It was the last lesson of the day, and two of the 16 students couldn't wait for it to end.

Especially Fred, this was exactly what he had worked for all his life. When he got up that morning he actually couldn't believe it, he would join Purge in their training. Even though it wasn't the main force with their Elite Cardplayers, he still felt really excited.

He had wanted to share this opportunity with Leopold, adding one more person to Januar's 'friends list' probably wouldn't matter anyway. But alas, the other didn't react to his messages, which brought Fred to the conclusion that his friend was most likely sick or something.

Post-apocalypse humans don't usually get sick, so when they do it's something worse than just a cold or a cough. Things pre-apocalypse would easily have died from then, but now they were barely threatening, only forcing them to stay in bed for a few days.

Fred abandoned this thought and instead, returned to feeling excited and packing his things as the lesson neared its end.

The second aforementioned one was Sophie, who glanced at Fred with a determined light in her eyes.

This would be the perfect chance for her to conquer Fred's heart, convincing herself that the benefits of training with the Purge members were just a pleasant side effect.

Yes, all this was merely her pursuit of their joined happiness.

Finally, she felt there was a chance for her to fulfill her wish and it was relieving.

In contrast, among the many people who felt odd that day was Januar, shifting uneasily and uncomfortably in his seat the entire school day. Occasional glares of various emotions were thrown at him, but unlike any other day, nobody dared pick on him. Not even the teachers said anything, except for their usual silent aura of dissatisfaction directed at him, they didn't target him today.

He wasn't entirely sure if this development relieved or worried him.

His card summons felt the same way, or at least Kay did.

He also let loose an occasional snort of contempt, ranting about the cowardice of certain individuals in the class and their two-faced nature, especially the professors were objects of his critique.

Listening to Kay was actually quite humorous, Januar secretly enjoyed hearing Kay curse on his behalf. It felt almost like he was the one ranting and airing his feelings.

Sometimes,...he wished Kay and the others were real and that they could do stuff together like actual friends. Then they would be able to support each other, laugh together and so much more he had wanted to try with a real friend, but never got to do it.

This didn't mean that they didn't do any of these things, he just really hoped for a real, tangible friend. 

He sighed inside his mind.

Instead, he had to deal with two fakers before he even had one real friend.

And those two were his former leading bullies.

Januar sighed yet again and also got ready to leave, wishing that he could just run away or vanish into thin air.

But there was no escaping Fred and Sophie, they soon found and joined Januar on his way home. From an outsider's perspective, it probably looked like they were good friends that knew each other quite well, but the students around stared at them with bewilderment. None of the students that usually liked mingling with either of the three, dared come close. 

Some felt that Sophie and Fred had both lost their vision and touch, sticking up and befriending such a nobody. Others, the ones that used to relentlessly bully Januar and suck up to the other two, weren't sure how to tackle this situation. There were also the spectators that watched the bullying happen but didn't partake in it, they were only silently observing at this time, same as always.

Did he prefer this over being bullied? He hadn't decided yet, but, it probably was. Now he only had two people to deal with as opposed to students of various classes and years. Even if they were the ones who triggered the genuinely brutal bullying in the past.

After walking for a while they reached Januar's apartment complex.

Januar felt slightly uncomfortable with the two next to him knowing where he lived, but there was nothing he could do now.

There was already a hover car waiting for them in front. Which caused Fred and Sophie to accelerate their steps, Januar reluctantly followed suit.

The car's doors opened automatically as soon as they came near and a familiar face greeted Januar.

"Hi, kid! We meet again, are you looking forward to the promised exclusive training?"

Januar's response to this cheerful greeting was a forced: "Hehehe."

Sebas chuckled when he saw what he thought was Januar being embarrassed, it really reminded him of a certain someone...

Then he finally turned to look at the other two students standing next to Januar.

"And you must be Januar's friends. Nice to meet you, I'm Sebas as you probably already heard."

Fred stepped up first, shaking Sebas' hand, his voice was a bit shaky because of his nervousness and excitement.

"Yes, hello, I'm Frederic Eifer."

Sebas flashed Fred a smile, before turning to Sophie.

"And I'm Sophie Greta, nice to meet you," Sophie smiled politely while also shaking Sebas' hand.

Sebas nodded satisfied: "Well, let's get going, you must be looking forward to seeing our training facilities!"

Fred and Sophie got on the hover car without a second thought, only Januar hesitated for a moment, but still joined them after Sophie gave him a quick sharp look.

As soon as they all sat safely on their seats, the windows darkened and the hover car got in motion.

"Sorry for this, but we are obligated to keep the location of our headquarters a secret."

A glance at the passengers on the back row almost caused Sebas to burst out laughing.

The disappointment on their faces was as clear as day.

Except for this occasion, the rest of the drive was very peaceful, no one said anything. Sebas thought they were probably too nervous and awkward, to keep a conversation, even if it was just one among the three of them.

At least he was right about the nervous part, but even if they weren't nervous none of them would have said anything. All three of them could be described as the silent type, especially since they didn't have anything to talk about with each other.

After they came to a halt, Fred and Sophie waited for Sebas' approval before they practically fell out of the vehicle.

Januar took a deep breath as soon as the other two left, he had been sandwiched between them the entire time. The pressure he felt was no joke, but at least he had Kay and Constantine to accompany him. Initially, they both wanted to help Januar come up with a solution for his current predicament and comfort him, but as expected... these two were like oil and water.

It barely took a minute for the brainstorming to turn into their usual bickering.

Strangely, this helped Januar calm down somewhat and distract him.

"What are ya waiting for, kid? Let's go!"

Januar heard Sebas' call and quickly exited the car.

Finally able to see again, he took a look around. 

They stood in what appeared to be an underground parking lot. There were a few other hover cars parked around them.

Finally complete, their group, led by Sebas, entered the real building.

It was pretty quiet and empty, there were no traces of any other members or, for that matter, doors in the corridor. But the farther they headed inside, the louder a certain buzzing sound became.

Gradually it grew more and more unbearable, Januar almost covered his ears from the noise. But he seemed to be the only one bothered by this blaring noise.

Fortunately, Kay and Constantine had stopped quarreling some time ago.

Actually, Constantine had vanished completely and returned to his card at some point, leaving Kay to grumble on his own.

Still, he soon couldn't endure it anymore, hesitantly he spoke up.

"Excuse me, do you know where this buzzing noise is coming from?"

Sebas halted in surprise and looked at Januar.

"You actually hear it?"

Januar felt odd.

The others didn't?

"The buzzing comes from a special item that our group has preserved," a mysterious and teasing smile appeared on Sebas' face, "do you want to see it or should we continue heading to the training grounds?"

Fred and Sophie were thrilled hearing his offer and nodded vigorously, even Januar joined them, despite the pain in his ears, the item had piqued his interest.

Sebas chuckled once more and continued to lead this group of students.

They made a slight detour, Sebas soon stopped before a plain wall and pressed his hand against it. This caused the wall to slide open in front of them.

The trio's curiosity rose even further and they were almost trembling in anticipation.

As they stepped into the room, all of them looked around with serious expressions on their faces.

Then Januar caught a glimpse of what caused the deafening noise.