32 - Eye of The Storm

Earth In Words Institute, Entrance

"Are you sure about this?"

Seijuro moves her gaze from the mass of reporters held back by several policemen for long enough to give Kuro a nod.

"They'll have questions. And I doubt my father is planning to indulge them."

Kuro sighs, staring at her through the rearview mirror with obvious exasperation. "I thought you weren't doing this anymore."

"I wish." Seijuro shrugs, returning his gaze with one of tired acceptance. "But this doesn't concern my reputation. It concerns my father's. And the company's. There will be time for what I have planned once the country is reassured their money and future is still in good hands."

"Which is?" Kuro questions, eyes narrowed.

Seijuro laughs. "Sorry, no spoilers. But don't worry; I realized I needed to do something to cope with everything. It won't change much."

"You're killing me," Kuro growls, at last opening his door and walking around the car to perform his chauffeur duties.

As the door opens, a ray of sunlight companied by a sudden and sharp increase of loud, rushed voices nearly brings a frown to the princess's face. Still, she steps outside without delay, fearing she might lose the chance to do so otherwise, and manages a full one step and a half before they've flocked upon her, sealing an almost perfect circle.

"Princess!"

"A quick word please!"

Smile! Smile, damn it!

Seijuro halts, forcing her lips to form something akin to an affected smile as she faces the small army of reporters barely held at bay.

Do they not know this is a school? Do they even care?

For once, the princess is grateful for the presence of her father's glorified police force.

"Is Eden being made available to the general public?!"

"How come no other virtual games were able to integrate the System before?!"

"Why the sudden announcement?! And the competitions?!"

A pressing urge to scream gradually dulls the princess's willingness and patience, amplified by the fact she doesn't actually know the answer to most of these questions.

"Should I open a path?" Kuro murmurs against her ear, having closed the door he opened for her, and now standing with his hand against her lower back comfortingly.

Midst the reporter's raised voices and eager expressions, Kuro's presence is certainly reassuring, his body heat a warm reminder the man would not hesitate to punch anyone stepping too close for comfort; Even if Seijuro herself is more than capable of doing the same.

Still, if she wished to simply avoid the reporters, Seijuro would've used the back entrance as he suggested.

"One question at a time please!" the princess speaks up, raising her hands in the air to grab their attention.

After a moment of more hurried questions, Seijuro points towards a particular reporter, hoping the others will take the clue and wait for their turns.

"Will Miss Aston participate in today's competition?!" the man inquiries, not missing a beat once he realizes Seijuro singled him out.

By competition, Seijuro assumes the man meant the martial one, considering her kimono, to which she points with a flourish and a smile. "Yes, I'll indeed participate. It'll be fun!"

Seijuro stops short of vomiting on the spot. Barely. Still, maintaining her public image is a necessary evil for the immediate present.

At least, that's what Seijuro tells herself as she points towards another reporter, forcing her affected smile to remain firmly in place once the woman's expression brightens considerably.

"If I may ask, why was Eden's announcement made so abruptly? Were there complications regarding the sudden break up in partnership on the part of Irwin; Was that the reason Mr. Liam rushed the release of Eden?" the woman asks, smiling calmly despite the predatory gleam of her eyes.

What?

Irwin has broken their partnership with them? Why is this the first Seijuro hears of it?

"I believe my father planned for the festival as a pleasant surprise," Seijuro lies without as much as a pause or a flicker of her smile. "I apologize if his whims have caused inconvenience for any, but I hope we're all still able to have fun together."

"But-"

Interrupting the woman, Seijuro points to another reporter, glad she was able to easily bullshit her way thus far.

"Will Eden be made available to the general public after its initial release?!"

"Of course! However, I'm afraid I cannot provide any concrete dates as of yet."

Seijuro sees no reason as to why it wouldn't. And even if she was proven a liar later, any number of excuses such as malfunctioning or a change of plans would suffice to rid her of any responsibility.

"Does the Princess believe she'll be able to earn her place in Eden today?!"

"I shall give it my all!"

Seijuro is very much aware of the fact her reputation as a fighter has degraded over the years, lowering her rank to third in the sub-nineteen category, after her most recent stunt with Uren, the foreign prince.

No more.

Even if she has to maintain her overall reputation as a friendly, caring princess from being tainted, Seijuro has decided she is no longer going to sacrifice every single aspect of her existence in order to accomplish that.

They'll see. She'll give them their show.

***

From his vantage point, Uren watches Seijuro Aston as she is surrounded by reporters with growing uneasiness, something stirring in his stomach over the vision of her smile and the memory of their encounter a couple of days prior.

He cannot help but wonder how is someone so young able to hide their real personality this well. Uren is no stranger to lies, but to so utter and completely fool an entire country over years of constant interviews and public appearances?

He'd have gone crazy.

Then again, maybe she simply isn't bothered by the fakeness of it all, considering the complete lack of human emotions the princess demonstrated during their "conversation".

"Do they not know this a school? Do they even care?"

Uren averts his eyes from the scene to give Sara a once-over as she finishes climbing the stairs and stops by his side near the railing he's currently leaning against. For once, the girl doesn't look as though she grabbed the closest crumpled set of clothes available, and seems to have finally learned of the wonders regarding hair combing.

"What's the occasion?" Uren asks, raising his eyebrow playfully at her.

"Ha. Ha," Sara mimics, rolling her eyes as she leans next to him, just with her back toward the commotion instead, as if she couldn't care less about it… Which, Uren supposes, is most likely the case. "It's a festival, duh. It's common sense to dress up properly."

"I didn't take you for the type that cares."

"Hey! I'm usually not that bad … am I?"

Toward the slightly insecure gaze he faces, Uren ends up holding back his laughter. Does this girl really not know how beautiful she is? Or is this some sort of test? Is he supposed to point it out?

Apparently, Sara took his brief silence as confirmation, quickly everting her blushing cheeks to stare below as if suddenly having found interest in it after all.

Hum… Cute.

However, for now, unfortunately, more pressing issues take precedence over Sara's insecurities, and Uren finds himself wondering what sort of questions the people below find significant enough to disrupt the school's entrance and morning routine; And more importantly, what sort of answers is Seijuro Aston going to give them?

"It's like you're trying to burn a hole in her forehead," Sara comments after a moment of relaxed silence.

Uren shrugs. "It's a nice thought, but I'm just curious about what they're saying."

"You mean you didn't tune into any of their channels? You know most of them are broadcasting it live, right?" Sara asks.

Uren nearly facepalms. Of course! How could he forget about the stupid ship implanted in his brain?!

But… How should he tune in, exactly?

Noticing his hesitation, Sara laughs.

"Sorry, I forgot you haven't lived with the System for most of your life like the rest of us. Here."

With a gesture of her hand, Sara causes a flicker of light from her smartwatch to form some sort of holographic display of perfect resolution hovering in the air in front of them, showcasing a close-up of the beautiful Elysium princess standing beside her famous bodyguard as she smiles and nods cheerfully.

Uren blinks, surprised by the princess's cheerful voice companied by many questions from the reporters suddenly ringing next to him, also coming from Sara's smartwatch.

Toward Uren's questioning glance, Sara smiles somewhat apologetically. "I was already listening in. Sorry, I kinda assumed you were too; Look."

Following Sara's pointed finger, Uren quickly discovers they're far from being the only ones performing the technological feat in order to listen to the interview. Many other students have stopped to produce faint holograms (faint from his perspective) in front of them, some of them by themselves, others in groups of three or four, while others still, seem to simply stare towards empty air, although Uren has lived in Fioro for long enough by now to recognize they simply haven't bothered to use their smartwatches and are most likely having the System send the images and sounds directly into their brains.

How could he miss all of them before?

True, those students are surrounded by many others who don't seem to particularly care for their princess's interview as they climb the stairs and head inside… Or, on second thought, are they simply watching without stopping, as Sara had, apparently, been doing this entire time?

***

Earth In Words Institute, Wooded Pathway

"I guess we won't even have classes today… Not that I'm complaining. Competitions in the morning, competitions in the afternoon, competitions lasting for most of the fucking day… We could go grab some food or look for something interesting to watch before ours. Do you think many people went to other places instead of coming to school?"

Beatrice waves away the holographic schedule for today's activities, revealing the fact Melinda most likely hasn't listened to a single word coming from her mouth, if the girl's distant gaze as they walk through the path serves as any indication.

"You haven't listened to a single thing I said, have you?"

"What? Beatrice? Where did you come from?"

As if noticing the smaller girl for the first time, Melinda gives her dress a once over, then the violin case at her side a glance.

"You're participating?"

"We have been walking together for minutes! And I was talking to you the whole time! You can't possibly-"

"Didn't notice you at all, sorry," Melinda interrupts with a shrug, causing Beatrice's blood pressure to instantly rise.

"I don't know what would be worse; For you to purposely ignore me this whole time, or to have actually not noticed me."

Melinda sighs. "Give it a rest already, okay? I'm saving my energy. Not everything has to be about you."

"Saving it for what exactly? You'll win against everybody and then lose to Seijuro. For the life of me, I can't understand why the rest of you still bother. Hasn't the result been the same since middle school?"

"I'd argue with you Beatrice, but then I'd have to lower myself to your level… And it just so happens I'm quite comfortable up here."

"Ouch! Sore spot much?"

Melinda dignifies Beatrice with a turn of her head and a long, hard look…

"The result today might surprise you. Try not to freak out too much, okay?"

Beatrice immediately chuckles, causing Melinda's cheeks to visibly blush.

"Sorry, you sounded so serious when you said you might win against Seijuro… Has that ever happened? Like, ever? At all?"

"She hasn't been the same," Melinda murmurs, although still loud enough to catch Beatrice's hearing.

"What do you mean?" Beatrice asks, a sudden note of seriousness in her voice.

Seijuro hasn't been the same? Is she sick? No, she didn't look sick the previous day.

"Gods, could you be more obvious? You know she doesn't swing your way, right?"

"What?!"

Beatrice abruptly stops, closely followed by Melinda, who turns to face the smaller girl's wide eyes calmly.

"Well, I wasn't one hundred percent sure before… Wow, if looks could kill."

After a quick glance at their surroundings to confirm no other students within earshot, Beatrice hisses toward Melinda, "You bitch… What do you want? Money? Favors? For me to leave you alone?"

To other girl rolls her eyes. "That last one does sound tempting, but no. I was curious, not trying to blackmail you. And besides, I'm pretty sure Seijuro has it figured out at this point."

Beatrice feels her blood draining from her face. "What? She… S-she knows?"

She knows? Seijuro knows?

Beatrice's vision distorts, her legs about to give up their primary functions as the world spins around her.

"Beatrice? Are you… Ah, for fuck's sake!"

By some miracle, Beatrice remains standing despite the constant shaking of her knees. A couple of seconds of hyperventilation, and she even succeeds in stopping herself from regurgitating her breakfast all over her new dress, which cost most of the money she made from reselling the pieces of furniture she couldn't fit in the shoe box (her new apartment, as she has lovingly baptized).

Soon enough, Melinda's worried expression, noticeably closer than before, once more enters her focus.

"Shit, you aren't about to throw up, are you? Because I do not have time for another shower."

Despite her words, Beatrice notices the other girl was ready to catch her, were she to have fallen. If not for the searing hatred currently running through her blood, Beatrice might even have felt grateful.

"She knows? She fucking knows?! Explain yourself! You told her, didn't you?! You told Seijuro about-"

"About what?"

…

"What did Melinda tell me?"

Melinda watches as Beatrice's complexion withers visibly for a second time in the span of a minute, something which would have brightened her day considerably under normal circumstances, if not for the fact the girl looks positively sick as Seijuro walks into the path casually, as if coming from among the trees unannounced was the most common thing for the princess's daily life.

"What the fuck? Seijuro?"

The black-haired girl shrugs. "I thought I might take a shortcut, after the whole fiasco at the entrance. And then I heard your voices… What's up?"

Seijuro tilts her head, staring in between the two of them thoughtfully for a moment.

"You were running," Melinda realizes, shocked, "Off the path… There's no way you could've caught up to us so fast otherwise!"

"And? It's my country, I'll run around if I want to."

Damn it, she has a point.

"And besides, I thought it would make for a nice warm-up for the competition and a good way to rid myself of my beloved citizen- Beatrice? Is everything alright?"