785 Confrontation [Pt 1]
"Practical Sessions will properly begin tomorrow. Things get a little heated there, so… I just thought I'd give you two a little heads up."
Once again, Mi'ja made it her responsibility to inform Rey and Lucielle about one of the pertinent class activities that they had to know about. Thus far, she had helped them acclimate to the Academy a great deal, and it didn't seem like she was ever going to let them be just yet.
Despite her cute, child-like appearance, she almost had a motherly vibe about her.
"Thanks, Mi'ja."
"Yeah. Appreciate it."
She giggled with satisfaction as soon as she heard that, a hint of pink flashing on her cheeks.
Classes just ended, so most of the students were gathered in groups, while others were preparing to leave. As a result, the class was a bit rowdier than normal.
"Since it's getting a bit late, and you'll still need time to get adjusted to your dorms, why don't we start going? I can take you guys and show you where you'll be staying." Her kindness really knew no bounds.
As usual, Lucielle gave a heartfelt smile and thanked her for the help, taking the offer of assistance wholeheartedly.
However, Rey had other plans.
"Actually… I was hoping Ad'oni would do the honor for me, since he's a guy… and it seems he's already leaving too."
He intentionally raised his voice so that the departing Adonis would hear him, and the flinch that the boy had as he walked towards the door made it clear that he heard every bit of what Rey said—no, probably the whole conversation between Mi'ja and the two.
Just as soon as he heard this, though, he tried to pick up pace. Unfortunately for him…
"Ad'oni, my man! You wouldn't mind helping out your classmate, would you?"
… It was already too late.
As Rey expected, he was completely stunned by the whole thing, but he wasn't the only one. Even the girls—Lucielle and Mi'ja displayed sheer shock as they watched the overly familiar attitude that Rey exhibited as he clung to the class loner.
The whole class also displayed their fair share of surprise.
'From what I gathered, it seems Adonis was popular when he first showed up too. A few looked down on him as a newbie, but he proved himself and excelled greatly in class. However, he never warmed up to anyone since his first arrival, and apparently that's how he had been in his previous class.' Rey thought as he looked at his prey with a friendly smile.
The Adonis he knew was very charismatic, so befriending his classmates—even to the point of becoming a leader—shouldn't have been too difficult. Yet… why was he going down the loner route?
'Maybe it's tied to his goal somehow.'
"Please be safe on your journey. Tell me all about it tomorrow. Bye!" Rey waved at the flabbergasted girls, dragging Ad'oni out of the class as he marched away.
Reluctantly, the latter finally decided to tag along.
"I never agreed to any of this…" He muttered, looking at Rey in the eyes for the very first time since their reunion.
His golden eyes still seemed the same despite his new appearance.
"Well, shouldn't we help out our classmates whenever we can?" Rey smiled playfully, but Adonis used the chance to detach himself from Rey's grasp.
He clearly did not appreciate physical contact in the slightest.
"Fine. I'll show you to your dorms. You have your Identification Card, right? Your Dorm Number should be written there…" Before both boys realized it, they were walking on Campus Grounds, on their way to the Boy's Dorms. Since the place for girls was in the opposite direction, there was no way Lucielle and Mi'ja could ever bump into them, not to talk of interrupting their conversation.
As a result, Rey had Adonis all to himself.
~Master, you're acting su…~
'Stop it, Emil! This is strategic!' Rey once again denied the accusations of his Symbiote Slime and decided to give Adonis his full focus.
Speaking of Adonis, he had a relatively fast pace as they both walked—most likely due to the fact that he wanted to get rid of the bothersome Rey as soon as possible. Of course, the latter realized this, so he tried to make the best of their time together.
"How has this Academy been for you so far, Ad'oni?"
"Fine."
"Erm… do you have any subjects that you have any trouble with? Maybe it's—"
"None."
"How about your friends? Do you have any friends?"
"I do. Quite a few of them."
"Really? You don't seem to have any from what I can see."
17:30
"Erm… no… but—"
"They're in other classes, so you probably don't know them."
'You liar!' Rey gritted his teeth in frustration as he listened to Adonis half-assed responses. He already knew the guy never made any friends—even in his previous class—so what was he on about?
After being frustrated from asking petty questions, he finally decided to take the kid gloves off and probe even deeper.
Unfortunately for him, he was met with a similar wall.
Every question he asked was either answered perfectly, or deflected in such a way that Rey had no excuse to venture further into the discourse.
All in all, Adonis was a very difficult person to properly assess, not to mention interrogate.
He was completely stuck.
'I can now understand how he has been able to throw off suspicion perfectly until now. He's really good…'
Before Rey even realized it, both he and Adonis had arrived right in front of his hostel door in the Boy's Dorms.
"Here you are. It recognizes your face, or hand print, so you don't need a key to get in." As soon as he said this, Adonis made to leave.
"Wait…"
He didn't bother answering Rey.
It seemed, after fulfilling his role in bringing him to the dorm, Ad'oni was going to rid himself of all contact with the classmate called R'ai.
There was no way Rey could have that after getting to this point.
"... Don't walk away from this, Adonis."