Calm Before The Storm 2

"You don't have to apologize," she said quietly, her head still bowed.

"…"

"Please, don't distance on me either..."

She would hate it, but if I chose to do it, she wouldn't be able to stop me. However, this time it wasn't just a normal choice I chose, but a choice that could determine our relationship in the future.

I couldn't push Alicia away, and she couldn't pull me closer.

"Will you keep… being my friend…?" she asked, her eyes brimming with tears.

Because of this, I already knew what I had to do.

"Most likely."

"…"

"Why would I try to distance myself to my childhood friend? Just because of a simple confession? I'm not that kind of pathetic person..."

It was a lie.

However, it was better than hurting her feelings... God, now I'm regretting the changes that happened to me after getting transferred in the past.

"...."

Alicia's gaze, as she looked at me, with her expression hidden because of her face being obscured by her hair. Though, for some reason, I could clearly understand her silence.

She seemed to be about to say something, but in the end, she just lowered her head.

The hand holding my sleeve was eventually let go, I smiled.

Patting her left shoulder, "Didn't I promised back when we were small that I'll help you fulfill your wishes?" I walked past her.

"You'll be seeing me fulfill that in the near future," I said that with a weak wave of my right hand. Not gonna lie, I'm really glad that we were able to resolve this problem quite easily.

As soon as I left, I continued walking around until I finally saw the twin from the distance. I noticed the two holding hands as I frowned

Without saying anything, I snuck up behind them. "What are you two doing?" I placed both of my arm on their shoulder as I smiled.

"...!?"

Catching by surprise, Leo subconsciously pushed me away before taking a step back as he held Aries.

"Young Master...." When the two saw me, they were stunned for a second before recovering quite quickly.

Leo cleared his throat and let go of her 'sister' and talked to me, pretending as if none of that ever happened in the first place. He was innocently smiling with his eyes closed.

"What do you want from us, Young Master?"

I let the matter go and heaved out a sigh, "I need you to do something from me. But before that, u want to ask some questions..."

"And that is...?"

Staring at him straight in the eyes, I spoke, "Leo, where in the actual fuck did Cossette go? I heard from other students that she's been missing since the tournament started. I know that you've been lying to me. Depending on your answer, I won't use force..."

I then raised both my hands and placed them to their neck.

"If something happens to her that I don't know, and if you ever try lying again..."

I moved forward and whispered in their ears.

"I'll dispose of you both."

***

2 hours left before the first phase of the massacre start...

-Chirp! Chirp!

Somewhere, five professors are wandering around in the deep forest.

One of them spoke up. Her silky black hair cascaded as the gentle wind blew. With her purple eyes that seemingly glowed lightly, she stared at the man before her.

This girl was none other than Cossette.

"Professor Sariell, do you think that the letter that was sent to the principal is true?" She asked, feeling slightly worried.

Sariell took a brief glance toward her and smiled, "Don't worry, it's not your time yet." He said, patting her in the head. Cossette's worried expression was immediately replaced by confusion. When she realized that she was being treated like a child, she then pouted her lips but didn't say anything.

"Let's split up. You guys go on ahead, I'll deal with something first."

Before the four, including Cossette could give a proper response, Sariell suddenly disappeared.

"Where...?"

Sensing that he was no longer there, the professor behind Cossette placed his hand to her shoulder. "Cossette, it's time for us to head back. There's a possibility that the letter is fake, so there's no need for us to be worried about it." He said, turning around with the other three.

"Right...." Cossette didn't refuted to her senior and nodded.

Soon, the four left without Sariell as they head back to the academy.

It would be a long travel. Probably taking few hours or so, but that didn't matter as long as they get back there on time.

...

..

.

As they left to go back to the academy, Sariell who was left behind continued to go deeper in the forest alone.

After walking for about a certain distance, he stopped after sensing a weird feeling, that made the hair of his skin stand up.

-Shiiiing

He took out his sword from it's scabbard and prepared his stance.

"Stop hiding and show yourself. I know direct spot of where you are. If you don't show up, I'll--"

"Yeah yeah..."

Before Sariell could finish his sentence, a man wearing a red bandana in his head hopped down on the tree, landing on the ground. With a serious expression, the man leaned his back on the trunk.

"I know that I'll never be able to defeat you, but... As long as they arrive soon, it'll be worth dying here..." Sariell spoke with confidence as he held his sword with both hands. Seeing this, the man grinned.

"It's not like you'll be able to last a second. I can always catch up to those four whenever I want."

With a smirk, Sariell shaked his head and replied, "True, however, I know that you won't be doing that. As for me, I've been wishing for my time to come for a long time anyway. I'll just let my little brother's son avenge my death..."

"You seem to be a bit confident in his ability." The grin of the bandana man widened as he continue, "Nonetheless, I'll be meeting him soon anyway. I guess I'll test him out to see if what you're saying is right... I hope he can satisfy me."

Chuckling, Sariell stared at the man straight in the eyes. "Of course. That is if you can even hurt him."

"You're being arrogant for someone who's about to die."

"I only have few regrets, so it won't matter if I die. One of them is that I won't be able to see all of you... die."

Feeling slightly pissed, the man began walking forward. Sariell didn't say anything as he activated his ability.

"..."

I'm dead.

Was the last thing he thought after looking into the future for about three seconds.

3...

Taking a step forward, the man raised his right hand up.

2...

Sariell deactivated his ability as he closed his eyes slowly, letting the event he saw happen without fighting back.

1...

At this moment, he felt his consciousness fade slowly. He inhaled his last breath as he lost the ability to move his body.

0...

Appearing right behind Sariell, the man wearing a bandana chopped his hand downward in the air.

-Splurt!

And so...

«Break»

Sariell's head began to slowly slide from where he seemed to have been cut before falling down on the ground.

He was now dead.

***

[12:13 P.M.]

The first match of Alicia had started.

However.

Announcing the start of the match, the referee teleported outside the barrier for safety.

"You may begin!"

-Foosh!

And with just a single step,

-Thud!

"Argh!"

The match ended after Alicia reappeared behind her opponent before knocking him out.

He fell on the ground as Alicia stood there in silent.

The people didn't even have any time to cheer as Alicia ended her match in less than three seconds.

The referee, who got already used to this, just heaved out a sigh before announcing, "Alicia de Vladimir from Class 1A is the winner."

After that, she left arena to wander around somewhere.

While this was happening, Arthur was watching Alicia leave with excitement filling his mind. He couldn't wait for the time they'll be fighting each other. He was too excited that he had to bit his lower lips to help him contain it.

"I want to get this over with already..." He mumbles to himself, tapping his index finger onto the armrest.

Heaving out a heavy sigh, Arthur stood up from his seat and left to wander around the academy. He went to the cafeteria and bought himself a meal before looking around to see where he could take a seat.

As his eyes looked around, "Athan..." He noticed him sitting alone, as always, so he decided to went up to talk to him.

Nudging Athan lightly from behind, Arthur sat down next to him. "Why are you always alone when eating?" He asked, feeling slightly curious.

Annoyed, the cup Athan was holding began to shiver as he forced as smile. Without looking at Arthur in the eyes, he replied, "I didn't come here to school to make friends. I came here to study."

Bullseye!

Arthur couldn't help but grin upon seeing the expression Athan was making.

It's not that Athan couldn't properly converse with the other people, but because he was lacking the ability to deal with someone who act childish. This was also one of the main reasons why he was always annoyed when it comes to dealing with William.

At the very least, William didn't try to tease or bully him for being a loner. And if he did, William might not be able to see the sun the next time he went out.

For Arthur's case, Athan couldn't bring himself to do something to this big oaf since he knew that the plot armor of each protagonist will kick in... I mean, hey, every protagonist has their own plot armor.

"I'll have my chance soon..."

Which came true.