章 24: Turbulence

I got back to the dorm. Nothing happened while I was coming back, at least nothing of note. I was stopped by prefects here and there but I guess my 'Michael" card did come in handy more than I thought.

Knock! Knock!

I knocked on my door. There were a few faces in the hallway but most were in their rooms. The chatter and noise were unbelievable. Mere walls weren't enough to contain so much noise.

After five minutes or so, the door opened.

"Took you long enough." I went in and found myself in a mess. "What happened here?"

My stuff was just like I left it but the same wasn't true for Merin's. He sat on the bed without a word and didn't talk. All this time I never saw that look on this face. Did something happen? I mean, why was all of his stuff on the floor anyway, scattered like a toddler's room?

Even Elsa was more conservative than this.

"What happened?" I asked again. If he still didn't talk, I didn't plan on pushing him further.

"She left me… Natasha left me." He wasn't in tears and he didn't look mad. Just sad?

"You mean the girl from this morning?"

He nodded without looking at me. He looked awfully serious. Was he really that same carefree guy from yesterday?

"You said she wasn't your girlfriend, so what's the big deal? Besides, you said you were going to propose to Eve."

He chuckled. "You of all people should know Eve's out of my league."

Actually, I didn't know. More like I didn't care.

He finally looked at me, eyes wavering. "Nat was someone I loved. I know it sounds cheesy but I've known her for ten years. She already has a boyfriend and yet, and yet I couldn't forget about her. Yesterday…. We almost did it… but that also ruined-" He grabbed his chest and just stopped.

I genuinely felt pity for the guy. "Who's she going out with? I mean if she feels the same for you, she could always break up with the guy, right?" Besides, though they were doing stupid things in this room, I kind of interrupted it.

He snorted. "Blaze Battlesuin. I'm sure you've already met him." He held his holo right at me. There was an article in it, titled 'Blazes rampages again, a junior stands up!' It felt weird and stupid at the same time. "Strong, wasn't he? And he's also a monster who has hundreds of girls. He toys with them and if anyone escapes he just- he just ruins them." His glassy eyes had no light in them.

"But that thing was a Battlesuin?" This just got a lot trickier than I thought. "More importantly, just how much energy does that thing have?"

He really was a monster if he slept with hundreds of girls.

That damned family was pretty wicked and I, myself had issues with that family. That woman my father ran with was allegedly from this Battlesuin family.

"Well," I began. "If you want her… then you'll have to get her yourself. Or regret for the rest of your life. The choice is yours." I didn't want to be the jerk who brought reality back to him or the one who just made fun of him. But I had no choice. Looming in guilt and regret was worse than trying and failing. I had firsthand experience; I didn't want that to happen to him.

"Wh-" He was speechless. I guess that was just normal. I knew firsthand how strong that Blaze guy was.

"But, let's say, he can't get it on, anymore. Well, hypothetically, if he becomes impotent, he won't have a need for his girls anymore, right?" I flashed a smile.

"You're pretty evil you know." He chuckled, but there was no joy in his voice.

"I know." I chuckled too. But we both knew it wasn't as easy as I made it out to be. Besides, modern technology and with supernatural healing practices, that kind of illness could have easily been cured.

Merin sighed. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. But- but I think I should just give up."

I never thought he was that type. He'd give up his love just because something impossible stood in his way? "Then, was it really true love?" My thoughts were voiced on their own accord.

He didn't look at me and lied on the bed, covering his eyes with his arm. "Turn off the lights. It's a big day tomorrow so you should rest." His voice wasn't shaky and he didn't let his emotions loose.

I sighed and turned off the lights.

***

The Battlesuin family, a family of murderers. They were the rulers Of Russia through the shadows. But then there was the question.

Why was one of their heirs here in this academy? There was plenty of reputed academies in Russia after all.

"This just got a lot trickier." My voice was low.

But that guy, that Blaze guy didn't look Russian. I'd seen Russians in my life before, but he seemed more Asian than Russian. Or maybe I just hadn't met enough?

It was past midnight and Merin was already asleep. Or he could have pretended to be asleep for all I knew.

But this situation, this ominous feeling, it just didn't go away. I couldn't run away from reality forever. My father, the fourth member of our family, abandoned us. There was no denying and there was no sugarcoating it. He abandoned us and got a new girl, namely a daughter of the Battlesuin family. I was too young to understand things at the time, but now I kind of knew why.

The Battlesuin family was a family of murderers. They'd do anything for love and money. And they were also cold-blooded warriors.

This family also had the most power in all of Asia: but their powers also came all the way here in Europe. Every major country had sent at least one or two of their heirs to that family for various purposes: most of them always ended up dead, so it was more of a sacrifice than an actual union of families. But maybe, just maybe my father was the first one willingly going over to their side. Why was he so desperate?

Before I knew it, my eyes closed on their own.

***

The alarm woke me up. It was six-thirty.

First things, first. I need a shower!

I went to the bathroom and students around us were barely waking up. It wasn't late but it wasn't early either. After the shower, I took a jog.

My destination? The girls' dorm.

Strangely, this time no one tried to stop me. I received glares just like last time. But this time, things were a bit different.

Among those glares, I saw some eyes of admiration too. It just made me feel awkward and my spine crawl.

"Um excuse me? Can you tell me where Eve's room is?" I asked a nearby girl who seemed friendly enough.

It's not prohibited, is it?

"Of course, but, you are?" I guess, it wasn't.

"I'm her junior from the club." Of course, I still hadn't entered the club, but I did plan on it. Of course, I'd play a little hard to get, but I had to enter anyway, since my chocolate bath- Ahem, my future depended on it. So technically this wasn't a lie, probably.

"I see. Come with me." She led me inside.

But she looked at me with an awful lot of suspicion.

"Is something wrong?" I couldn't help myself and ask anyway.

"No." She didn't look back. "We're here."

The moment she said it, my vision went black.

My eyebrows fluttered like leaves and opened. It was too bright. I couldn't move. Not one bit.

"What is this? Why?" I was bound to a chair and surrounded by girls. This place seemed like a grand hall of some sort.

"How dare you!" The girl who led me here began. "Not only did you shame Lady Evengeline! You also plan on using her!"

"Um- excuse me? I'm a little lost here."

I got all sorts of glares. I did not like it. Did these people have screws loose or something?

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章 25: Interlude: The Academy

Demigrace Academy, an academy for geniuses all over the world was located on a small island south of mainland England, near the golf of France and Italy. This small island didn't belong to any country in particular and hence the academy was open to all students as long as they were special. Students from all over the world flocked in this academy for two reasons. One, the headmaster was the strongest man on the planet, and two, adventure.

When it was first founded sixty years ago, the founding headmaster only said two things. "Be free." Because of this notion, the students often turned to delinquents and no one stopped them: no one could. And most of these delinquents ended up becoming criminals in the future.

The founding headmaster and his chosen bureau of teachers were people who didn't care about society in the least. This island was their own world, so nothing else mattered to them. And the headmaster being an ex-criminal himself didn't help the cause.

With more and more Kin variants awakening all over the world, and as more and more Mutors ravaged through humanity, things didn't look that great for the world. And to top it up, when criminals of the highest calibers came out of the academy and ravaged the world some more, chaos intensified everywhere. Of course, no one could do anything about it. Just one or two nations weren't powerful enough to control a group of humanity's strongest Kin's anyway.

Being the global leader, it didn't stop America. But when America tried to nuke this island, three of its states mysteriously disappeared from the map, further enhancing the chaos. The world was forced to let the Demigrace Academy run free.

Of course, that wasn't all. Some students were genuinely giving it their all for society and trying to make it a better place: so were some teachers. One of these particular students was infuriated with the decisions of the headmaster. This student- Andrew Simon took it upon himself to end the headmaster's reign and make the school a better place. He was the fourth generation of Demigrace academy and one of the strongest of his generation.

There was a tradition set by the headmaster that whoever should win the third year inter-school championship and rank in the top three in international waters, would be granted a special wish from the headmaster himself.

Simon, was confident in his ability but even for him, winning against the international community was no joke. Besides, he never liked lightsabers anyway. Why must men swing so primitive things? That was his thought and he believed it. But he did realize that it was necessary for him to win no matter what. And to a guy who never even thought of wielding a sword ever, this was definitely a great challenge and obstacle.

And for that, he and his friends made up the first lightsaber club, trained each other, and fought in the school tournament. He came out first and went to the nationals. It wasn't easy; no it was one of the hardest weeks of his life. But he returned triumphant securing second place. He was the pride of the academy and the headmaster.

"What do you want?" The headmaster said, smiling brightly. The old man had a long slithery beard and he was also rather fit for his age.

It was an assembly of the whole student body and it was also time to be rewarded. All the students looked at him with awe and jealousy. But they all knew he deserved this.

Simon bowed like a noble bowing before his king. He glared fiercely. "Your position." He spoke loud and clear.

The headmaster took a step back. "What?"

Murmurs echoed throughout the grand hall and the teachers went pale.

"I want to be the new headmaster," Simon spoke again and stood up with pride.

Some say the headmaster yielded his seat. Some say there was chaos that day in the academy and a fight of the century.

But one thing, all would agree and that was, on that very day Andrew Simon took the position of the headmaster and set down three rules. First, there would be a new disciplinary committee to oversee crime in the school. Second, no one would be able to wish for the position of the headmaster ever again. And third, all girls would have to wear short skirts in summer.

Andrew Simon, the second headmaster of the Demigrace Academy, was the very reason why the world as we knew it, stabilized but, he was also a pervert. Everyone learned it that day, the hard way.