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"ANTONIO FERNÁNDEZ DE LA Paz was deliberated yesterday as has been suspended. Thanks to the voice record that Sinclaire provided where Antonio admitted to the illegal transaction, his title will be stripped away from him," sir Kai Barron—the advisor of the Elites and the rest of the Top 10—stated as the rest of the members were at the meeting room.

     "He's only going to be suspended? With the mockery he did to our system, he should be expelled," Rank 7 Furukawa Kenzo stated in anger, making sir Barron look at him seriously.

     "That is not for you to decide," sir Barron tells him, and Kenzo huffed but decided not to comment about it anymore.

     "This issue is still being investigated, as well as the incident with Thomas Anderson Woods. But even though the two of them have been demoted, your ranks will currently not change for now. We'll just announce what we'll do after this is over," sir Barron explains, making everyone nod their head in understanding.

     Sir Barron looks at the 8 remaining white uniforms in front of him and massaged his temple in frustration. "I am disappointed. I can't believe something like this has happened in our own house. This is definitely an embarrassing incident not only in J.S High but in the rest of the houses as well. Always remember that your actions reflect our school, that is all. You may go," sir Barron finishes.

     Everyone stood from their seats and bowed to their advisor as he walked away from the room. As soon as he was gone, Ian, the president of the Elites, looked at the others and told them, "I hope this is a lesson to everyone, and to myself. We should always remember that there is no shortcut when we want to aim high. This incident should not happen again, is that understood?"

     "Yes president Ian," the white uniforms answered in unison.

     Ian then looks at Max and approaches him. "And Max, thank you for your hard work. As the president, I am ashamed. You have solved more injustices in a short amount of time than I will ever have. For that, I want to thank you."

     Ian was about to bow to him, but Max immediately grabbed Ian by the shoulder and stopped him, surprising not only Ian but the rest of the top 10 as well.

     "N-No, please don't bow to me. I didn't do this by myself anyway. And it's the least I could do," Max tells him, and Ian couldn't help but smile and nod his head in understanding.

     "Alright, if that's what you think then I won't put you in the spotlight any further," Ian says, looking back at the Elites and nodding his head towards them before walking out of the room.

     As the other members were heading out as well, a white uniform decides to enter right after. It was Max's task partner, Kawanishi Keigo.

     "Max!" Keigo calls out as he approached him. "How was it? Did you rank up?" He then asks, and Max fixes his cap and shakes his head.

     "It's not really important. I'm just glad uncle didn't expel Antonio," Max honestly says, and Keigo couldn't help but smile in relief as well.

    "You shouldn't be relieved," someone suddenly says, making Max and Keigo turn their heads to look at him.

     Rank 7 Kenzo approaches Max and Keigo and adjusts his glasses. "Antonio and Thomas set a terrible example. The white uniforms who will find out about this will laugh at us and look at this incident lightly. For me, the best decision was to still expel them," Kenzo explains.

     Max didn't want to comment. He somehow understood what Kenzo meant, but at the same time, he wanted things to be like Lincoln High. Gengxin explained to them that Lincoln rarely expels their students as they deserve a second chance. After all, they're in school to learn.

     "It's true that Thomas and Antonio did things that can be considered shameful, but at the same time, we should know better. We knew who those two were, and we knew that they were respectable and capable white uniforms. Just because they made mistakes, it does not mean we should damn them forever," Max answers, and Kenzo just adjusts his glasses again and decides not to say anything anymore even though he knew that Max was right.

     Kenzo then looks at Keigo, making the poor man flinch for some reason.

     Kenzo stares at him, wondering who he was and why he was with Max, so Keigo immediately bowed to the gaffer and introduced himself, "My name is Kawanishi Keigo. It is a pleasure to meet you."

     Kenzo doesn't say anything, so Keigo tried to have a conversation with him instead. "You know, your parents must have loved you a lot to give you a name that means strong and healthy," Keigo says before awkwardly scratching the back of his head, unsure if it was right for him to say that.

     Kenzo remained silent for a while, but then he takes a deep breath and explains, "It could be, but my family is renowned painters, so my parents named me after the painter Kenzo Okada. I still do like the other meaning behind my name though."

     "Oh, I see," Keigo says, genuinely surprised by the sudden fact.

     "Well, I'll head out first. See you around," Kenzo then says, looking at Max and Keigo before heading out of the room.

     When the two were now left alone, Keigo looks back at his boss and tells him, "Max, today's our last day to fulfill the tasks for the banquet. Do you have any leads? Do you know anyone who could fit the description of our last task?"

     "I'm not sure just yet, but before that, there's something I want to do first," Max explains, making Keigo tilt his head to the side.

     "What is it?"

     "If you wanna know then follow me," Max answers instead before stepping out of the room, Keigo following right behind him as the two went straight to the top floor of the West Tower.

     Keigo was confused about why they were even there, but when the two got to the end of the hall, Keigo was surprised to see the president of J.S High himself, Janus Sinclaire.

     Keigo literally froze as his mouth was left wide open in shock. He couldn't believe that he was facing the man who their school was named after.

     "President Janus!" Keigo quickly says, bowing down to Janus as Janus walked towards them so he could greet them too.

     "Oh, so you must be Kawanishi Keigo. I'm glad to personally meet you like this. My nephew had said a lot of good things about you," Janus suddenly says, automatically making Keigo start blushing.

     Max on the other hand steps in front of Keigo and tells his uncle, "Thank you so much for fulfilling my request like this president Janus, as well as my previous request to not suspend Thomas Woods," Max says with a bow, making Janus chuckle as he patted his nephew's shoulder.

     "No, I should be the one thanking you," Janus then says as Max looks back at him. "J.S High is not perfect, but it does strive to be one. I know that I have not been the best president, but thank you for not giving up on this school."

     Max was surprised by the sudden appreciation from his uncle because Janus wasn't the type to say things like this, but he smiles and him anyway and nods his head happily accepting the thanks.

     "Well, he's waiting inside that room. I hope you can properly convey what you want to tell him. I'll be rooting for you," Janus says to Max before looking back at Keigo this time. "Anyway, I'm heading back to my office first since I have a meeting to attend, but thank you for helping my nephew. "

     "Y-yes, of course," Keigo says, bowing to Janus again as Janus finally walks away.

     As soon as Janus was out of sight, Keigo looks back at Max and tells him, "What the hell was that?! That was freakin' president Janus Sinclaire! Why didn't you tell me that you were meeting up with him? I should have fixed myself at least."

     "It's because I wasn't meeting up with him in the first place," Max says, emphasizing the word him, which only made Keigo furrow his brows in confusion.

     "Just wait here for now, okay?" Max then says, and Keigo obediently nodded his head, waiting outside as Max went inside the room.

    The room was actually an old office that was now empty, and sitting at one of the tables was none other than the former rank 8, Antonio Fernández de la Paz. Antonio was quietly waiting for someone to arrive, but when Max entered the room, Antonio's face instantly turned bitter.

     "I should have known it was you," Antonio says with irritation as Max approached him. "President Janus told me that someone wanted to talk to me about an important matter. I should have known that you were the one who requested to meet up with me."

     "I'm sorry if I had to ask the president. I knew you weren't going to want to talk to me even if I asked," Max said, and Antonio just crossed his arms and looked away from him.

     Max takes a deep breath and sat in front of Antonio. As soon as he sat across from him, Antonio looks back at Max and suddenly says, "I know why you're here, and like what I already told the Elites, I don't know every single name of the people at the auction. I'm just an organizer. It's not like I—"

     "You don't have to act," Max cuts off, instantly making Antonio stop midsentence.

     "What?" Antonio confusingly asks.

     "You don't have to keep acting," Max elaborates, but Antonio was still left confused.

     Max took another deep breath and suddenly removed his peak cap. With a serious expression on his face, he looks at Antonio and tells him, "You're right. I will never know your struggle. I will never in a million years be able to understand what you went through."

     "What are you talking about?"

     "I believe that what you did was wrong, that fact will not change. But I also believe that you made a mistake because of desperation, and that is something that I want to help you with," Max continues to say, leaving Antonio lost for words.

     Max adjusts his uniform and stood up from his seat. "Mr. de la Paz, please allow me to be your benefactor."

     "W-what?" Antonio asks in shock, immediately standing up from his seat as well.

     "I want you to finish your studies at J.S High. I want you to go to any college that you desire and find your real passion. I want you to stop forcing yourself to go on stage, and through all that, I will support you till the end as a part of your audience that will watch you grow into a more promising man," Max explains to him with conviction, leaving Antonio speechless.

     "I know...I know that I will never be able to understand your struggles, and I know that this isn't much, but I hope you allow me to help you like this," Max explains before suddenly bowing in front of Antonio.

     Antonio covered his mouth in shock as he stared at Max in disbelief. He couldn't understand why Max was going this far just because of this. He couldn't believe that there was a Sinclaire who was as empathetic as him.

     "Why?" Antonio finally asks, making Max stand back up to face him.

     "I don't know," Max honestly says. "I don't know if I'm doing too much, or if I'm stepping into your boundaries, and of course, I'm not going to force you to accept my offer right now, but with everything I've done, I want to help you because I have the ability and the resources to do so. There's no hidden meaning or agenda behind it."

    "Are you for real?" Antonio asks, and after a second, he covers his face as tears stream down his cheeks.

    Max was surprised, but he smiles and approaches Antonio to pat his shoulder, but before he could even do so, Antonio grabs his hand and pulls him for a hug.

    Max was flustered, but he chuckles and hugs Antonio back.

     "T-Thank you," Antonio tells him, and Max pats his back before finally letting go.

     "I guess that was all I wanted to say. Of course, you can think about this as much as you can. I'll wait for your response," Max says before taking his peak cap and wearing it.

     Max was about to leave the room, but as he turned away from Antonio, Antonio suddenly tells him, "Iris."

     Max stops in an instant and slowly turns around to look back at Antonio. "What did you just say?" he asks.

     Antonio takes a deep breath and wipes the tears in his eyes before explaining, "I organized the auctions, but there's a man who's considered the brains of it all. He calls himself Iris, and I believe he has a master list of all the names of the bidders. I hope that helps you."

Max's eyes widened from shock. He wasn't really hoping to get anything from Antonio. He didn't do this to get information from him either, so Max was surprised that there was actually a third person behind all this.

    "T-thank you," Max says. "Thank you very much," he quickly adds before finally heading out of the room.

     Max got out and saw Keigo leaning on the wall, playing with his phone. When the door opened, Keigo looked up and approached Max. "So Max, who were you—"

     "We're heading back to our office," Max says, and without even waiting for Keigo, he started running. 

     Keigo was surprised, but he quickly followed Max and ran beside him. "What's going on? Who did you meet in there?" he asks as the two continued running down the hallway.

     "I met up with Antonio," Max reveals, surprising Keigo. "I had an important matter to discuss with him, but then he told me something that's related to our task instead."

     "What was it?" Keigo wonders.

     "Iris," Max says, stopping when they finally arrived at their small office. Keigo pulls out a key and opens the door as the two hurriedly went inside.

     Keigo quickly goes to his computer and turns it on, while Max went to the whiteboard to check the last task that was written on it.

(3) a prideful liar who bought his way to the TOP (Do they mean the Elites?). His intentions do not deserve his position.

     "Antonio told me that there was someone who worked behind the scenes. He was the one who really started the auction, and he calls himself Iris," Max explains before writing the word down on the board.

     "No way, so Antonio was just the frontman?" Keigo asks in disbelief. "So this Iris person was the real suspect. Doesn't that mean that we're not actually done with our second task yet?"

     Max takes a deep breath and massages his temple. "It seems like it," Max says, making Keigo sigh as well.

     "Antonio told me that this Iris guy has the master list of all the bidders, which means that if we find him, we'll be able to solve task number 3. It's like hitting two birds with one stone," Max explains.

     "Damn, I can't believe that this auction is actually the root of it all. And the fact that we're solving this makes it look like we're some kind of vigilantes," Keigo says with an excited smile.

     Max looks back at the board and checks the names of the top 10 that he already wrote last time. He then started erasing the names that he believes is not involved in this case.

RANK 01: Ian Rothman (President) - Broadcasting Club

RANK 03: Richard Young (Secretary) -Business Leaders Club

RANK 04: Dustin Griffiths (Treasurer)) - Debate Club Leader

RANK 05: Heaven J. Carter (School Representative)- Former Bassist of the band, The Monarchs' Bassist

RANK 07: Kenzo Furukawa - Beta Society leader

RANK 09: Justin Griffiths - Cooking Club Leader

     "So we have six suspects left," Max says before crossing his arms. "I don't want to be biased or anything, but I have a strong belief that it's not the Griffiths twins. Not only were they not around during the time Checkmate started the auction, but those two also don't seem like the type to start such a thing," Max explains, remembering how Justin was even crying when his brother was able to rank up.

     "Alright, then we can cross them out for the time being," Keigo says, staring at the names too. "Now we're left with Ian, Richard, Heaven, and Kenzo. Who do you think is smart enough to start something like an auction without getting caught?" Keigo then asks.

     Max continues to stare at the board. He was trying to think hard, but for some reason, he couldn't make a logical guess.

    "I want to say Heaven, but my initial opinion about him remains the same. Heaven Carter is not smart enough to hold an auction, and that's something that I strongly believe in," Max says, and Keigo nods his head in understanding, completely believing Max's gut feeling as well.

     "Then that leaves three: Ian, Richard, and Kenzo," Keigo says as he stares at the names.

     "The name Iris itself should have a significant meaning. Like, is it Ian's favorite plant? Does Richard have an obsession with eyes?" Keigo asks.

     "Shouldn't you be able to find that out?" Max then asks back, immediately making Keigo realize that he can easily search for their profiles if he wanted to.

     "Alright, let me just..." Keigo was about to press his fingers on his keyboard, but then he stops, his eyes wide when he remembered something.

     "Max, I don't know if you're one lucky bastard or fate just really likes you, but I feel like this Iris man fucked up big time," Keigo said as he immediately started typing something down.

     Max furrows his brows in confusion as he approaches Keigo and stood behind him to see what he was on.

     "Remember what Kenzo Furukawa said earlier when we were talking? He said his name came from the painter Kenzo Osaka," Keigo explains, which was something that Max was still not getting.

     "What about it?" Max asks.

     Keigo doesn't answer but starts searching for something. After a while, a painting appears on the screen, making Max lean closer to see it better.

     "Behold, Mr. Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire, one of Kenzo Osaka's paintings entitled...Iris."

- END -