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MAX TAKES A SIP of water from his bottle while he continued to stare at the whiteboard in front of him. The 1st task has finally been completed, but instead of celebrating, Max went straight to their hideout and started planning for the second task.

     "Looks like things ended well. Maybe not for Thomas but for us," Keigo happily says while he finished the bento that he took from the Great Hall.

     "Who would have known that his older brother bought points in the past, and he's even proudly using those points now? I'm a serf, but if I was a gaffer just because of that then I'd be embarrassed too," Keigo then says, looking back at Max.

     Max writes something down on the whiteboard and crosses his arms. "I just hope after the deliberation he'll learn from his mistakes and try to redeem himself."

     "Well, if he doesn't end up getting expelled after his deliberation," Keigo says with a chuckle, closing his bento and throwing it into the trash.

     Max puts the marker down and looks back at his assistant. "That's unlikely. I asked someone if they could reconsider Thomas's deliberation and give him a lighter punishment. Despite what he did, it doesn't mean he's a terrible person. I was able to be with him when I entered the top 10, and I could tell that Thomas isn't entirely a bad person."

     "Are you a fucking saint?" Keigo manages to joke. "And who on earth did you ask for help? I don't think anyone would be able to—"

     "President Janus," Max answers, automatically making Keigo's eyes widen from shock.

     Keigo wanted to make a comment, but words couldn't come out of his mouth. For some reason, Keigo entirely forgot that J.S High literally has Max's surname on it. The most powerful man in their school is still related to him.

     "Anyway, we should focus on the next task now," Max says as he points to what was written on the board: (2) a boy who was "falsely accused" by those with a HIGHER POWER (??). His mouth is sealed, yet his truth is loud for those who are willing to hear it.

     "I don't know what this is about, but I feel like this is related to the first task," Max explains.

     "The first task? You think Daniel did something to this person too? Or do you mean Paradox?" Keigo wonders and Max shakes his head to disagree with it.

     "No, that's not what I was talking about. I meant the buying of points. Have you ever wondered where Daniel bought those points in the first place, or who he bought it from?" Max explains, and Keigo was surprised because it made sense.

     "Now that you mention it, you have a point," Keigo says as he takes a seat in front of his computer. "The task said that his mouth is sealed, yet his truth is loud for those who are willing to hear it. This could be one of the biggest hints."

     "It could mean he was vocal about this issue," Max says, and then his eyes widened when he realized something. "Could it be that he posted about this? Or maybe he posted a video online, something like that."

     "Oh, that's possible." Keigo excitedly says. He was about to type something on his computer, but he quickly stopped and scratched the back of his head like he realized something too. "That could be, but we have a problem. The Elites handle everything that happens online. If this person did post something about the injustice he experienced in J.S High, then the student council probably deleted it already. No one has successfully disclosed anything that happens in the houses. It's just impossible," Keigo explains.

     "Even for a genius hacker like you?" Max asks, and Keigo was moments away from blushing after hearing his crush call him a genius hacker, but he quickly shakes it off as he clears his throat and says, "I-I'm flattered, but what's deleted can't be found. Unless someone has a copy of it, but that's unlikely too."

     "If that's the case then wouldn't the Elites' have a copy?" Max asks.

     "Well yeah, I think they'd..." before Keigo could even finish his sentence, he turns his head away from the computer screen and nervously looked back at Max. "Wait, are you telling me to hack the Elites' computers?" Keigo asked in disbelief.

     Max smiles at him like it was a normal thing to ask, but before Keigo could make excuses, Max starts laughing as he says, "Settle down little boy, I'm just messing with you. If the Elites are somehow connected to this then I know someone who can help."

     "Someone who can help? Who?" Keigo asks, and Max takes his phone and says, "Our classmate, Gavriil."

     "Vice president Gavriil Alexeev?!" Keigo asks in shock. "You're close with the vice president? Isn't he the underling of the kings too? I didn't know you were close to him. I've always thought you were only close with Ari and the others."

     "Did you conclude that after stalking me?" Max asks as he dials Gavriil's number, and Keigo immediately looked flustered. Out of embarrassment, Keigo turns away from Max and started using the computer while Max turned his back away from him so he could talk to Gavriil.

     After a couple of rings, Gavriil finally answers the call.

     "Leigh, you called."

     "I'm sorry if this is a bit inconvenient, but did I disturb you or anything? I could call you later if you like," Max asks, glancing at Keigo who was now busy playing solitaire.

     "No, it's fine. We were just in a meeting with Thomas Anderson Woods. I don't know if you're aware of this, but it seems like he has illegal points. Secretary Richard brought him to the office so we're now talking with president Janus," Gavriil explains, surprising Max because it seems like Richard didn't tell anyone about Max's involvement, which is actually more beneficial for him.

     If no one knows that Max is trying to hunt down white uniforms related to the injustices that happened in their school, then the Elites would most likely not get themselves involved and eventually end up becoming a hindrance.

     "Well, I'd like to explain something about that actually, but for now I need your help on something," Max says, and Gavriil becomes quiet for a couple of seconds. He probably already guessed that this was related to the banquet because Gavriil didn't ask anything about it and just said instead, "Sure, what do you need?"

     "I heard the Elites handle everything in case someone tries to disclose what happens in our school. After all, the Elites' motto is that 'whatever happens in J.S High, stays in J.S High,' right?" Max asks, and Gavriil could already tell what Max is going to ask of him.

     "You're looking for someone aren't you?"

     "Yes."

     "It's hard to talk about this here," Gavriil says, and Max could hear him start walking somewhere, probably looking for a more secluded area so no one could hear him. "We have a record of all the students who attempted such things, but only Ian has those records. I can try to ask for it and think of an excuse, but I can't promise anything," Gavriil explains, and Max sighs in relief.

    "Alright, thank you, Gav. You're really helping me out here," Max says, and Gavriil lowly chuckles and says back, "Of course, that's not for free though. If I get this for you then you promise that we'll go on another date. I'd be really thrilled if we could—"

     Before Gavriil could even finish his sentence, Max immediately ended the call, his face red as he tried to ignore Gavriil's conditions. When he finally calmed down, he takes a deep breath and looks back at Keigo who was now looking back at him too.

    "You call the vice president Gav? I thought only Viktor calls him that," Keigo says with his right eyebrow raised, a little suspicious about Max's relationship with the vice now.

    "That's not important," Max says, brushing it off and changing the topic. "If he does it right, Mr. Alexeev can give us a list of students who tried to post about J.S High. I don't know when he'll be able to give it to us, but at least we can start with something."

    "I guess you're right, but I'll still try to look for some clues online. Maybe there are still a couple of posts left. Who knows," Keigo says, and Max nods his head to agree to it.

     Keigo turns back to his computer while Max faced the whiteboard so he could be able to find more hints. The 2nd task could be anything, and so Max could only guess one thing, and that all this is somehow connected, and this connection could be more significant to him than he might expect.

...

After the heavy rain earlier, the sky finally cleared up. Max looks up and spots the moon bringing light to the vast dark sky above him.

     Max was walking down the pavement, wearing a black hoodie, ripped jeans, jet black glasses, and a pair of combat boots. Max was going incognito, not only because he didn't want to get seen in public, but because he was meeting up with someone important, and yes, it's the vice president, Gavriil.

     Gavriil sent a message telling Max that he was able to get a copy of the list of students who were caught posting about J.S high. He specified that he snuck into Ian's laptop and made a copy on his hard drive. He told Max that they should meet up, but Max wasn't allowed to be seen or recognized by anyone because if anything happens, others will never know that Max met up with the vice president.

    In case Gavriil gets caught with what he did, Max wouldn't get involved with it.

     "Looks like this is it," Max says, glancing at his phone to double-check if he didn't get it wrong. "I told Étienne to drop me off near this address, but I wasn't expecting that I still had to walk for a couple more miles before actually getting here," he then adds before finally going inside the building.

     After getting his I.D checked by the guards, Max entered the apartment complex and waited at the elevator. Max patiently waited for the elevator to arrive, but then a hand touched his back, instantly making Max turn around, ready to pounce on whoever dared to touch him.

     "W-Whoa! It's just me! It's just me!" A boy shouts as he immediately removed his glasses and cap. Max sighs in relief when he realizes that it was actually just his task assistant, Kawanishi Keigo, wearing a plaid shirt and some old-looking jeans.

     Max drops his guard down and flicks Keigo's forehead in irritation. "Don't just grab me out of nowhere. I would have seriously punched you," Max says, and Keigo laughs but bows anyway to apologize.

     "So this is where Gavriil lives. I know I'm not the one to judge but I didn't expect him to live in a place like this considering how big their company is. Thought he'd at least live in a more expensive area," Keigo then says.

     "Gavriil's not living with his parents so that's probably the reason why," Max answers.

     "Is that so? Then have you been here before?" Keigo then asks him, and for some reason, Max felt embarrassed, but he tried his best not to show it so Keigo wouldn't end up suspecting him again.

     "No actually. This is the first time I've been here," Max answers, which was the truth.

     The elevator eventually arrives and the two went inside, clicking the button that will bring them to the 18th floor. When they got there, Max takes out his phone again and checks the room number which was in room 1804. The two went in front of the door and Keigo knocked three times. After a while, the door opens, revealing Gavriil who was still wearing his white uniform, which only meant that he has just gotten back from school even though it was already this late.

     "Hi," Gavriil greets, looking at Max and smiling at him, completely ignoring Keigo's presence.

     Keigo clears his throat and blocks Max from Gavriil's view. "Good evening vice president. Did you just get back from campus?" He asks him.

     The smile on Gavriil's face instantly vanishes as he answers Keigo's question. "We had to fix a few papers at the office since we had to remove the illegal points that Thomas had," he says, and Keigo and Max looked back at each other.

    The two of them already agreed that they won't tell Gavriil, or anyone else, that they had something to do with what happened to Thomas for their own sake. But even though they didn't reveal anything to Gavriil, Gavriil already has a hunch. He just didn't want to ask anything because he knew that Max wasn't allowed to do that.

     "I arrived about an hour ago, but I had to prepare some things so I didn't have time to change. I hope you guys don't mind," Gavriil says, and Max pushes Keigo away from him and answers, "No, it's fine. We should be the ones who should apologize for disturbing you even though you're already this busy."

     "Don't be ridiculous," Gavriil says as he opens the door wider. "Please, come in."

     Keigo happily enters the apartment first, followed by Max. When they got inside, the two were surprised because the apartment was very 'Gavriil-like'. It had a minimalist style and it was neat and clean, just like the vice president. The only thing that was messy was the center table in the living room because of all the papers scattered on top of it.

     "Wow, I knew you were boring but I didn't know that your apartment would be boring too. It's all black and white. It doesn't even have any color," Keigo complains, and Max hits him so he could stop being rude.

     "I have the list on my laptop. Let me show you," Gavriil tells them as he walks to the living room where his laptop was placed. He then opens a file on his laptop and gestured his hands toward it so Max and Keigo could check it out themselves.

      "These are all the names the council acquired so there are students here that aren't in J.S High anymore. Check them all out and see if there's someone familiar," Gavriil says.

     "Thank you, Gav. I really appreciate it," Max says, and Gavriil smiles and nods his head as a reply.

     Max and Keigo sat on the floor and started checking the names on the laptop.

     "Alright, while you guys are doing that, let me just finish the food that I was cooking," Gavriil then says, surprising not only Max but Keigo too.

     "Wait, when you said you didn't have the chance to change your clothes because you had to do something, you meant...cooking?" Keigo asks in shock, but Gavriil ignored him and just went to the kitchen. "Wow, he's surprisingly a good host," Keigo manages to joke.

    "How about you help him out while I check the names? I can do this by myself, and besides, it would be rude if we just let him do the cooking by himself," Max says.

     Keigo grunts in frustration, but he stands from the floor anyway and says, "Fine. You're lucky that I like you."

    Max's eyes widened from shock as he immediately grabbed the pillow on the sofa so he could throw it at Keigo. Keigo just laughs it off before heading to the kitchen like he was told. When he got there, Gavriil didn't even look back at him as he said, "What are you doing here?"

     "My boss said to help you," Keigo replies.

    Gavriil looks at him and stares at him from head to toe. He was going to tell Keigo to just go back to where Max is, but then he realizes that it's best if he's with him instead than be alone with Max in the living room where he won't be able to see them.

    "Fine. Chop me some of those carrots. Just follow what I already did," Gavriil instructs, and Keigo nods his head and did what he was told without any complaints.

     The two started cooking together, which was a strange sight because the two of them are supposed to be the Royals' underlings. Who would have known that two white uniforms who are supposed to be one of the most feared students in their school would be preparing dinner together like they were a married couple?

     Gavriil was expecting that Keigo would suck at it, but when he looked back at him, he was surprised to see that he was actually doing a pretty decent job. "So you know how to cook," he says, putting a smug smile on Keigo's face.

     "I don't know much about your situation, but I'm guessing Viktor told you about mine. Because of what happened to my family, I had to live on my own so I ended up learning how to cook," Keigo explains, and Gavriil just nodded his head.

     The two became quiet again, but then Keigo looks back at him and says, "I've been meaning to ask you this but...why are you helping Max? Why are you risking yourself for his sake? What if president Ian finds out and you got in trouble?"

     Gavriil pauses for a couple of seconds and thought of what to answer. He honestly would have told Keigo what his relationship was with Max without any hesitation, but he wasn't sure if Max was comfortable with that yet, so Gavriil just answered, "Leigh and I are childhood friends. We've known each other since we were kids."

    "What?!" Keigo shouts in shock, almost cutting himself after hearing such a thing. "You two are childhood friends? Wow, I would have never expected that," Keigo says, still shocked by the new information.

    "Wait till you hear about our relationship with Viktor," Gavriil then thought to himself before going back to the dish that he was cooking.

    Keigo was silent for a while so Gavriil takes a deep breath and says, "I know it's a shock since we don't really look close when we're in school, but Leigh and I prefer to keep our relationship like this so I hope you don't tell anyone about it."

    Keigo didn't say anything so Gavriil looked back at him. He was expecting to see Keigo still looking confused, but to his surprise, Keigo was actually blushing. "W-What the hell is wrong with you?" Gavriil asks with his brows furrowed, but Keigo suddenly grabs his shoulder and moves close to him, surprising Gavriil even more.

     "You're Max's childhood friend? So it means you know a lot about him, right?" Keigo asks, and Gavriil slowly nodded his head, confused as to why Keigo was suddenly asking him that.

     "What are you doing man? Let go of—"

     "I like Max," Keigo reveals with no hesitation, and Gavriil literally froze as soon as he heard what Keigo just said.

    "I confessed to him recently and I'm trying my best to make him look my way. You're his childhood friend, right? Then as the Royals' underlings, help me out here. Help me get closer to him," Keigo excitedly says, but then the atmosphere suddenly turns dark, and he slowly lets go of Gavriil's arm when he realized that Gavriil was actually glaring down at him like he was ready to fight him.

     "What on earth did you just say...Kawanishi Keigo?"

- END -