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I WAS NEVER CLOSE with my brother, but I thought it was natural because I'm older, so we won't really have anything in common. But I didn't know our relationship was this bad. I didn't even know that he'd be here. I'm a terrible brother," Ervin says, guilt present on his face.

     "Hey, don't say that. Siblings have different ways of expressing their love for each other, but that doesn't mean you don't care," Keigo quickly defends. Even though he's an only child like Ari, he saw Max's and Felix's relationship with their siblings. They're all very different from each other, but that doesn't mean Felix doesn't love his siblings as much as Max loves his brother.

     "And besides, it's not too late to tighten your relationship with him. Who knows, this convention might help you two get closer," Keigo adds.

     "Maybe this is my karma for being such a bully in the past. I wasn't even aware my brother was—"

     "Ervin, relax. It's rare, but Keigo's right," Max quickly says, interrupting Ervin's unusually negative thoughts. "You obviously care about Edward, so let's use this as an opportunity to fix your brother bond. Let's just find him first, and then you guys could talk it out. Sounds good?"

     Ervin looked at Max and then at Ari, Keigo, and Felix, who were nodding their heads in encouragement. Ervin couldn't believe that he was able to have friends who cared this much. If it were his old friends, they wouldn't care less about helping him mend his relationship with his family. Just looking at them made Ervin feel a lot more hopeful. If he could fix his relationship with Max, then he could definitely fix his relationship with his brother.

     "It's settled then. Let's try looking for my brother," Ervin says with determination, and his four friends nod their heads and make their way to the Keep.

     "By the way," Ari then says as they're already walking their way out of the courtyard. "This is going to be a bit random, but...when on earth did you become the head of the Jacks?!"

     The question came out of nowhere, but Felix, Keigo, and Max immediately looked at Ervin and just realized that too. Ervin never really mentioned it, nor did anyone in Jokers, but when Felix looked at the brooch that Ervin was wearing, he immediately stopped and pointed at it in shock.

     "It's silver!" Felix shouts, making the others stop to look at it too.

     "Oh, now that you mention it, it is silver. The underling's brooches are usually bronze," Max calmly explains, and Ervin just laughs at his friends' reaction as he looks at his brooch as well.

     "I think it was around the time I became a gaffer. Master Joker called for me on the rooftop and told me that he was proud to have me as his underling. Soon after that, the jesters gave me this new brooch and called me the Master of Jacks, or simply the head of the Jacks," Ervin casually explains like it wasn't a big deal at all.

     "And why on earth did you not tell us anything about this?! We could have joined you in that ceremony. Or we could have at least celebrated together," Ari says, and Max and the others couldn't help but agree.

     Ervin awkwardly scratches the back of his head and just tries to laugh it off as he answers, "I didn't think it was that important. Besides, it's not like I'm—"

     "Ervin, every achievement you make, whether you consider it big or small, is an achievement that the four of us will definitely be proud of," Max cuts off. "You've always been there for us, so I hope you get to open up more about these things."

     Ervin didn't really know what to say. His friends always blew him away, so instead of telling them that it's not really a big deal and they shouldn't be so worried about it, Ervin smiles and nods his head instead. "Alright, let's celebrate this amazing achievement after the convention's over," Ervin tells them, and Ari and the others end up getting excited about it, especially Keigo since this will be the first time going out with them like normal teenagers because last time they had to kidnap Felix.

     "Okay, this isn't the right time to even be talking about this. We should look for my brother now," Ervin reminds them, and the fice of them agree and starts searching the campus.

     They looked around the Keep, but the students said that they didn't spot a student from Foxberry passing through there at all. They then went straight to the Hall of Terra, but it was the same story. No one has seen Edward.

     "You know, maybe we should split up. I could call some of the marquis who are hidden around the campus and ask for their help. I think that would be faster," Felix then suggests as they walk past the Hall of Janus.

     "That's a good idea. I'm just worried he'll stumble upon someone crazy. That boy can be a little scaredy cat, so we have to find him before someone else does," Ervin replies.

     The five of them were about to split up, but then, as they walked past the hall that had a 'No entry' sign, two figures wearing black uniforms suddenly appeared in front of them, making them stop walking in an instant.

     "Princes," Max instantly greets, and he and the rest of his friends immediately help onto their chest to bow to their temporary classmates, Blade and Killshot.

     "Keigo-chan!" Blade immediately shouts right after, practically throwing himself at the white uniform to give him a tight hug. "I haven't seen you all day, our cute little underling! It's so so good to see you."

     "I-It's good to see you t-too, Blade," Keigo nervously answers, glancing at Killshot, who was practically sending him death signals. So when Blade continues to hug him tightly, Keigo finally pushes him away so Killshot wouldn't end up actually killing him.

     "What are you five doing here? Looking for trouble?" Killshot then asks while pulling Blade towards him.

     "Oh, no, we're just looking for someone," Keigo replies. "I'm not trying to cross the line or anything, but have you perhaps seen a student from Foxberry walking around here? He's around Ari's height, and he's wearing a pair of brown glasses."

     Max and the others didn't really expect them to say anything, but to their surprise, the two princes turned to each other and exchanged looks. At that moment, they instantly knew that they did see someone that fits the description.

     "You saw him, didn't you? Where did you see him?" Ervin immediately asks, making the two princes look at him.

     "And why on earth do you think we're going to entertain a Jack?" Killshot then asks back with a much more serious tone, but then Blade suddenly hits his arm and looks back at Ervin with a smile.

     "Don't be so rude to our little bunnies. After all, they're our temporary classmates," Blade tells Killshot, making the prince roll his eyes in annoyance. But Surprisingly enough, he didn't say anything anymore and let Blade speak. "We saw the guy you're looking for inside the Hall of Janus a couple of minutes ago when Killshot and I were hiding inside a room and—" Blade abruptly stops himself while Killshot was just massaging his temple, obviously annoyed but still used to his partner by now.

     "Anyway, what we were doing isn't really important, but we last spotted your guy heading towards the second floor. You won't miss him," Blade says with a bright smile.

     "Thank you," Ervin respectfully replies, touching his chest and bowing to the prince again.

     "Well then, we better head to the stadium. The kings called for us and—" Blade abruptly stopped again and started giggling at himself. "Oops, I think I shouldn't have told you guys that either."

     "Seriously, I've had enough with you," Killshot then says, grabbing Blade's hand and forcefully pulling him away.

     "I'll see you around, my little bunnies!" Blade shouts, waving at the group until he and Killshot are finally out of sight.

     "Now that was easier than I expected," Keigo tells the others.

     "Thankfully, most of the brotherhoods aren't here in the building. We should just find him quickly before he ends up stumbling into trouble," Ervin then says, and the rest of them nodded their heads and run inside the Hall of Janus to look for Edward.

     But as the group of peculiar friends was trying to look for him, Max suddenly spotted a pair of glasses on the ground. He takes the glasses to inspect them, but as he gets a better look, his eyes instantly widen in shock. Max has experienced way too many instances to know that something bad had happened.

     "Guys, you better see this," Max says, and Ari, Felix, Ervin, and Keigo immediately rush to him to check what he found.

     Max didn't even have to say anything because the moment Ervin saw the glasses, he instantly knew what it was. "This is Edward's!" He exclaims, grabbing the glasses from Max's hand and instantly checking on them to see if there are any damages so he'd know if there were some sort of struggle. Like a meticulous underling who creates the perfect pranks for Jokers, Ervin spots scratches on the glass, making his heart start beating even faster.

     "This was knocked out of him by force. Edward's a very meticulous kid, so even a single scratch would bother him. The scratches here are way too aggressive. It definitely dropped to the ground from a struggle, and not because he just dropped it by accident. Someone could even have stepped on it," Ervin explains.

     "Do you think it was the other Foxberry students?" Max then asks.

     "I think so. They probably still tried to—" As Felix was about to explain his assumption, the five of them suddenly heard screams from outside, alerting them.

     Without any second thought, Max and his friends rush to the window to see what the commotion is about.

     "What's going on? Why is everyone looking at the sky?" Keigo confusingly asks, but as soon as he says it, Ervin realizes something.

     "N-no, they're not looking at the sky. They're looking at the..."

     "Rooftop!" Ari and Max then shout in unison, and without wasting even a second, the five of them immediately start running to the baron's base.

     Ervin ran first, sweat dripping down his temple at the thought of what he might find. But as the Jack finally arrived at the rooftop, his eyes instantly widened in shock when he saw what was behind the door's window. There, right on the roof, was his brother, Edward, leaning on the edge of the balustrade as a student from a different school was holding onto a rope that was tied around him.

    That student was none other than Crème de la Crème's rank 4, Jontell Rosario.

     "You son of a—" As Ervin was about to scream and barge inside the rooftop, Max quickly covered Ervin's mouth and pulled him down so Jontell wouldn't see them.

     "Shh..." Max says while covering Ervin's mouth. "We can't let him see us."

     "Viktor! You left me with no choice! Show yourself to everyone and admit that our family was innocent!" Jontell suddenly shouts from the roof as Max pulls Ervin back downstairs. 

     As soon as they were in a safe distance, Ervin punched one of the lockers and angrily shouted, "That mother fucker! I knew he was crazy, but now I realize he's completely insane!"

     "Okay, we have to stay calm," Felix then says. "Why on earth is Jontell taking your brother hostage?"

     "It's not about his brother," Max quickly replies. Based on the things he was shouting earlier, Edward definitely has nothing to do with this crazy stunt. "Jontell must have really lost it. I don't know what exactly happened, but knowing him, he'll definitely drop your brother if he doesn't get what he wants."

     "Then what do we do? Do we just tackle him?" Keigo then asks, and Max and even Ervin and Felix shake their heads in disagreement.

     "If we do that, he'll definitely let go of the rope," Ervin replies, and right after saying that, Max's eyes suddenly widen from shock, making his friends realize that J.S High's rank 10 has already thought of an idea.

     "That's it," he tells everyone. "We're going to make him let go of the rope."

     "What?!" His friends shouted in unison.

     "Are you crazy?! You expect us to catch him?" Ari then asks. And when Max started to nod his head, his friends instantly looked mortified. They've done a lot of crazy things together, but they've never tried catching a human being from the fucking rooftop.

     "I know what you're thinking, but I have a plan," Max seriously says as he looks at Keigo first. "Can you hijack the sound system and make an insanely loud sound that would echo on the campus? A sound that's loud enough to startle Jontell?" Max asks, and the moment they hear the plan, they instantly start smiling in excitement.

     "Consider it done. Just call me if you're ready," Keigo replies before running in the opposite direction to do what he was told.

     Max then looks at Ari and Felix and tells them next, "Head to our club room at Omega Society. If I remember correctly, we have a net there. I also asked Eren and the other omegas to work on our presentation tomorrow, so they're probably there too. Ask them to help you. We need a lot of people to hold onto that net."

     "Okay," Felix replies, and without a second thought, he and Ari start running to the club room as well.

     "Now, what do we do?" Ervin then asks.

     Max pulls his phone out from his pocket and gets ready before looking back at Ervin. "Putting your brother to account, this might end up becoming a traumatic experience for him. That sudden explosion and fall might cause him to faint, so I want you to catch him."

    "Catch him?"

     "Yes, from the rooftop. The moment Jontell lets go of the rope, you jump and catch him," Max explains. And even though it might have sounded impossible, Ervin nods his head in agreement without any hint of hesitation.

     "I'll handle Jontell from there," Max then finishes, and soon after, the two ran to the rooftop to get ready.

     As the two were waiting just outside the door, Felix finally called Max after just a couple of minutes.

     "We have the net, and Eren and the others are with us. We're already running to the courtyard," Felix informs him. Seconds after that, Keigo called too and said, "The explosion is ready. I mean, the sound of an explosion. This is going to be insanely loud and mimic a real one, so prepare yourself."

     "Okay, Felix, on your mark..."

     Felix and the others ran to the courtyard as fast as they could. He then calculates the explosion, the fall, and the exact time they'd arrive at the scene. When Felix and the others hit the meters he needed before arriving at their destination, he finally shouts, "Now!"

     Right on cue, a loud explosion echoes around the campus, startling even Max. But just seconds before Jontell could let go of the rope, Ervin kicked the door and rushed to his brother.

    The sound startles Jontell as well, and ends up losing his grip, letting go of the rope. Edward's eyes widened in shock as he felt his body falling, but as he was moments away from dropping, Ervin ran towards him and made that big leap, grabbing his brother and hugging him tightly in his arms, covering his head with his hands so he wouldn't get hurt.

     "Close your eyes," Ervin whispers to his brother's ear as the two of them finally fall to the ground.

     As Felix calculated, they were already waiting at the bottom with the net, so without any struggle, they successfully caught the two brothers.

     Everyone in the courtyard was left speechless. Krist and the other brotherhoods who were there were also looking at Felix and the others with their mouths wide in shock. But after a couple of seconds of silence, the courtyard was instantly filled with cheers.

     Max, who was still on the rooftop, was trying to catch his breath. The loud explosive sound made his hands tremble, but he instantly sighed in relief when he heard the cheers from outside.

     "Max! Max, can you hear me?!" Felix suddenly asks from the other line.

     Max continues to calm himself down as he slowly puts his phone back in his ear. "D-Did you...catch them?" he then asks.

     Felix, Ari, and even Keigo, who was still on the other line, noticed how shaky Max sounded. They were aware that Max had some kind of trauma when it came to explosive sounds, yet he planned something like this.

      "You did something similar in the pageant. You really are selfless, Max," Keigo reveals when he remembers how Max also planned to make an explosion so Nox and the other white uniforms could advance in Mr. Brains and Brawn.

     "Heavy breaths Max. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale," Ari then says as he snatches the phone from Felix's hand.

    Max closed his eyes and leaned on the wall, listening to his friend's voice until he was finally calm. "I'm good. Thank you," Max reassures his friends, making them sigh in relief.

     "You know, asking Ervin to catch Edward wasn't really necessary, wasn't it?" Felix then asks after grabbing his phone back from Ari, making Max laugh.

     "Well, we did promise to help fix their relationship. I think this would be a great ice breaker," he replies, and this time, it was Felix's turn to laugh.

     "Anyway, I'll call you guys after I handle this," Max then says as he ends the call. He takes one last deep breath and puts his phone inside his pocket before finally walking to the rooftop where Jontell can be found.

     Jontell, who was standing at the edge and looking at the cheering crowd below him, clenches his fist in irritation. He no longer knew what to do, and for a quick second, he almost wanted to jump too, but just in time, Max appeared behind him.

     "Jon," he calls out.

     Jontell's eyes widened in shock as he slowly turned to look at Max. He thought that Max would grab him and start beating him up for doing something like this, but to his surprise, Max opened his arms wide for him instead.

     "Come on. Let's take you home," he tells him. And at that moment, tears start to pour out of Jontell's eyes. He took a small step first, and then another, but soon after that, Jontell ran towards Max as Max gave him the warmest embrace.

     "You were right, Jon. I was the one who left you without any word. I abandoned you and felt nothing. But during the times I felt alone, you were there. So this time, let me be there for you too. Let go of that burden in your heart. You don't always have to carry the sins your family has committed. It's time you realize that too."

- END -