Does Mr. Henry know Beast? Ethan thought, his mind racing.
He narrowed his eyes, the pieces suddenly clicking together in his head. That would explain why Beast was present at the summit. He didn't come alone. He came with Mr. Henry.
Decision made, Ethan stood up from the bleachers and walked straight toward his teacher. The casual, student mask was completely gone, replaced by the cold focus of a professional.
"Sir," Ethan said, stopping a few feet away. "There is something I need to ask you."
Henry looked up, his expression unreadable. He stared at Ethan for a few silent seconds before gesturing to the empty spot on the wooden bench beside him. Ethan took a seat, his posture tense.
"Sir, do you know someone named Beast?" Ethan asked, dropping the name like a test.
Henry didn't blink. He simply gave a slow, calm nod. "Yes."
"That means you also knew my father," Ethan pressed, leaning in slightly, watching for any crack in the teacher's composure.
Henry didn't reply. His face remained like carved stone, completely giving nothing away. The silence stretched between them, heavy and suffocating, completely disconnected from the cheerful shouts of the students playing football nearby.
"If there isn't anything else," Henry said, his voice entirely flat, "you should leave."
Ethan stared straight ahead, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Who are you?"
Henry stood up, towering over Ethan as he looked down at him. "You want to know about me? Well, let's just say I am here for a specific reason. In the middle of executing my own mission, I happened to find you. But you can rest assured—I am not your enemy."
Ethan let out a cold, humorless chuckle. "And you think I'm just going to believe that?"
"Kid," Henry said, his gaze locking onto Ethan's with terrifying intensity. "If I wanted to do something to you, it would have already been done. You, Allen, or any of your little friends... none of you could even touch me."
Ethan's eyes flashed. He stood up to meet Henry's gaze evenly, his muscle memory ready to deploy his fighting stance at a second's notice. "Why don't we find out, right here and right now?"
Instead of getting angry, Henry just smiled. In a movement so fast Ethan barely saw it coming, Henry reached out and placed a heavy, firm hand on Ethan's shoulder. The grip was pure iron, pinning Ethan in place.
"You recently fought Beast, didn't you?" Henry murmured, his voice barely a breath in the wind.
Ethan's heart skipped a beat, but he forced his expression to remain completely stone-faced. So, Beast already told him, Ethan realized.
"If you want answers, you should ask Beast about me next time you see him," Henry said, slowly releasing his grip and taking a step back. "Now, if you don't have anything else to say, you should get moving. Your friends, Allen and Finn are already staring at us."
Ethan glanced past Henry's shoulder. Sure enough, out on the field, Allen and Finn had paused, looking over at the tense interaction between their classmate and their teacher.
Fighting Henry right here would be a terrible choice, Ethan calculated, his survival instincts overriding his anger. I don't know his true strength, his background, or his power system. Engaging blindly is too risky.
"Understood," Ethan said quietly.
Turning his back on the mysterious instructor, Ethan jogged down the bleachers and onto the green grass, seamlessly blending back into the crowd as he joined Allen and Finn for their sprint drills. But behind him, Henry's eyes stayed fixed on his back.
Henry sat back down on the bench, silently observing the students out on the field. From the far side of the volleyball court, Madison was also watching the whole scene play out from the corner of her eye, her gaze lingering on Ethan.
Suddenly, Henry's phone vibrated in his palm. He looked down to see another incoming message from Beast.
Beast: Henry, come over whenever you are free.
Henry: Why should I?
Beast: I want to show you this new kid I found.
Henry: Why me?
Beast: Well, you've always had an eye for talent. Come to my place, I'll introduce you to him, and then if you approve, I'll send him to Loop's third branch. Or maybe to the second branch.
Henry: Okay, okay.
Henry sighed, shoving his phone back into his pocket.
Meanwhile, on one of the upper floors of the school building, a masked boy stood by a classroom window. He was completely still, his eyes narrowed as he looked down at the courtyard, tracking Ethan's every move on the sports field.
A white-haired girl beautiful girl sat a few rows away in the same classroom, quietly observing him.
Isn't he the boy who is always trailing behind Jake? the girl thought, her eyes narrowing as she studied his posture. What is he looking at so intently? And Jake isn't even here today. Usually, it's Jake staring outside...
Before she could think on it any further, her own phone vibrated on her desk. She flipped it over to look at the screen. The message was from a contact saved simply as "Z".
A slow, intrigued smile crept onto the girl's lips. Interesting, she thought.
She quickly tucked her phone away as the classroom door swung open and the teacher finally walked in to start the lesson. As she opened her notebook, a final, dark thought crossed her mind.
They even called me.