♞

ÉTIENNE LOOKS BACK AT the rearview mirror to check on Max who has not said a single word since they left the mansion.

     The article yesterday became the talk of the town like what Ren predicted. Max's face was all over the news, and even though the Sinclaire's were able to delete the original article, the topic itself already became a big buzz.

     Dozens of news reporters were outside their company and even outside their mansion, hoping to get an official statement from the family. The Sinclaire's counselor suggested that they let the news die down than address anything, but the family's silence only made things worse.

     "Your father insisted that you stay at home for now," Étienne says while looking back at Max who had a blank expression on his face.

     Étienne takes a deep breath and looks back at him again. "Leigh, you don't have to-"

     "If you keep on talking I'm going to fire you and hire someone who actually knows how to keep their mouth shut," Max warns, and Étienne finally keeps quiet.

     The drive to J.S High becomes painfully silent, but as soon as they arrive, dozens of reporters suddenly welcome them. When they saw the Sinclaire logo on their car, they immediately swarm them.

     "These idiots never get tired, do they?" Étienne says as he slowly drives towards the school's gate.

     The camera flashes practically blind Étienne, but Max doesn't even look fazed. He didn't even try to cover himself as the reporters continue to press their camera lenses on their window so they can get a good picture of him and sell it for a good price.

     When they finally stop in front of the gate, the gate opens, and about ten guards arrived and pushed the reporters away so their car can finally drive inside.

     Étienne takes a deep breath and parks in front of the Keep to drop his master off. He was about to head out and open the door for him, but Max doesn't even wait for him as he heads out of the car instead.

     Max slams the door shut and slightly adjusts his peak cap before going up the steps towards the main building. While he was walking, students stopped and whispered at each other; some were even laughing.

     "He still went to school?" One of the students asks with disbelief, but Max continues to walk towards the building like he didn't hear anything.

     As soon as he arrives inside, a hoard of students was there to welcome him. Some minded their business, but most of them dared to look. They were whispering and laughing, and one student even threw crumpled paper at him.

     "Look at him walk with his chin up when he's not even an heir anymore."

     "Go home peasant!"

     Students continue to say awful things to Max, making Max stop walking in the middle of the crowd. Everyone looks at him like he's an animal caged in a zoo, and all Max could do was clench on the strap of his bag, not saying a single word to even defend himself.

     Max tries to keep it together, but one sentence finally made him snap.

     "Now he's just like his mother," a student bravely says out loud, making everyone stop talking.

     The atmosphere becomes tense as soon as someone mentioned Max's mother. They're aware of what happened to Ervin on their first day. Even a prince like Kim Hee-joon didn't stand a chance against him when he mentioned her.

     Everyone stares at Max as Max drops his bag on the ground. And despite the silence, he looks at everyone and suddenly shouts, "Shut up!"

     The white uniforms who were standing close flinched as Max's voice literally echoes around the hall. They then back away as Max moves closer to them, his eyes empty yet you can tell how it was overflowing with so many emotions.

     "Shut up!" He shouts for the second time. "Stop looking at me!"

     The students acted so bravely just minutes ago, but now they looked at Max with fear. Not fear of him, but fear of what he has become, and where such anger can lead him.

     Max looks around the crowd, their eyes looking directly at him. No one dared say a word, but Max felt like they were talking at the same time. It was almost like he was being drowned by the silence.

     "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut-"

     Max stops mid-way when a student suddenly arrives at the scene to grabs him. He pulls Max towards him and wraps his arms around him, embracing him and hiding his face away from the crowd.

     "Calm down. It's okay. You're okay," the student says, and Max looks at his face and finds out that the one who was holding him tight was none other than vice president Gavriil.

     The students were still too shocked to even move, but when Gavriil looks back at them, he shows them a terrifying expression before shouting, "Head back to your rooms before I suspend all of you!"

     That single command automatically made the students run away like a bomb was set. And as soon as the students left the scene, Gavriil looks back at Max who was trembling all over.

     Max tries to push Gavriil away, but Gavriil wasn't letting go of him.

     "Take my hand and don't let go..." Gavriil suddenly whispers in Max's ear, and without any hesitation, not even knowing what it meant, Max weakly whispers back, "And I'll walk with you forever."

     Gavriil immediately hugs Max tighter as soon as he heard Max answer him.

     "How stubborn can you be?" He whispers before taking a deep breath and letting go of Max to grab his bag for him.

     Max almost looked like he was mentally absent, so he didn't even react when Gavriil suddenly carried him on his back and said, "I'll bring you to the clinic. I think the doctor can give you a medicine to help calm you down."

     Gavriil glances at Max as he starts walking down the hall. Max doesn't answer him, so Gavriil doesn't say anything anymore either, but as he was walking, he notices that Max's body still trembled, and his eyes were already filled with tears that didn't dare fall because Max was trying his best for it not to.

     "I know I don't have the right to say this..." Gavriil says as he continues to walk down the hall while carrying Max on his back. "But your mother was a powerful woman that loved you very much. She might have been a monster that everyone claims her to be, but she became one in order to keep on protecting you. She wanted nothing else but to be able to protect you."

     "You're only saying that to make me feel better," Max finally says, his voice weak and helpless.

     "Not really," Gavriil answers him. "I'm saying this because she said the exact words to me when I first met her."

     Max was surprised by the sudden reveal. He couldn't entirely believe that Gavriil personally knows both his father and his mother, but instead of bombarding him with questions, Max suddenly hugs Gavriil to rest his head on his shoulder.

     Gavriil knew that he wasn't doing that to thank him or to even act sweet. Gavriil knew that Max was just exhausted, and he needed to rest on someone's shoulder, figuratively and literally.

     "You know, if you're going to turn into a monster, make sure you're turning into one in order to protect something you love. Because if you're only doing this to let your emotions get the best of you, then you're not a monster but a fool...and this castle doesn't need another fool."

...

Ervin ran inside their classroom, his chest rising and falling after running all the way there. As soon as he spots Felix, he runs towards him and grabs both of his shoulders, "Where's Max? Did he come to school today?"

    Felix was surprised, but he immediately composes himself and answers, "No, I don't know. I was wondering about the same thing."

     "Well I hope he didn't because we have a problem," Ervin reveals.

     "What problem?"

     Ervin removes his hand from Felix's shoulders and tells him, "Jokers is going to pull Cigarettes' banner and declare war against them."

     "What?" Felix asks from shock. But before he could even process what Ervin said, Ari arrives at their classroom too. He was panting heavily as well, and when he saw his friends, he instantly runs towards them and shouts, "Guys! We have a problem!"

     "We know," Felix immediately informs him. "Jokers will be pulling Cigarettes banner. Ervin just told me."

     The two were expecting that that was the problem that Ari was talking about, but the shocked expression on his face made them realize that the said problem was very different from what they already know.

     "T-That can't be," Ari says with a worried expression on his face. "BND's going to pull Cigarettes' banner too."

     And just before Ervin and Felix could say anything, siren sounds were suddenly heard throughout the campus, indicating that a brotherhood war was about to take place at the stadium.

     "This is bad. Who the hell pulled the banner first?" Ervin asks.

     "Well, there's only one way to find out."

     The siren sound continuously plays in the background, alarming the students who were heading to their classroom. No one expected to hear a brotherhood battle siren this early in the morning, so when it alarmed, everyone immediately ran to the stadium.

     Ervin, Felix, and Ari immediately went to the stadium as well and joined their class in their usual seats at the bleachers. White uniforms then start filling up the empty seats until a sea of white covered the entire stadium.

     Everyone was talking with each other, betting on who pulled the banner and declared war, but Ari and his friends only had two options; it was either BND or Jokers, and honestly, they hoped that it would be none of them.

     As everyone starts settling down, the Elites arrive, instantly making the students start cheering for them.

     President Ian smiles at the crowd and waves at them, same as Justin who was practically hopping his way towards their seat. His twin brother Dustin looked like he didn't want to be there, while Richard Young walked with complete elegance. The vice president wasn't with them though, but Ari, Ervin, and Felix didn't mind it as much, not knowing that he was with their dear friend Max just at the clinic.

     The Elites stood below the stage where the six large brotherhood banners could be found. The banner that will fall first will reveal the challenger, while the second banner will reveal the challenged.

     "Why is it taking so long?" Ari asks, bouncing his leg up and down due to complete anxiety.

     As everyone continues to patiently wait for the battle to begin, the brotherhoods finally arrive at the stadium.

     Jokers make their entrance first, but instead of showing their usual playful side, the members of Jokers were serious. They were then followed by Cigarettes who showed the complete opposite.

     Crazy 8 makes their entrance next, and then BND, who didn't even wave at the crowd like how they usually do, went straight to where the other brotherhoods are.

     The white uniforms continue to cheer for their favorite brotherhood, while others continue to guess who will battle today. But as they were cheering, trumpet sounds were heard, and a voice announces, "Please rise and give respect to the Royals."

     Everyone stands from their seats, even the brotherhoods who were on the left side of the stadium where they're usually placed. When the trumpet sounds stopped, the two strongest brotherhoods finally make their entrance, and everyone respectfully bows down to them.

     Dangerous Five went in first with their usual poker faces, followed by the Pretty Duo who waved to the crowd with their famous celebrity smiles. Right behind them were the fearsome Hot Wingmen and their leader Kim Hee-joon.

    Busters followed soon after, but to everyone's surprise, the kings arrived without their leader, Viktor. His absence alone surprised everyone, especially Ari, Ervin, and Felix.

    "What's going on? Where's Viktor?" Felix asks as they watch Kim Hee-joon walk towards the stage to take his seat on the throne. Everyone was expecting that Viktor's seat would be empty, but to their surprise, Tanis Hendrix, who holds the title The Serpent, walks his way to the stage to sit beside the prince instead while the rest of the members of Busters joined PHD.

     Tanis takes his seat, and his cold expression matched Hee-joon's so much that they looked like the perfect dictators.

     One thing that everyone has to know is that the king's seat can never be empty. If their leader is not present, the member with the next highest position will take his place. After all, all the members of Busters are kings themselves, and they don't need Viktor to keep that title. It just so happened that Viktor never left his seat, so that's why it was a shock for most of them.

     "The battle is about to begin..." the voice announces.

     The two large LED screens at the front turn on, showing the banners that will reveal the challenger and the challenged. Everyone looks at the screen, and before a banner could even fall, the voice announces, "In today's brotherhood battle, the first banner that will fall will be the banner of the challenged."

     Everyone was surprised by the sudden change of rules, but they were excited nonetheless. Students start stomping their feet as they wait for the banner to fall, and just before anyone could even react, a banner finally falls. It was Cigarettes.

     The white uniforms shout as Cigarettes underlings, the Lighters, jumps up and down their seats in excitement, while Cigarettes immediately stood from their seats as well, pointing at the other brotherhoods to let them know that they were ready for them.

     "Now, for the challenger..."

     As the Lighters settle down, the white uniforms start stomping their feet again.

     "For the third battle of the year, the brotherhood that challenged the counts is..."

     Everyone continues to stomp their feet in anticipation while Ari and Ervin continue to stare at the screen, unsure on how they're supposed to react if their brotherhood's banner falls.

     It doesn't take long for a banner to fall. Cheers should have been heard as soon as the banner falls, but the entire stadium ended up being completely silent. Even the challenged themselves, the Cigarettes, were shocked by the reveal because it wasn't only one banner that fell.

     There were two.

     "The brotherhoods who challenged the counts are...Boys Next Door and Jokers!"

- END -