Mika suddenly stopped walking.
Then she slowly turned toward Mash.
Mash immediately recognized that look.
It was the look of someone connecting dots.
Dangerous dots.
"Oh."
Mika pointed at Ritsuka.
"Oh."
Then pointed at Mash.
"Oh!"
Ritsuka immediately became concerned.
"What?"
Mika looked at Mash.
"The senpai."
Mash froze.
Hanako's eyes lit up.
Koharu sensed disaster.
"The senpai?"
Mika nodded rapidly.
"The senpai from your stories."
Mash's face instantly turned red.
"Mika!"
"You talked about him all the time!"
"Mika!"
"The senpai who helped carry your books."
"Mika!"
"The senpai who tutored students after school."
"Mika!"
"The senpai who—"
"Mika!"
By this point Mash looked ready to bury herself alive.
Hanako was having the time of her life.
"Oh my~"
"No."
"Oh my~"
"No."
"You've told stories about him~"
Mash looked away.
"...Yes."
Silence.
The chat exploded.
[Chat:]
"SHE ADMITTED IT"
"CHAT WE GOT CONFIRMATION"
"THE LORE"
"MIDDLE SCHOOL ARC"
"THE CHILDHOOD FRIEND ROUTE"
Ritsuka looked completely lost.
"What stories?"
Mash immediately answered.
"Nothing."
Mika answered at the same time.
"Everything."
Hanako laughed.
Koharu pointed her microphone at the sky.
"WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!"
Nobody knew what she was referring to.
Not even Koharu.
Mika turned toward Ritsuka.
"Wait."
Her eyes widened.
"You're that senpai?"
Ritsuka blinked.
"What senpai?"
"The one that fought a gang."
Silence.
Mash immediately looked away.
Hanako looked interested.
Koharu looked horrified.
The chat froze.
Ritsuka coughed.
"It wasn't that dramatic."
That was not a denial.
Mika pointed.
"That means it's true."
"It sounds worse than it was."
"Ritsuka."
"They were causing trouble."
"Ritsuka."
"They were shaking down younger students."
"Ritsuka."
"So I may have gotten involved."
Mash quietly spoke.
"There were eight of them."
Silence.
Mika slowly turned.
"There were HOW MANY?"
Mash adjusted her glasses.
"Eight."
Hanako blinked.
"Eight?"
Koharu nearly dropped her microphone.
"EIGHT?!"
Ritsuka looked away.
Which was basically an admission.
Mika stared.
"Eight."
"They weren't very good at it."
"THAT ISN'T THE POINT."
The chat immediately resumed moving at the speed of light.
[Chat:]
"HE JUMPED A GANG"
"HE FOUGHT EIGHT PEOPLE"
"WHAT"
"SENSEI'S GENES ARE SHOWING"
"BRO WAS THE MAIN CHARACTER BEFORE THE STORY STARTED"
Mash folded her arms.
"They were targeting middle school students."
Ritsuka sighed.
"Someone had to stop them."
The way he said it made it sound completely normal.
That somehow made it worse.
Mika looked at him.
Then at Mash.
Then back at him.
"So that's why you became your hero."
Mash's face immediately turned red again.
"Hero?!"
Mika pointed.
"You literally tell stories about him."
"Not that many!"
"Mash."
"..."
"Mash."
"...A few."
"A few?"
Hanako smiled.
"Oh, this is getting interesting~"
Mash looked like she was considering whether Trinity had any escape tunnels nearby.
Unfortunately for her...
Hanako had already found a new source of entertainment.
And everyone knew what that meant.
Nothing good.
Once the chaos surrounding Mash finally died down—or at least reached a manageable level—Ritsuka headed toward his first class.
Mika led the way.
Hanako somehow remained nearby.
Koharu remained nearby because Hanako remained nearby.
At this point, Ritsuka had accepted that this was simply how Trinity worked.
The classroom itself was surprisingly normal.
Well...
Normal by Kivotos standards.
Nobody was firing bullets.
Nobody was testing explosives.
Nobody was committing crimes.
So compared to Millennium and Gehenna, this was practically paradise.
Ritsuka took his seat.
Students quietly talked among themselves.
Others reviewed notes.
A few were reading books.
The atmosphere was calm.
Peaceful.
He could swear he heard church music somewhere in the distance.
Not from a speaker.
Just...
Somewhere.
Like Trinity had background music.
Ritsuka wasn't even sure if he was joking anymore.
He looked out the window.
Students walked through the gardens below.
Some were carrying books.
Others were helping younger students.
It felt less like a school and more like a community.
A very large community.
His thoughts drifted back to something he'd noticed since arriving in Kivotos.
There weren't really teachers.
At least not in the way he was used to.
Adults existed.
He knew they did.
He'd met a few.
But the actual education system seemed strange.
Most lessons were handled through study programs, learning disks, training modules, robots, and upperclassmen.
The students basically ran everything themselves.
School administration.
Security.
Public works.
Emergency services.
Politics.
Somehow, entire districts.
The more he learned about Kivotos, the more bizarre it became.
'This place is run by teenagers.'
That thought still sounded ridiculous.
And yet it was true.
A robot instructor rolled into the classroom.
Ritsuka immediately tensed.
The robot paused.
"..."
"..."
The robot continued to the front of the room.
Ritsuka relaxed.
The student next to him noticed.
"Worried?"
Ritsuka nodded.
"The last robot I met shot people for wrong answers."
The student blinked.
"...What?"
"Millennium."
"Oh."
The student immediately understood.
"Fair."
Class eventually began.
And for the first time since arriving in Kivotos...
Nothing exploded.
Nothing caught fire.
Nobody got arrested.
Nobody challenged him to dodge bullets.
Nobody tried to recruit him into anything.
It was just...
A class.
Ritsuka almost felt emotional.
'Finally.'
A normal school experience.
Unfortunately, because fate hated him...
The moment he thought that, his phone vibrated.
A new notification appeared.
Message from Misono Mika.
Ritsuka opened it under the desk.
The message read:
"Nagisa heard you're here."
A second message arrived.
"Good luck."
Ritsuka stared at the screen.
Then slowly looked toward the ceiling.
'Never mind.'
'Normal was too much to ask for.'
Ritsuka stared at the message for a few seconds.
Then immediately typed back.
[Please clarify.]
The reply came almost instantly.
Almost like Mika had been waiting for that exact response.
[She thinks you're cute.]
Silence.
Ritsuka blinked.
Then blinked again.
Surely that wasn't what she meant.
Surely there was additional context.
Surely.
He typed another message.
[Please clarify further.]
A few seconds passed.
Then another message arrived.
[No, that's literally it.]
Ritsuka stared at the screen.
Across campus, Mika was probably laughing.
The traitor.
Another message appeared.
[You made a good first impression.]
[She watched some of your streams.]
[Which somehow helped.]
Ritsuka immediately became concerned.
[Somehow?]
Mika's response was immediate.
[Don't question miracles.]
Ritsuka rubbed his forehead.
This wasn't helping.
At all.
Another vibration.
[Also don't tell her I told you.]
[She'll kill me.]
[Politely.]
That last part somehow made it more threatening.
Ritsuka sighed and slipped his phone away.
Only to notice the student sitting beside him staring.
"...Everything okay?"
Ritsuka thought about the situation.
A powerful student leader from one of the most influential schools in Kivotos apparently thought he was cute.
And his source was his roommate.
Who was friends with said student leader.
And who was absolutely enjoying this.
"...No."
The student nodded.
"Fair."
Meanwhile...
Elsewhere in Trinity.
Nagisa was sitting with a cup of tea.
Everything was peaceful.
Everything was calm.
Then she paused.
For absolutely no reason whatsoever...
She had the strange feeling that Mika was causing problems.
Again.
Nagisa slowly lowered her teacup.
"..."
A distant sense of impending annoyance filled her soul.
Somehow.
Somewhere.
Mika sneezed.
And immediately knew she'd been found out.
Class continued peacefully.
For once.
The robot instructor explained the lesson.
Students took notes.
Nobody got shot.
Ritsuka was beginning to understand why Trinity students looked less stressed than students from Millennium and Gehenna.
Then his phone vibrated again.
He slowly looked down.
Mika: [By the way.]
Mika: [She really does think you're cute.]
Ritsuka closed his eyes.
The girl sitting next to him noticed.
"Bad news?"
"Worse."
"What happened?"
"My roommate is texting me."
The girl nodded sympathetically.
"That bad?"
"That bad."
He put the phone away.
Unfortunately, the universe wasn't done.
Because at the end of class, the robot instructor spoke.
"Mr. Morning Star."
Ritsuka looked up.
"...Yes?"
"You have been requested elsewhere."
Immediately suspicious.
"By who?"
The robot paused.
"Tea Party."
The entire classroom froze.
Ritsuka blinked.
The classroom blinked.
Someone dropped a pencil.
A student in the back whispered:
"Oh."
Another whispered:
"Oh no."
A third whispered:
"Already?"
Ritsuka looked around.
"...What?"
Nobody answered.
Which was somehow worse.
The robot continued.
"The request comes directly from Tea Party leadership."
Silence.
Then every student slowly looked at him.
Like he was already dead.
Ritsuka pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"Correct."
"I've been here for three hours."
"Correct."
"What did I do?"
The robot thought for a moment.
"Unknown."
"That's not comforting."
"It was not intended to be."
Ritsuka sighed.
Meanwhile his phone vibrated again.
Mika: [Oh.]
Mika: [That was fast.]
He immediately typed back.
[What was fast?]
The response came instantly.
[Nagisa wants to meet you.]
Ritsuka stopped walking.
Then slowly typed.
[Why?]
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
Finally Mika replied.
[You know how I said she thinks you're cute?]
Ritsuka suddenly didn't like where this was going.
[Yes.]
[Well.]
[Apparently she now wants to verify it in person.]
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ritsuka stared at the screen.
Then at the ceiling.
Then back at the screen.
A student passing by noticed his expression.
"...Tea Party?"
"Tea Party."
The student patted his shoulder.
"Good luck."
Then walked away.
That was the fifth person to say that today.
Ritsuka was starting to get worried.
Very worried.
Especially because somewhere in Trinity, a certain tea-loving student council leader was calmly preparing for a meeting.
A meeting she had convinced herself was completely professional.
Absolutely professional.
Entirely political.
There was no other reason for it.
None whatsoever.
Meanwhile Mika was laughing so hard she nearly fell out of her chair.
After a while of walking through Trinity's halls, Ritsuka started noticing something.
Students kept looking at him.
Not in the normal way.
Not in the "who's that?" way.
More in the "that's him" way.
Which was significantly more concerning.
He passed another group of students.
One whispered something.
Another looked at him.
A third immediately looked away when he noticed.
Ritsuka sighed.
'I'm becoming famous and I don't like it.'
Eventually he reached the location the robot had directed him to.
At the end of a quiet hallway stood a large white door.
Unlike the rest of Trinity, there were guards nearby.
Actual guards.
Armed guards.
The kind that made it very clear this wasn't a place students casually wandered into.
One of them nodded.
"Mr. Morning Star."
Ritsuka nodded back.
"That's me."
"They are expecting you."
That sentence somehow made everything worse.
The guard opened the door.
Ritsuka stepped through.
And paused.
"..."
The room opened into a beautiful garden bathed in sunlight.
Flowers bloomed everywhere.
Stone paths wound through perfectly maintained greenery.
A fountain quietly flowed nearby.
Birds sang.
The entire place looked peaceful.
Like something from a painting.
At the center sat a table.
Tea.
Snacks.
Fine china.
And three girls.
Ritsuka recognized one immediately.
Mika had shown him pictures.
Kirifuji Nagisa.
The leader of the Tea Party.
One of the most influential people in Trinity.
She sat elegantly with a teacup in hand.
Looking every bit the noble lady people described her as.
To her side sat two other members of the Tea Party.
All three looked toward him as he entered.
The guards remained at a respectful distance.
The atmosphere felt less like a school meeting...
And more like a diplomatic summit.
Ritsuka immediately understood why students reacted the way they did.
These weren't just students.
These were effectively Trinity's government.
One of the girls smiled politely.
Another simply observed him.
Nagisa lowered her teacup.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
Then Nagisa smiled.
A warm smile.
The kind that immediately put people at ease.
Which somehow made Ritsuka even more nervous.
"Welcome, Mr. Morning Star."
Her voice was calm.
Refined.
Exactly what he expected from Trinity's leader.
"Please."
She gestured toward an empty seat.
"Join us for tea."
Ritsuka looked at the table.
Then at the guards.
Then at the table again.
Then at the guards.
Then back at Nagisa.
"...I feel like I'm about to accidentally start an international incident."
The girl beside Nagisa immediately laughed.
Nagisa herself covered her mouth slightly.
Amused.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Trinity...
Mika suddenly sneezed.
She immediately knew the meeting had started.
And more importantly...
She knew Nagisa had made first contact.
Which meant there was absolutely no way she was getting involved anymore.
She valued her survival instincts too much for that.
Back with Ritsuka
Ritsuka looked at the three girls sitting around the table.
Tea.
Snacks.
Guards.
A private garden.
The entire thing felt less like a student council meeting and more like he had accidentally wandered into a meeting between heads of state.
His eyes moved across the table.
Nagisa he recognized immediately.
The third girl he vaguely recognized from Mika's descriptions.
But it was the second girl that caught his attention.
Long champagne-colored hair.
Fox ears.
A tail that nearly touched the ground.
A flower crown.
And eyes that seemed oddly focused on him.
Not in the way Nagisa was observing him.
Not in the way a politician evaluated someone.
No.
This felt different.
Like she already knew something.
Which was concerning.
Because if Ritsuka remembered correctly...
This was Yurizono Seia.
One of the three leaders of the Tea Party and the representative of Sanctus. Seia was famous throughout Trinity for her prophetic dreams and her tendency to speak in strange philosophical riddles.
Which meant she was either incredibly wise.
Or incredibly annoying.
Possibly both.
Ritsuka walked forward.
Nagisa smiled.
"Thank you for accepting our invitation."
"I don't think I had a choice."
Nagisa coughed into her teacup.
The girl beside her laughed.
Seia meanwhile continued staring at him.
Unblinking.
Ritsuka stared back.
The fox girl tilted her head.
Ritsuka tilted his head.
The fox girl tilted hers further.
Ritsuka matched her.
The third Tea Party member immediately looked away because she knew exactly how stupid this looked.
Nagisa pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Seia."
Seia finally blinked.
Then spoke.
"Curious."
Ritsuka sat down.
"That's usually my line."
Another pause.
Then Seia smiled.
A small one.
"Mika spoke often of a star."
Ritsuka immediately knew where this was going.
"Oh no."
Nagisa sighed.
"Oh yes."
Seia folded her hands.
"The star is here."
"Please stop talking like a prophet."
"You dislike prophecy?"
"I dislike being part of prophecy."
That earned a laugh from Nagisa.
Seia seemed pleased.
Which somehow worried him more.
The fox girl looked toward the sky for a moment.
Then back at him.
"The board shifts."
Ritsuka froze.
Very slightly.
Not enough for most people to notice.
But enough for Seia.
"Ah."
Ritsuka narrowed his eyes.
"You're doing that on purpose."
"Perhaps."
"You absolutely are."
Nagisa looked between them.
"Am I missing something?"
"Hopefully."
Seia rested her chin on her hand.
"The king studies the board."
Ritsuka almost choked.
Nagisa blinked.
The third Tea Party member blinked.
Ritsuka pointed at Seia.
"No."
Seia looked innocent.
"The king sees two kingdoms."
"No."
"The king seeks peace."
"No."
"The king—"
"No."
Nagisa was now openly amused.
"Should I ask?"
"No."
Seia smiled.
"Yes."
Ritsuka immediately realized something.
Mika wasn't the dangerous one in the Tea Party.
Mika was obvious.
Nagisa was political.
You could understand her.
Seia?
Seia looked like she'd read the last chapter of the book and was now watching everyone else catch up.
And judging by that smile...
She was enjoying herself.
A lot.
To be continue
Hope people like this Ch and Give me power stones and enjoy