it's not just about searching for Fubuki. With many thoughts weighing down her mind, she enters the dorm.

They both fail to notice a shadow that looms close to them, Edo walks carefully to one of his excursions on the island, unaware that behind him, someone follows his trail. Rie stretches her head out from behind a tree trunk, unperceived. Her impassive blue eyes observing somberly.

She starts typing a message, a notification causing her fingers to stone themselves away from the keyboard. A message that freshly arrived on her PDA:

"Rie, when you have time, I would like to talk to you in person, contact me as soon as you can."

Her eyes open slightly in astonishment at the sender Ryou Marufuji. How did he even get her contact and why can she feel urgency in his words? Was she not clear about not wanting to be even seen with him to save herself from all the troubles his fans have caused and to avoid getting more attention?

Indeed, she saw him looking her way many times that day, but she thought ignoring would be enough. Did he even bother reading the message she left on his PDA? Or did he miss it? What does he want from her?

She casts a glance at the dark path ahead, Edo's silver suit is almost disappearing from her line of sight.

Reminding her uncle's words about concentrating on their goals. Her lips curve down bitterly, she doesn't have time to think about that now. In an abrupt fashion, she thrusts the PDA back into her pocket and resumes her night stalking, her eyes emptying again.

At the library, Ryou tosses his student device aside, his brows furrowing at the lack of a response, despite the message being marked as read. His eyes focusing on the newest batch of books to read, he combs his hair, gliding his hand on it and making it more unkempt as he tries to make something out of the meaning of the uncanny language on that page.

"What exactly were they researching in that hut or crafting? And who did that?"

With a turbulent mind state, he reads diligently. From the outside, all people can see is how serious he looks, unable to notice the boiling feelings underneath his calm façade. At the same time, under the veil of the night, Shou stands up, surrounded by trees and bushes, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his hands dirtied with earth and scratched with small cuts all over his palm.

"Tomorrow it will be ready! Then I can… I can do it! I won't be a burden to Judai anymore!" His eyes flicker determined and restless.

They all follow their own path, crossing again each other's way. What will be of them is unsure as they fail to see the thread binding them to an unknown fate.