Bubble Hills Elite High School... and a rundown manor too.

"Hm… Is this the right location?"

ARN looked again at the screen of her phone. Should Doodle Map be believed, the big house that stood before her was the Thompson Manor. But it didn't look like anyone was living there.

In fact, there was a lone sign on the property's fence with "FOR SALE" written in fading letters.

"Did Greta want me to buy this place? Looks like a haunted house or something," she said.

The place was old and decrepit, as if it had been abandoned for a long time. Also, it was so far away from the rest of the town that it was easy to imagine someone yelling so much they made their throat bleed but not being heard anyway.

"Oh, there was a murder here five years ago," mumbled ARN, reading an article she found on the house. "Adam Thompson found dead… Presumed killers found dead too… Rumors of haunting and… a tap that sings the Mothman theme from the 1966 TV series…"

She stopped.

"Eh, I want to buy this place."

Her eyes were now wide open, looking for a way to contact the house's owner. She ended up finding a phone number, but the last four numbers weren't visible.

"Oh… Well…"

The girl turned back, having made a hard decision…

[XXXX-0000. Dial.]

"Oh, hello. Is this May Thompson? Hm? No? Oh, okay… Sorry for bothering you."

She hung up.

[XXXX-0001. Dial.]

"Oh, hello. Is this May… Ah… no… No, I am not Helena, but… if you can explain everything to her, you might as well just give up. I mean, have you ever seen a romance movie where the guy who says that stays with the girl? Hm? Who the hell am I? I am Tata—"

The man hung up.

"Hm… Truth shall be hated eternally. Anyway, 9998 more to go."

–––

Bubble Hills Elite High School. As its name suggests, it is a school for the elite of Bubble Hills. Politicians, attorneys, physicians, stars… whenever someone wanted to show that they had money, they would send their child there.

Finishing your studies there almost guaranteed you a bright future, even just from the sheer quality of the relationships you could forge there—a real paradise for any student.

"Drink it! I said, drink it!"

Yet, sometimes, June greatly questioned the quality of those relationships.

Take April Anwalt, for instance. Daughter of a lawyer known as Mr. Impossible Anwalt, known to have won cases that seemed, well, impossible to win that many times. Well, that very April was teaching another student how to appreciate the taste of the third floor's toilet water.

"April, she needs to breathe a little now."

Then there's Helena Home, daughter of a renowned doctor—yes, the kind of doctor one immediately thinks of. Maybe that was why she was the one tasked with ensuring that the other student wouldn't be "lost" in her appreciation.

Though…

"Come on, Helena, you always say that even though she can actually breathe a little more!"

…that was merely a cue for April to insist a "little more."

"Sigh. If she couldn't breathe a little more, then she would be dead, April," replied Helena before turning to her other 'friend.' "Tell her, June."

Helena gently elbowed June to get her attention.

"Hm? What is wrong? You are trembling," said Helena, her voice as calm as usual.

Last but not least was June Thompson, daughter of a rich corporate executive. She was the one tasked with capturing this moment on her camera, but she had quite a hard case of… shaky hands.

"H-Huh, girls," she began, her voice trembling, "she… she isn't moving anymore."

"Huh?"

–––

An ambulance came later that day to rescue Io Atols, a first-year student that almost drowned in a toilet on the third floor. Investigation immediately concluded that it was a suicide attempt, and no further questions were asked.

When the final bell finally rang, April and Helena approached June to invite her as usual.

"Hey, June!" said April. "There's that new tea shop I have been wanting to try for a while. Do you want to come with us? My treat."

"Yeah… Yeah. Why not?" replied June.

Actually, she wasn't in the right mood to drink tea and eat cakes, but she wasn't stupid. April never really asked for something—she was ordering her to follow her.

On their way to the shop, the three 'friends' discussed a lot of things with a smile on their faces—except for Helena, who just never smiled.

Finally, they reached the tea shop. A finely decorated place with a selection of cakes that only brought water to the mouth. June could now understand why April wanted to visit that place—it was a paradise for any sugar lover.

However, seeing the prices, she realized even their cheapest cake was beyond what she could afford. Definitely not a place she could come to without one of her friends.

"Here! I reserved a table!" said April, beckoning to her friends.

"You went so far just for a cake?" asked Helena, examining the table to find the 'most appropriate seat' using criterias the other two never understood.

"Well, look at the place? The shop is full of clients," replied June. "Not sure you can just waltz in there and—"

"A problem?" asked Helena.

"Well…"

The two looked in the same direction as June. At one table was sitting a tall girl around their age with black hair and a red scarf around her neck. She wasn't eating cakes; she was gulping them. There were many plates on her table and a clearly disturbed waitress at her side.

"What is with that weirdo? Can a girl even eat so much?" asked April, visibly disgusted by the sight.

"Seems so?" June asked back.

"..."

Helena, on the other hand, didn't say anything. She only looked at the girl with a glimmer rarely seen in her eyes.

"Huh, Helena?" called April, passing her hand in front of her face.

The girl seemed to awaken and readjusted her glasses, "Seeking diabetes, it seems."

"Oh, come on! Don't talk about that when we are about to stuff ourselves with cake!" chided April. "Tell her too, month sister!"

"Yeah, it's kinda depressing," added June.

"Hm," made Helena, looking at her wristwatch. "Well, at best you will just gain a few pounds?"

"That's worse!!!" yelled the others in unison before breaking into laughter.

This was the beginning of a rather good tea time. In fact, June was finally able to forget about that student April almost drowned earlier. Why was she even getting worked up over something like that? If Helena wasn't worried, then it would be fine, wouldn't it?