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THIS WAS MAX'S VERY first field trip. When he was in his previous school, Max didn't attend it because he didn't have any friends at all. His classmates were also vocal about not wanting to have him join, so Max didn't show any interest in it.

     Max always thought that there was no point in going on a field trip because he could go anywhere in the world without any effort, but now that he's at J.S High with Ari and the others, Max finally understood why everyone's so excited about school trips. It's not really about the destination, but the journey and the memories you make with the people you're with.

     "Want some gum? My ears are always popping whenever I'm on a plane. The gum helps," Ervin says as he shows Max his pack of gum.

     Max, who was sitting beside the window in the plane, shakes his head as he answers, "I'm fine, thanks, Ervin."

     Ervin nods his head and hides his gum before looking at the other passengers who were sitting across them because he overheard them fighting. Unfortunately, the noisy passengers were their friends Ari and Felix, and then there's Gavriil who decided to just wear his earphones so he wouldn't be disturbed anymore.

     It seemed that Felix forced Ari to sit in the middle since he wanted to be near the window. Ari was against it because he didn't want to sit beside Gavriil.

     "Let's switch seats!" Ari practically begs.

     "Can you please just shut it, Mr. Faulkner? We're only going to be on this flight for an hour and a half so stop complaining," Ervin scolds, and Ari finally shuts up, pouting like a kid while crossing his arms.

     Thanks to their class adviser, Class 1-A were forced to sit beside the roommates to which they were assigned. This meant that sitting beside Ervin was none other than their new classmate, Kawanishi Keigo.

     "Is our class representative enemies with the vice president or something?" Keigo suddenly asks Ervin.

     "And why would you want to know that?" Ervin asks back with a low voice. He honestly didn't ask that to scare or intimidate him, but thanks to Ervin's strong aura, Keigo ended up flinching and looking away from him in complete terror.

     Ervin was confused by the reaction, but before he could ask anything to Keigo, Max taps his shoulder and suddenly tells him, "Do you have any snacks with you? My head hurts a little."

     "What? Did you not eat anything when we got here?" Ervin asks, and Max shakes his head as an answer.

     "I think they're going to serve us some snacks later. Can you wait, or do you want me to call the stewards?" Ervin then asks with a worried expression, and Max sighs and just rests his head on Ervin's shoulder instead.

     "It's fine," he says. "I wasn't able to eat breakfast, and I couldn't sleep well either. I thought I was having some sort of panic attack, but on the way to the airport, I realized that I was just overly excited. This is my first field trip after all."

     Ervin was surprised, but at the same time, he couldn't help but think how cute Max was. Who would have known that someone as powerful as Max would feel this way just because of a field trip?

     "Okay, just rest for now. I'll wake you up when the food is here," Ervin says, patting Max's head as Max slowly closed his eyes.

     When it looked like Max was falling asleep, Ervin quietly and gently took out a book from his bag so he could read in peace. Little did he know that someone beside him was staring at him and Max, wishing that it was their shoulder that Max was leaning on.

...

"Alright, everyone! Your luggage will be sent to your rooms. Follow the guide in front of you, and don't make any trouble," one of the class advisors announced as the 2nd-years got out of the plane.

     The sophomores finally arrived at Stepanov's private island. It was relatively large for a private property, and surprisingly enough, it even had a resort that had a pool area, a bar area, and even an outdoor cinema. It really put into perspective how rich the Stepanov Clan was.

     As the white uniforms went to the carts that would drive them to the resort, the brotherhoods arrived a couple of minutes after since they rode a different plane. It was Brave's idea that they join the white uniforms on their trip, but it was Viktor who really made it possible. At first, Janus didn't agree to it, but Viktor told them they could go to their private island for free, so that's when president Janus finally said yes.

     Sadly, they were asked to stay in a different building. There was also a gym on the island where they were required to train for the upcoming reranking. They were only allowed to be with the other students during dinner, so it was not the best trip for them at all.

     "Max, are you feeling any better?" Ervin asks as he and Max followed the crowd of students.

     "Much better actually. After eating that pudding earlier, my headache automatically disappeared," Max explains, and Ervin nods his head, glad his friend was okay.

     "Guys!" Ari then shouted, running to where the two were with Felix just right behind him. When they were able to catch up, Ari drapes his arm around Max and softly tells him, "Forget about the room assignments, Felix and I will just sneak into your room."

     "Oh, what a great idea! Let's just pretend like Keigo and Gavriil don't exist!" Ervin sarcastically replies, making Ari look back at him angrily. But before the two would end up bickering at each other again, Max tells them, "Let's just let this go. We won't be staying in the room all day anyway, right?"

     "But being in the room at night is the best part! We can talk about scary stories, share secrets, and then sneak some booze in and get drunk," Ari excitedly explains.

     "What are you, a kid?" Felix then fires back, making Max chuckle.

     "Fine, Ervin and I will visit your room tonight. We'll only visit, okay? You've been complaining about this since earlier so I'm pretty sure sir Barron has been keeping an eye on you now. You don't want to get scolded now would you?" Max asks, and Ari happily grabs Max to hug him tightly.

     "That's why I love you, Max!" Ari exclaims, and the four continued following the guide in front of them.

     When they finally arrived at the building where they were going to stay, the four friends went to their respective rooms without making any more fuzz. Ari and Felix got to their rooms first, and surprisingly enough, the room was spacious with three single beds. But what really stood out was the view seen at the balcony. You can clearly see the beautiful ocean.

     "Our luggage will arrive later, right?" Felix asks as Ari went straight to the balcony.

     "Yeah," he answered.

     "Okay, I'll just go to the bathroom first. My stomach has been killing me after we ate that pudding," Felix then says before running to the bathroom to use the toilet.

     Ari continues to stare at the view outside their room, enjoying the warm breeze. But as he was getting used to the silence, the door to their room opens. Ari turns around and sees Gavriil walking inside.

     Gavriil ignores Ari and walks straight to one of the beds, throwing himself in so he could rest.

     "You're going to bed?" Ari dares to ask, walking back to the room and approaching Gavriil whose face was buried in his pillow.

     The vice president doesn't say anything so Ari was about to flip him off, but then Gavriil moves his head and directly looks at their class representative before telling him, "I had to finish some paperwork before we left so I'm beat."

     Ari honestly didn't expect Gavriil to talk to him, so he sat on the edge of the other bed and took the chance to properly converse with Gavriil for the first time. "Did you ever want to be the vice president?" He finally asks, and this time, it was Gavriil's turn to be surprised.

     "I'm guessing you're asking me that because I'm an underling of Busters. You're thinking that Busters probably gave me merit points that got me into the Elites," Gavriil explains, and Ari awkwardly laughs it off because Gavriil was a hundred percent correct on that assumption.

     "Well, if we're talking about want then no, I never wanted to be the vice president. But it's a position I need to be in," Gavriil explains, and his answer only confused Ari even more.

     "I knew it, it's hard conversing with you," Ari says with a sigh, making Gavriil chuckle.

     "It's not hard. You just don't like me." Gavriil replies, and Ari immediately leaned close to him and defended, "Okay, let's be clear here. I never said I hated you. You're just a bit...strange, that's all.

     "Strange how?"

     "I don't know, but a normal guy wouldn't have bruises on their knuckles now would they?" Ari points out, and Gavriil unconsciously hides his fingers away, making Ari chuckle.

     "See my point?" Ari then says, finally standing from the bed. "I have nothing against you vice, and I know nothing about you either. But what I do know is that Max trusts you, and if you ever hurt my friend, you'll end up seeing bruises on my knuckles too."

     Gavriil was left speechless by the sudden threat, but before he could even think of something to say, Felix finally heads out of the bathroom.

     Felix was surprised to see Gavriil and Ari intensely staring at each other. He could even feel the tension between them, so Felix clears his throat and approached Ari before saying, "Is everything alright?"

     Ari's expression changes back to his usual face when he looked back at Felix to reply, "Of course. Let's just head to Max and Ervin's room. I wanna see the bar downstairs, I think I saw a billiard pool there too."

     "Alright," Felix replies.

     Ari went out first and Felix was about to follow him, but just before heading out, Felix looks back at Gavriil and tells him, "Do you want to come with us?"

     "It's fine, I'll rest here. Just wake me up if it's time for lunch," Gavriil says.

     Felix nods his head and stares at Gavriil for a while, but then his innocent smile turns into a grin as he says, "I know about you and Max, but don't worry, I'll keep it a secret."

     Felix expected Gavriil to be surprised, but Gavriil just chuckles and tells him, "That sounds dangerous. Shall I give you another secret as compensation then, my marquis?"

     Felix laughs and doesn't say anything anymore. He was about to head out and leave Gavriil alone, but as he was about to open the door, Gavriil tells him, "Keigo." Felix stops in an instant after hearing the name.

     "Keep an eye on Kawanishi Keigo," Gavriil continues, and this time, Felix's expression turns cold, like the name left a bad taste on his mouth.

     "Oh don't worry. I'm already on it," Felix replies before finally heading out of his room. When he saw Ari now with Ervin and Max, Felix innocently smiles again.

     "Looks like he's here," Ari says. "Now, shall we head downstairs?"

     And so the four peculiar friends enjoyed their trip without a single care in the world. They weren't thinking about their academics, their ranks, or anything related to their school. They all just enjoyed their time with their friends, chatting at the bar, swimming around in the pool, and even playing volleyball at the beach.

     It was the vacation that every single 2nd-year white uniform was enjoying to the fullest. Even the professors were enjoying their time too

     "Dinner's ready!" Someone shouted, and everyone went to this hall area where a buffet of food was waiting for them.

     Max and the others grabbed their food and picked a table that was still empty. Everyone was there to have their dinner, so it was strange to see Gavriil eating with them since the vice president doesn't usually eat at the Great Hall in J.S High. Thankfully he wasn't eating alone since he was with the other students in Class A, while Keigo was with his old class, Class D.

     "I think my skin is burning," Ari says while taking a bite of his salad, his cheeks aching every time he started chewing.

     "Ari, you were literally swimming on the beach for at least two hours without sunscreen. Who wouldn't fucking burn?" Felix tells him, making Ervin and Max laugh. "Thankfully I just stayed under an umbrella and read a book with Max, while Ervin went on to play tug-of-war with the other class," Felix then says.

     "We did win though," Ervin shares.

     "We won because Class A is so competitive," Max then comments, and his friends couldn't help but nod their heads in agreement. Now they're just hoping that they'd be this enthusiastic during the upcoming school festival.

     "Well, at least we all had fun."

     As everyone continued to enjoy their dinner after a tiresome day, the doors to the hall suddenly opened. And like they were still in J.S High, four brotherhoods went inside to have dinner too. It was strange to see them outside their school, but it was even stranger to see them out of their black uniform, some were even covered in sweat because they just finished their training.

     The white uniforms honestly didn't know whether to stand or just to ignore them, but of course, like the vice president that he was, Gavriil stood from his seat first and bowed to the brotherhoods, finally making the rest of them follow.

     "Little Toy!" Krist shouted as he and the rest of Max's protectors ran to Max's table, finally making the white uniforms go back to their seats.

     "Max!" Marcus then says, grabbing Max and hugging him. But Max quickly pushed him away since Marcus was covered in sweat, and Max had just gotten out of the shower.

     "I can't believe I'm glad to see all of you. Training was hell," Krist says as he sat beside Max.

     The rest of the leaders sat at Max's table too, while the other members of Jokers, Cigarettes, and BND went to the table beside them. The members of Crazy 8 went to eat in a different room since it would be strange to still wear their masks after training, so River was the only one there. Busters and PHD, on the other hand, were in a private room thanks to Viktor who owns the entire island.

     "I tried to beat Siren during our sparring training, but she's just too damn fast," Cj then shares, but then Siren moves close to the count and whispers to him, "or maybe you're just too slow."

     Cj grins at the statement, but then he flicks Siren's forehead, instantly making the marquis squint. "You fucking—"

     "Alright! We just got out of training, no more fighting please," Hans then says as their food was finally handed to them.

     "So my little brother, how was your first field trip?" Marcus asks as everyone started eating their dinner. They didn't really pay attention to what Marcus asked, but as they were enjoying their food, the question that Marcus asked finally sank in.

     "It's your first field trip?!" Krist and the others shouted in shock, making everyone in the hall look at them.

     Max almost choked because of the reaction, so he takes a sip of his water and explains his side. "Okay, I never went on a field trip, but it's not a big deal. Even though I was the school president, the students didn't want me to be with them so I never really went."

     "That's just the saddest thing in the world!" Brave exaggerates, so Krist hits him, making the others laugh.

     "But it doesn't matter because now I did get to attend. I'm glad because people get to be with my friends and just casually enjoy the day with them. And even though I wasn't able to see you guys at all, I'm glad that you're all here too," Max genuinely says, and his friends and the rest of his protectors became quiet.

     Max was always the type to be strong and intimidating. He faces every challenge with his head held high that his protectors forgot that he's still a high school student. Compared to any of them, Max has the most complicated childhood.

     It might be something that others would just brush off or even laugh at, but seeing how Max appreciates such little things somehow makes them feel like Max is a little brother they have to protect at all costs.

     "You know what, I have an idea," Krist tells them. "How about we ask Ms. Armstrong to give us the day off tomorrow. Let's head to the beach and play around, sounds like a plan, right?"

     "Can we really?!" Rome—another kid who's younger than all of them—shouts in excitement, making the rest of the jesters smile at him.

     "It's settled then, let's all hang out together tomorrow. Let's at least make Max's very first field trip as memorable as possible!" Brave declares, and the others lifted their soda, bottle of water, and even tea, so they could all clinks them together.

     Everyone started enjoying the rest of the night, and when the professors went back to their rooms, the members of Cigarettes got alcohol from the bar so all of them shared a couple of drinks together like casual friends.

     "And then you bowed, and I swear to you I just lost it. I honestly thought you were an idiot," Cj explains, referring to the time Krist bowed to Max at the great hall to give him his crown brooch.

     "It was so dramatic, even for me," Krist manages to joke, making the others laugh.

     "But we can't deny that it was the beginning of everything though," Max then says, and everyone couldn't help but agree. He was listening to everyone's stories, but as he was about to take a sip of his beer, the phone in his pocket suddenly rings.

     "Excuse me," Max says, and Ari nodded his head as Max went outside the answer his phone. He thought that the caller was someone from work, but when he saw the name on the screen, Max couldn't hide his smile. "Hello? Who is this?" He jokingly answers, and the caller on the other side snorts

     "You seem to be enjoying yourself. Ari and Felix haven't come back to our room yet either," the caller, Gavriil, says, and Max smiles and leans on the wall, trying his best not to get caught by anyone.

     "We're just having a couple of drinks with the brotherhoods. Don't worry, I'm not drinking too much. We'll head back to our room after," Max explains.

     "Hmm..." was the only thing Gavriil could say, making Max realize that Gavriil was probably already in his bed, getting ready to sleep.

     "I'm sorry if I wasn't able to accompany you today. I heard from Felix that you were tired and just wanted to rest in your room," Max then says.

     "It's fine, just let me use this time to get some rest. You on the other hand should enjoy your time with your friends. I'd rather you spend your time with them than waste it with me."

     "Being with you is not a waste," Max quickly defends.

     Gavriil became quiet after that and Max honestly thought that he must have fallen asleep, but before Max could call out his name, Gavriil suddenly says, "Your friends...they really love you. Do you know that?"

     Max was surprised by the sudden statement, but then he smiles and nods his head in agreement. "I know, and I'll protect them as much as I can."

     "That's good," Gavriil says. "I hope you also know that I love you too, so protection from you would be great," he then adds, making Max laugh this time.

     While Gavriil was talking about the things he did today, Max suddenly notices someone peaking behind a wall, instantly making the smile on his face turn serious.

     "Gav, I'll talk to you later, okay?" Max says, and before Gavriil could even give his reply, Max ends the call and hides his phone in his pocket. Max doesn't make a sound and slowly makes his way to the side where he saw a glimpse of someone.

     When Max made a sudden turn, a figure spots him and quickly runs away. Max's instincts takes over as his adrenaline rushes in. He chases after the unknown peeper with no effort, catching up to him and grabbing his collar.

     When Max finally saw who it was, Max slams the man into the wall and corners him. "You're becoming braver and braver...Mr. Kawanishi."

     Kawanishi Keigo, who was trying to eavesdrop on Max earlier, was panting heavily after being chased. He couldn't think of any excuse, and he couldn't even say a single word as sweat started streaming down the side of his forehead.

     "You've been stealing glances at me even at the plane. Even in school I've noticed you staring, and now you're eavesdropping on me? You've got the nerve serf," Max says, moving his face closer, his smile turning more sadistic. "What's your deal Keigo? Are you working for someone? Did someone send you to spy on me? Is it Paradox?"

     "W-What?!" Keigo confusingly asks.

     Max continued to intensely stare at Keigo, but when he noticed that Keigo looked genuinely afraid, Max finally lets him go.

     "If you can't keep your eyes off me Kawanishi, I suggest you be careful. I'm not going to be nice to you all the time, and my tolerance is very limited," Max says with a serious expression. "Now go before I end up saying things both of us don't want to hear."

     Keigo gulps and moves away from Max. Max thought that he was going to leave like what he said, but to his surprise, Keigo suddenly bows in front of him.

     "What are you—"

     "I'm so sorry for everything sir Sinclaire, I didn't mean any of this. I know it was very rude of me to uncomfortably stare at you and even follow you here. I apologize for everything," Keigo explains, making Max furrow his brows in confusion.

     "If you don't explain yourself clearer Kawanishi, I'm going to—"

     "I like you," Keigo suddenly says, catching Max off guard.

     "What did you just say?" Max asks, and Keigo stood back up and looked straight at Max's eyes this time.

     "I like you...Max. Please go out with me."

- END -