♞

"WE STILL HAVEN'T FOUND him, sir. Wherever he might be, it seems like he is also being guarded by high security," A man says on the other end of the line.

     Marcus - who already has dark circles around his eyes - grips on the phone that he's holding against his ear and angrily shouts, "How hard is it to look for a fucking person?! Do I not pay you enough?!"

     The man on the other line falls silent. Marcus brushes his hair back with his fingers and looks out the window of his bedroom to cool his head down. The sun was already rising, which only means that Marcus has once again been awake for another full day.

     "Find him," Marcus says with a low voice before ending the call and slamming the phone on top of the table.

     Max has been missing for two weeks, and all this time, he and Étienne were the only ones in their family who had the decency to look for him. His father, who he has yet to speak to after his marriage announcement, showed no sign of remorse or worry, which angered Marcus even more. In fact, Denzel wasn't even here at their mansion. He was with his mother Edith at their supposed summerhouse, which now acts as their little lover's getaway.

     With the entire situation that's happening in their family, Marcus was stuck in the middle. He was stuck between choosing to support both of his parents and choosing to support his brother. But even with such a difficult choice, Marcus always had an answer to it. Making a decision on who he should choose was never a difficult choice.

     Like what others have already speculated, Marcus was ready to hand everything to Max as soon as he heard of the marriage announcement. And even though Denzel has not talked to him about it yet, it was already obvious that being the legal eldest would make him the rightful heir to the company, but Marcus has no intention of being one.

     Marcus was not a greedy boy. He longed for a loving family, but that was it. The only genuine love that he has was with his brother who has been with him since they were young. He'll give him the world if he has to, except for one thing, and that was the company itself.

     Because like how they expected Marcus to just hand it to Max with no second thought, Marcus knew too well that that's something that Max wouldn't want to happen. Max was a prideful and just man, and he will only take what he thinks is worthy for him to take.

     "Max, stop hiding from me," Marcus says before taking a deep breath. He closes his eyes and massages his temple, and as the room falls silent, someone suddenly knocks on the door. Expecting it to be a maid bringing him another cup of coffee, Marcus turns around and says, "Come in."

     The door slowly opens, and Marcus was surprised to see that it was actually Max's butler, Étienne.

     "Sir Marcus, the master has returned. It seems like he is back in J.S High," Étienne calmly explains.

     Marcus stares at him for a while, processing what he just said. But after letting it sink in, Marcus clenches his fist and says, "Ready the car, I'm heading to school."

     Étienne doesn't say anything. He nods his head as an answer before taking his leave. As soon as the door closes, Marcus rushes to his dresser and opens it, revealing the black uniform that others greatly feared.

...

The school bell rings, and Max, Felix, and Ervin head back to their classroom after having a meeting with the members of BND and Jokers. They talked about what to do next, and they're only waiting for the right moment to make their first move.

     "I'm a bit nervous. Cigarettes might not be the strongest brotherhood, but they're the brotherhood that's definitely feared. This might not end well for us like BND and Jokers did," Felix honestly says since Cigarettes have the strongest underlings, and underlings can do anything to their fellow white uniforms.

     "I've been strapped in a toilet and been publicly humiliated. I think I can handle a bunch of Ashes," Max bravely answers even though he was unsure of it himself. Of course, he was worried, but if he showed this worry to the people who believe in him, they'll end up more terrified.

     "I hope you're right about that," Ervin says after, and the three finally arrive at Class II-A.

     As soon as they got inside the room, everyone instantly becomes quiet. They looked at Max like he was some kind of ghost.

     "Yes, it's me. I'm not dead yet so relax," Max sarcastically tells his classmates before walking towards his seat beside Ari.

     Thankfully, Max already has a blue armband, which means that he was no longer a serf, but a dweller. Dwellers are usually the ones that are in the safe zone, so no one said anything and just went back to whatever they were doing.

     "Looks like winning Mr. Brains & Brawn helped after all," Max says before taking his seat.

     "Are you kidding me? You're practically a god now. Everyone just wants to get a glimpse of the great Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire. They're lucky that you're even their classmate," Ari tells him, which honestly made Max furrow his brows because he doesn't know if Ari was being sarcastic, or if he really meant what he just said.

     As the two settle down in their seats, their homeroom teacher, sir Kai Barron, finally arrives. And following behind him was none other than vice president Gavriil Alexeev.

     Gavriil places the files on the teacher's table, and then he immediately looks at where Max is seated to check if he was there. It might not have looked like it, but he was actually glad when he saw him.

     "Can't believe I'm seeing him this early in the morning," Ari says with a disgusted look on his face, not knowing that the man beside him was the reason why Gavriil came to class today despite the fact that Elites aren't required to attend their classes.

     Gavriil then takes a seat, and sir Barron starts taking their class attendance. As he reaches Max's name, he looks back at him and says, "Welcome back Maximilian."

     Max nods his head to acknowledge the greeting, and sir Barron proceeds to call the other names. But as he was calling them, someone suddenly barges inside the room, immediately making everyone stand from their seats to greet him.

     "Marcus?" sir Barron asks with confusion, but Marcus ignores the homeroom teacher and briefly walks towards Max before grabbing his arm and pulling him off of his chair.

     Ari, Felix, Ervin, Gavriil, and the rest of the class were shocked at what was happening as Marcus starts dragging Max out of the room.

     Gavriil was about to stand, but sir Barron immediately looks at him with a serious expression, forcing the vice president to remain in his seat as Marcus continues to drag his brother outside, leaving the room completely speechless.

    Everyone doesn't say a single word, so sir Barron clears his throat and says instead, "Alright, where were we?"

     Meanwhile...

     In the hallway, Max was trying to pull away from his brother's grasp, but Marcus was too strong, so Max just gave up and let his brother drag him to who knows where. Marcus doesn't say anything as they arrive at an empty laboratory room. As he closes the door, he finally lets go of Max's wrist.

     "Marcus, I-"

     "How could you?" Marcus immediately asks, not even letting Max finish his sentence. "How could you leave me? When everything fell apart I had no one to run to. I wanted to cry, I wanted to be angry, but I had no one...no one but you."

     Max listens to every word that has come out of Marcus's mouth, and every word had pierced through his heart. Max was built up with emotions, and like what Viktor said, he shouldn't have made decisions when he was still filled with so much anger. He forgot about the people who cared for him, and that included his only brother.

     "Aren't we brothers? When things like these happen we are supposed to be a team, a family. I'm not some kind of stranger Max. You don't just run away and disappear for days without a single word," Marcus continues to say, making Max clench on his chest, trying to act tough even at this very moment.

     "Marcus, how could I..." Max pauses and takes a deep breath before looking back at Marcus. "She's your mother, and I didn't want to confuse you because the last thing I want is for you to choose between-"

     "She gave me away but you stayed. You are more of a family to me than anyone else. Choosing has never even crossed my mind because I will choose you a million times over," Marcus says with a louder tone as tears start forming in his eyes.

    Max stares at him and realizes how tired he looked, emotionally and even physically. The state that he was in made Max feel so much guilt that he couldn't help but look away.

     "You know that I don't care about that company," Marcus finally says, and that immediately made Max look back at him again. "If the time is right I can give you-"

     "We both know that our father and your mother will not let that happen," Max instantly says before taking a deep breath and leaning on one of the tables.

     "I can go down on both knees for you right now to make up for my selfishness, but I hope you understand that I needed my time alone. It was not my intention to worry you, so for that, I sincerely apologize. But what I won't apologize for is wanting time for myself," Max says with no hint of doubts in his words.

    Marcus stares at Max, and for a moment he was once again reminded as to why Max is more of a big brother to him than he will ever be. Max became mature at such a young age, and that maturity is what makes him respectable.

     Max then approaches Marcus and pulls out a handkerchief before handing it over to his brother. Marcus immediately takes it from his hand and uses it to wipe the tears in his eyes.

     As Marcus was doing so, Max tells him, "I have no intentions of forcing you to hand me the company since father has no intentions of handing it over to me either, but do you remember the promise that we made with each other before?" Max then asks him.

     Marcus doesn't say anything but nods his head as an answer.

     "As the eldest, become the rightful heir to the Sinclaire family. Take whatever father intends to give you. Be by my side as one of the greatest, and only then will you be equal to me. If you do that, you will definitely be able to take your long-awaited revenge," Marcus remembers Max tell him in the past.

     "I told you to be the rightful heir to the Sinclaire family, and in exchange, I will be the rightful heir to the Lemieux," Max now tells him. "It is about time we fulfill that promise, my brother. Let's see who will reign in the end."

...

"You are seriously an idiot Max. I'm telling you," Ari says while he and the rest of his friends walk their way to the great hall.

     "Your brother was already giving it to you. I don't care about pride, I'm going to take it. During times like these, we're supposed to be practical," Ari continues to say, making Felix nudge him so he could shut up.

    Max just laughs it off, but he still answered Ari to clear something up. "I'll admit that part of the reason is because of my pride, but honestly it's about my father. Even if Marcus gives me the company, he and Edith will do everything for that to not happen. The only way for me to really take the company from their hands is if I do it my way."

     "So going against Cigarettes will help you with that? Where did you even get such an idea?" Ari asks next, and Max couldn't help but ignore the question since he's well aware that the idea came from Gavriil, and Max isn't ready to share his possible connection with the vice president to his friends just yet.

     "Well whatever you're planning, I hope you're careful. When you were still trying to conquer Jokers, their underlings were already such a problem even though Master Joker couldn't entirely control them back then," Ari reminds Max. He then pauses and looks at Ervin, "No offense to you of course."

     "None taken." Ervin answers.

     "Cigarettes created the concept of underlings, and they have the most organized underlings which they call the Lighters. They're not much of a threat, but what you have to be careful of is the-"

     Max cuts Felix off and continues for him, "Ashes."

     "That's right, the best four underlings of Cigarettes, the Ashes. They're the candidates who will automatically become members of Cigarettes as soon as the senior members graduate," Ervin explains, but then Max suddenly shakes his head and lifts his hand to point at something.

     "N-No...I literally meant the Ashes," Max says, pointing at the four men walking towards them down the hall.

     The students were wearing black leather masks that covered their mouths, and they had the cigarettes underling brooches on their collars. They also all had gold armbands, indicating that they're gaffers.

     "Well shit," Ervin says as he readies himself as the four continue to walk towards them. "Okay, I'll hold them off, you guys run."

     "Are you fucking kidding me? I'm not running off like a coward. I'm an underling too from the third strongest brotherhood. I think I can handle them," Ari says, immediately positioning himself beside Ervin.

     "You two, on the other hand, should run and hide. Our brotherhoods are your protectors, so it's only natural that we as underlings protect you too," Ari says next while looking back at Max and Felix.

     Of course, he was an idiot for saying that, especially to Max since Max isn't the type to just run off like that. He did not train for a month with BND just to run away. He was literally able to tackle Kingston Creed even though he was stronger than him.

      "You're an idiot. There are four of them. If we leave now you'll be outnumbered," Felix tells Ari, and then he and Max join their two friends.

     The Ashes were finally a meter away from them. The four of them were ready to throw punches as soon as they make a move, but just when they thought that they were there to beat them up, the four Ashes walked past them like they didn't see a thing.

     Ervin and the others were shocked by what happened. Felix even felt ashamed.

     When the Ashes were already walking away from them, they finally loosened up and exhaled in relief.

     "Okay, I'll admit it. We're all idiots. Why the fuck did we assume that they were going to attack us?" Felix says, almost making Ervin chuckle since he too was expecting a fight.

     "Well, when there's Max there's always trouble, right?" Ervin tells them, and sadly, he was definitely right. Because as soon as the four Ashes were meters away from where Max and the others were, one of them suddenly looked back and threw something towards them.

     A ball-like item rolls in front of the four friends. They all stare at it with furrowed brows, inspecting what it was. But when Max finally realizes something, his eyes widens from shock and he immediately shouts, "Cover your mouths, now!"

     Ari, Ervin, and Felix were surprised by the sudden command. They couldn't really process what was happening, so before they could even cover their noses, the ball-like item opens itself, and smoke starts oozing out.

     Ari and Ervin immediately covers their mouths as soon as they saw the smoke. Max, on the other hand, ran towards Felix to cover his mouth for him, while his other hand covered his own mouth. But the four were too late as their eyes start to water from the smoke, and slowly, all of them fell to the ground and became unconscious.

- END -