I didn't really need to ponder that much about what Maia and Noah were up to.

It was way before my alarm was set to ring when I heard a knock. I had just barely woken up when they decided it was a good time to start speaking.

"Ollie, I need a favour."

It was Maia, and thus began the second round of pointlessly speaking through my door.

"What is it?"

"I need to borrow 1500 points."

It was a very sudden request, given that Maia likely has a lot of points anyways, I was confused why she needed these points from me.

Then again, I guess she was planning to do something against Caleb.

"I'll pay you back double the amount once I'm done."

This sounded like the premise of a very risky investment, maybe even a scam.

Although given her rank and status, I deduced that it likely wouldn't be hard for her to pay me back, even a hefty sum like 3000 points.

"I assume you're not going to tell me why you need these points?"

"I'll tell you if you help me."

Honestly, I didn't care all that much.

"I'm fine, I'll lend you the points though."

We had not had very much exposure yet, but I had a feeling that points were going to be very important this school. It was effective for gaining influence and supplies, but I speculated that the school likely has some tricks in terms of how points are used.

It would be a safe option to gather some more points.

 

*

 

During lunch, I noticed Saha, Mackenzie, and William in the hallway of the classrooms. It seemed an unlikely gathering, but I assumed it had something to do with Noah and Maia.

"Don't act as if you don't know, we know you always talk to Noah."

"You definitely have some idea why he's become Maia's assistant."

Bingo.

"I don't have time to waste speaking to you."

Saha turned around attempting to leave the conversation. Suddenly, William firmly grabbed Saha's arm and pulled her towards him. His glare was uninviting, it looked as if he was planning something malevolent. He was one of the assistants of Caleb and he seemed to notice that Maia was planning something.

Something was going down, I guess.

"I know you remember me."

The statement seemed to make Saha extremely stressed. Her voice cracked and it seemed her facade was slipping. Also, what was all this stuff about remembering, I had heard it too much in the past few days.

"S-so what?"

"If you don't tell me what you know, I assume you know the consequences."

I guess these two had history.

"No... don't."

Her face was completely covered by her hair. Little droplets of tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Things were looking dire for Saha.

I heard footsteps coming towards me. I guess her hero had finally decided to make an entrance.

"Stop."

It was Noah.

"Heh, so you've decided to show yourself."

"If you want something, ask me directly."

"Interesting proposal but I'm not convinced."

Noah pulled out his phone and showed them an image.

"I have no real relationship with Maia, and if it comes to it, I'll protect my friends first."

He zoomed in on the image and explained it further.

"Maia is planning to send some letters to the outside, but even I don't have the details."

William and Mackenzie looked at the image of her holding her phone, across the table from Noah. It showed the electronic funds transfer of 1500 points, the sender could not be seen from the image.

They seemed relatively convinced by the information.

I could tell that it was a lie, however. There was no way she would borrow 1500 points from me just to send a letter, furthermore, it wouldn't explain her getting an assistant from such a low rank. This was an obvious lie, but it was rather heroic for him to save Saha like that.

"What else do you know. Don't worry, I won't ask you to give it to me for free."

William let go of Saha and walked closer to Noah.

It seemed he was trying to guide the information out of Noah by showing kindness or something, it didn't seem to be a method that would be very effective in the current situation, then again, William hadn't noticed that Noah was lying yet.

"I know that she has connections outside of the school, she has also been quite tense recently, I feel like she is going to break the school rules or something..."

"Interesting..."

With a beep, William transferred 500 points to Noah's account.

"If you ever hear about anything else, you know who to go to."

William and Mackenzie walked away, satisfied with the information they got.

Like the hero he is, Noah stuck out his hand to Saha. She looked up for a brief second, a split second of eye contact, then she covered her face and ran off.

 

*

 

It was funny, I never looked at my sister's letter again after the first time. It was still there sitting on the cupboard from when I first moved into the dorm. At this point, it was pretty much completely covered with dust.

Maybe I'll look at it again.

Now that I looked at it, my room does feel quite empty. I had no pictures or many appliances or really much furniture for that matter. The rooms were quite large in terms of space, but all I had was a small bed, a little cupboard, and a little kitchen area with a microwave and a kettle.

Well, I have practically no points at the moment because I lent it all to Maia.

Actually, I think I might have one picture from back when I was at Tachibana House. The orphanage was pretty small, with only a handful of children in it. I recall a photo of all of us being taken near the end of my stay.

I wonder if I can find it.

I wonder what I am even doing here? What was my reason to come to this school again? I came here just wanting to feel what a normal high school experience was but I never really thought about what I was going to do once I left this place.

I wonder if I'll find something to care for.