Lady went to the cafeteria with his lunchbox in hand. He had left it on the roof on Tuesday and it was still there when he returned to look for it on Wednesday. While most of the tables were occupied by bustling groups of students, there was a single open table in the corner of the cafeteria. Lady sat on the cold plastic seat and began eating the lunch he had bought. While he had seen Sara in class today, she seemed more occupied talking with Anna and made no mention of their interaction last night. As he pondered why she had done such a thing, a hint of movement in the corner of his peripheral vision caught his eye.

A girl was standing in front of Lady with a strained smile on her face. Her silky blonde hair and deep azure eyes gave her the appearance of a foreigner. She opened her mouth and Lady nearly expected her to speak with a heavy European accent but that proved not to be the case. “Lady right?” she asked. Lady cautiously nodded his head as he scanned his surroundings like a cornered animal. Her next words should have shocked Lady but he had already anticipated it and prepared a response. “Will you go out with me this weekend?” she asked “I’m sorry, I’m actually busy” He replied nearly immediately. 

“Huh” the girl muttered as she tilted her head. Lady knew she would ask him something like that and he hoped his response was adequate. It wasn’t long after Lady had noticed her standing there that he had also noticed a table of students eagerly looking in their direction. Everything from the beautiful girl suddenly confessing to the hidden onlookers warned him this was a setup. Some sort of cruel joke or prank, possibly even a punishment game. Being subject to such false confessions was unfortunately nothing new for Lady. The girl walked off as the lady returned to his lunch. I guess I really dodged a bullet, Lady thought to himself as he finished his meal and headed back to the classroom.

In fact, he did not. On the contrary, he had turned the gun on himself and unknowingly pulled the trigger. He would learn later that it would have been far simpler to pretend to accept the confession and endure the humiliation afterwards. 

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Rachael walked back to her seat furious, That animal, that dog, how dare he. What impudence does he possess to turn down my confession. A dog like him should be overjoyed to even speak with me. Rachael returned to her seat and the other students began talking about her failed confession. As they laughed and joked, Rachael continued to fume. I'll humiliate him, I’ll show that little puppy his place. She pulled her phone from her pocket and sent a message to her family's head butler

Racheal: Find out everything you can about Lady, gray hair, gray eyes, roughly 5’2. He’s a freshman at this school. Uncover any weakness, dig up any dirt. I expect a full dossier on my desk by the time I return home.

Andrew: Understood

Her so-called friends tried talking to her but she continued to ignore them. They had been her best bet at cementing her rightful place in the school but she realized now that she didn’t need them anymore. They were the same as the other vermin. Just petulant children. She had researched their backgrounds beforehand hoping that their upbringings would give them some meager semblance of class but she was wrong. Unfortunately, they were still popular in other students' eyes, though not to the degree she was. They still pose a threat though. If I can’t get them to follow me, then they shall be crushed. It’s all their fault, theirs and that dog’s. How dare they try to humiliate me. 

By the beginning of next week, each of the students sitting around Rachael would be expelled for various reasons. Lady however had unknowingly reserved a punishment far greater. She had tried to play nice at school like her father requested. But none of them knew their place. None of these students revered her like they should. I’ll show all of them their place soon enough. And you, Lady you deviant puppy, you will be the first. Coming back to her senses, she apologized to the others for being lost in thought and once again donned the friendly mask of Rachael, the school’s Idol. She continued chatting with the others for the remaining duration of lunch while they remained none the wiser. Just as she had promised, none of them would return to school on Monday.

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Noel was sitting Idly behind the counter at her bookstore. She was watching a video on her phone when the bell at the front of the store rang. She looked up to see Lady entering the store with a smile on his face. “How was your day at school?” She asked while shyly turning her face away from him. “It was fine,” the boy responded. “Did you make any friends today?” Noel asked curiously. She had asked the same question everyday as part of her quest to practice speaking with men. She half expected him to respond “no” as he had every other day but his response surprised her. “Ummm.. Maybe. I met a really nice senior today who helped me out. She was pretty kind I guess. I mean, we're not friends but…” Noel responded enthusiastically, “That’s great, I’m sure more of your classmates will soon see how kind you are.” 

While her response was genuine, Noel couldn’t help but to feel a tinge of pain run through her heart for some reason. Lady went behind the counter and bid Noel farewell as she scampered upstairs. She booted up her computer and pulled up the security feed of the security camera downstairs. While Noel wanted to get along with Lady and talk with him more, her condition prevented her. It wasn’t until a few months ago when she found a workaround. She noticed that texting him or occasionally glancing at security cameras to check up on him failed to make her feel nervous or uncomfortable. 

A few days ago, A wonderful opportunity had presented itself. Lady had thought about streaming online. Noel made sure to give him a little shove and encourage him to stream games on Project. Despite his reservations, the boy ended up creating an account that night and streamed with some other streamer named NekoGirl. Noel not only watched his streams but made several alternate accounts to interact with him in the chat. All of her accounts were subscribed and two of them had even reached a moderator position. Noel was ecstatic to say the least. She could feel herself growing closer to Lady despite her condition and yet, something felt off.

It seemed like he had talked to a nice girl at school today. Noel began to bite her fingernails as she watched the security cameras feed. What if he didn’t need her anymore, what if he left, or stopped streaming. She wanted to be there for him and help him like he helped her and yet she still couldn’t interact with him properly. What if he thinks I’m boring? I can only manage to talk to him a little bit each day. And he doesn’t even know that I’m watching his streams. Would he be creeped out if I told him? Her mind continued racing until the store closed.

After seeing him off and thanking him for his help, Noel went upstairs and logged into several of her accounts on Project. She prepared a light dinner and waited for Lady to start streaming. I don’t want him to leave me, she thought to herself. He’s the only one I can trust, The only one who won’t hurt me. I have to make sure he never leaves me. As Lady began streaming Citadel Heartscape that night, he received multiple hefty donations from various viewers. Unbeknownst to him, all of the accounts belonged to the same person.