Kyouya sat on the balcony of his apartment, occasionally taking a sip from the can of hot coffee in his hand and watching the city's nightscape, which still looked bustling. He casually reached for his smartphone and turned on the screen; at that moment, the clock on his smartphone read 9 p.m.
"Huh... it's already nine o'clock, huh..." Kyouya muttered.
Kyouya quickly downed the remaining hot coffee, then let out a long sigh and tilted his head back to gaze at the night sky. It had been almost two months since he was fired as a teacher after nearly a year of teaching at the school where he used to work; it all started after he turned down the principal's invitation to dinner.
"I can't just sit around like this... I guess I'll have to look for a new job, huh," Kyouya said softly.
Kyouya closed his eyes and leaned back in his lounge chair when, suddenly, his smartphone rang. Kyouya glanced at the unknown number that appeared on his phone's screen before answering the call.
"Hello, who is this?" Kyouya asked, holding his smartphone up to his ear.
"Hey, Kyouya... it's me, Mikumo."
Kyouya fell silent for a moment when he heard that sweet voice, then let out a long sigh as he rubbed his face.
"Senior Mikumo..." Kyouya said listlessly.
"Hey, come on, don't get so down right away. I know I used to tease you a lot, but I'm not calling you to tease you again!"
"Why are you calling me this late at night?" Kyouya asked, getting straight to the point.
"Geez... You really don't like small talk, do you? Anyway, let's cut to the chase. I heard you're no longer teaching at your previous school. What happened?"
"I got fired on the spot just because I rejected Ms. Suzuhara, the principal, when she asked me out to dinner a couple of months ago." Kyouya said flat out.
"HUH?! Just because of that?!"
"Yep... and now I'm jobless," Kyouya shrugged.
"Wow, you seem pretty chill about it, huh? Did you hate working there that much?"
"Sigh... not really. I actually enjoyed my job there, but from the very beginning, I had a bad feeling about Ms. Suzuhara, who is currently serving as the new principal," Kyouya said in a serious tone.
"Is that so... Hey, do you have plans for the next couple of days?"
"No, why?" Kyouya asked curiously.
"There is something I need to discuss with you. Could you come and meet me over the weekend?"
"Weekend, huh... Yeah, I can make it. It's not like I have a job to go to anyway," Kyouya muttered as he scratched his head.
"Hehe, perfect then. I will inform you later about our meeting spot. I'll talk to you later, good night."
"Okay then," Kyouya uttered.
The call cut off, and Kyouya opened his SNS app to check the meeting spot with Senior Mikumo. Within a few minutes, a message from Senior Mikumo popped up in his inbox, and Kyouya quickly opened it.
"Hmm, okay... so the meeting spot is Kagetsu International Academy at Kagetsu Bay, huh," Kyouya murmured to himself.
Kyouya stared at his phone screen for quite a while after reading the name of the place.
The name sounded familiar to his ears—it was a coastal city built on a giant reclaimed island, an ambitious project by the central government and foreign private investors. Known as the city of the future, Kagetsu Bay grew rapidly within a short time, becoming a shining hub for the entertainment, tourism, and economic industries along the coast of Japan.
Skyscrapers stood majestically along the edge of the bay, reflecting a glimmer on the vast surface of the sea. The city never slept—the daytime was bustling with business activities and tourists, while its nights came alive under the glare of stage lights, music, and the glitz of the entertainment world.
Kagetsu International Academy stood as one of the city's prestigious pillars—an integrated academy that housed talented students from all over the world. Those admitted were not only academically excellent, but also excelled in the arts, sports, technology, and even entertainment management. The academy was known as the breeding ground for many famous figures—actors, directors, athletes, and successful entrepreneurs.
Kyouya turned off his smartphone and casually let out a long breath.
"If I'm not mistaken, one of father and older brother's branch offices is over there as well. I think I'll let them know that I'm heading to Kagetsu Bay," Kyouya muttered.
Kyouya looked back up at the night sky before getting up and walking inside to sleep.
"Maybe there's something interesting over there," Kyouya muttered, tossing the coffee can in his hand into the trash bin before turning off his apartment lights.