Reina’s eyes widened; Paige sputtered her drink and pat her chest with a cough; Toshiaki gripped his cup with a twitch of his pupils.

Even high-ranking students of Seya Academy had only a 2.1% chance of graduating directly into Seya U, and with honors, no less. But to think he had the nerve to ask for priority into Homura, the first company to have offices both on the Moon and Mars, was nothing short of bold.

A puff of vapor from the blue-penguin-shaped humidifier sitting on the table between them filled the room for several moments. Reina then leaned forward with a nervous laugh.

“Haha… why don’t we reconvene for a follow-up meeting after we’ve discussed some things?“

“Granted.” Chairman Homura said bluntly.

He then stood up from his seat, causing everyone to stand and watch as he walked toward the door. His face was neutral and his body language was refined and unnerved. Reina scrunched her eyes in confusion. She couldn’t perceive what he was thinking at all.

“Oh yes,” Chairman Homura raised a finger while pressing his other hand on the door. “My last request, Reina, I have an additional task for you to handle. But we’ll discuss that at a later date.” He then bowed his head as the door lifted into the wall. “I’ll have documents and contracts for you and your club members to look over in the next hour. I’ll be on my way.”

Toshiaki strode after him, stopping a few paces to glare at Tiger, then walked outside the room. Reina stood in front of the door and bowed as it closed. She then walked over and collapsed on the sofa with a hand over her head.

Despite the meeting being only a few hours, so much has had to be processed. Her head was already overloaded with the relay of information on the game she read during her train ride, but now she's getting involved with the chairman?

Paige walked over to the small-clear fridge and took out two bottles of water. She then sat beside Reina and offered her a beverage with a brief smile.

“S-some meeting, right? Haha…” Paige said.

Reina took the drink and nodded. “Thank you, and yes,” she glared at Tiger sitting across from her, “It was something, alright.”

Tiger took a deep breath and leaned his back against the chair. He raised his trembling hand into the overhead ceiling light with a grin.

“Not once, but twice have you done something without telling me. First organizing the meeting, then throwing out absurd requests to the chairman!” Reina blurted out.

Paige took a sip of her bottle and smiled. “I didn’t mind it. I thought he was very brave-“

“I honestly have to hear what you have to say for yourself.” Reina interrupted.

Tiger stood up from his chair and took a deep breath. In a quick motion, he threw down his head with his hands angled along his sides.

“I’m sorry for putting both of you in this position. I apologize for putting both of you in this position. I... I made the mistake of assuming that you would be as hyped about this as I was, and I pushed you into it without discussing it as a group. No, it should’ve been. But things were moving quickly, and I was afraid if I didn’t act, I’d regret it.”

Despite Reina’s readiness to reprimand him once more, she sat, nonplussed by his sincere apology. She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and glanced to the side.

Paige jumped from her chair and pat him on the head. “I totally understand, President! I’m super hyped for the game too. Apology accepted!”

“Well, just don’t do it again.” Reina uncrossed her arms with a sigh. “What made you think to ask those things, anyway? Did plan all of this?”

Tiger shook his head. “No. It’s actually thanks to you.”

Reina raised an eyebrow. “I literally did nothing for you.”

“During the meeting, you gave me a bit of time to think about some conditions I could create to make the stakes a bit more even. I knew I wouldn’t get a second chance to negotiate, so I had to think of things right then and there.”

“Oh right, that. I just didn’t want you to look foolish beside me while speaking to the Chairman. I will, however, applaud your nerve for speaking to him with such confidence. If any of those requests come to fruition is another matter entirely.”

Tiger hunched in his chair, interlocking his fingers with a smirk. “He doesn’t have a choice.”

Paige tilted her head with a wistful glance. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“According to my insider research, Homura Corporation is being driven out of this new market by its competitors. Along with the fact that agencies have bought out most of the veterans and beta testers thus far, they had a limited amount of time to act, especially since the tokenization of assets in Callixtus begins today.” Tiger explained.

“Ohhh, I see. You really know your stuff,” Paige said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Haha, yeah…” Tiger scratched his head with a bashful smile, then turned to Reina. “While we’re on the subject, I also have something to ask you.”

“What is it now?” Reina drawled.

“If the Chairman comes through with this deal, I’d like you to become our Patrician for our guild.”

“W-what? Why me?”

Tiger chuckled with a grin. “You can’t hide the fact you like the game. I saw it the moment you sat down and chatted with us at the pub.”

“Saw what, exactly?” Rei asked.

“You fit your noble role perfectly. In fact, after getting to know you a bit better, I think it’s the only role in the game for you. And besides, if you decide to join our guild, you’ll get all the perks after we receive our contracts — Entrance into Seya U, Homura Corp internships, even free pay for gaming!”

Reina put a finger up to her lip with a sideward glance. It was my goal to get into Seya U once I transferred to this district, Homura Corp is a respectable tech firm, and you can’t argue with passive revenue. But if I join them then wouldn’t I be admitting defeat to the fact that games are time wasters? Wait, no! There’s no fallacy involved if I decide to use the game itself to my advantage. Yes! I’ll be obtaining things that will make me successful, along with providing me with income for my troubles!

But I can’t let him think that he’s won me over.

“I’ll have to consult my mother first. She owns a clothing brand and I don’t know if she’d want me to represent her company instead.” Reina said.

“So you will play the game from now on,” Tiger said with a smug smile.

“What? N-no! And even if I was, I’d only be doing it because it’s advantageous to me!” Reina rebutted.

“Ahh, so you’re using that reasoning to circumvent taking on the Patrician role,” Tiger said with a shrug, then stood up from his chair. “It’s fine. Just get back to me before I end up finding someone else.”

Reina felt her cheeks burn as she clenched her jaw. Damn him. Damn him. Damn him!

“Your mom owns a clothing store? Why didn’t we just ask her to sponsor us to begin with?” Paige asked.

Tiger scratched his head with a groan. “Well, what’s done is done, alright! Let’s just get in-game and break the news to Chase and Evelyn.”

Paige rose from her seat and giggled. “You didn’t even ask them if they wanted to transfer schools? That’s not a good trait to have, GL.”

Reina stretched her arms and began walking over to a rig when her Proatrix buzzed on her middle finger. As she raised her hand, a holo screen with a message alert appeared. She looked over at the door and sighed before walking toward it.

“You coming, Reina? Or do you want us to wait for you?” Paige asked while her visor leaned onto her face.

“I have something to do. Please go on without me.” Reina replied as the door rose in front of her.

She stepped outside the room, and the door slid shut. Toshiaki, looking outside an arched window pane with his back turned side-eyed her with a smack of his teeth.

“Did you not hear me the last time we spoke, Reina? I said to keep that delinquent, Tiger, in check.”

Reina crossed her arms. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but it doesn’t concern me. If you need to settle things between yourselves, just talk to him yourself.”

“I thought you were dependable,” Toshiaki pivoted around and strode in front of her, “But it seems even you can’t handle such a simple task.”

“You always talked about how you didn’t like being compared to your father, but sometimes you sound just like him.”

Toshiaki squeezed Reina’s shoulders and pushed her against the door with an intense blue-eyed stare. “Don’t you ever compare me to him! And this isn’t about me. I don’t want you talking to anyone in this club ever again, especially that bastard Tiger!”

Reina pressed her hand against his chest with a wince. “You put me in this position if you don’t remember! How would it look if you went back on your word, if I gave up advisement just because of some indifference between you and him?”

“I don’t care about how it looks! He made me look like a fool in front of my father! What? You two probably laughed it right off as we left! Are you in some type of relationship with him?”

Reina's eyes widened. She grabbed Toshiaki’s chin and lowered his face down so that their eyes matched.

“Ask me that again. But this time, look me in the eye so you’ll know the answer beforehand.”

Toshiaki couldn’t break eye contact. Her light-gray eyes were both captivating and terrifying as he began losing himself in the cloudy abyss.

“You’re still hurting me, Toshi,” Reina said.

Toshiaki released her arms and backed away before striding down the hall. Reina caressed her sore shoulders and felt tears well up at the sides of her eyes. She took a deep breath, clenched her arms to focus on the pain, and pressed her hand on the door.

“Tiger…!” Reina exclaimed, as the door slid open.

He looked down as Reina quickly covered her arm around her back. Tiger clicked his teeth, shoved his hands in his pocket, and took a step out the door.

“Fuck him, and fuck this academy. I should’ve kicked his ass a long time ago.”

“What’re you planning to do? Fight him? That’s ridiculous. He’s the chairman’s son. You’ll lose out on your admission and your club, you idiot.”

“I heard the entire conversation, Reina. He’s out of control. He’s always been out of control.”

“Haven’t you ever heard, ‘An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind’?”

“And haven’t you heard, ’Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the Gun down’?”

Reina narrowed her eyes. “Are you seriously quoting Malcolm X of all people right now?”

“And you out of everyone in the history of ever quoting Gandhi?” Tiger replied.

They both stared at each other, the seriousness in their expressions softening until they both burst into uncontrollable laughter. Reina’s laughter faded, and she shook her head with a smile.

“You don’t need to worry about Toshi. Yes, that’s… the first time he’s put his hand on me, but he’s-“

“Don’t make excuses for him. If I was your…“

Reina tilted her head. “If I was your, what?”

Tiger scratched the back of his head and sighed. “Never mind.”

“Okay… But you said earlier he’s always been out of control. What did you mean by that?”

Tiger looked out the arched window and lowered his shoulders. Reina took a step forward and tilted her head in his direction.

“I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.”

He sighed and placed his hand back on the door. “Fine. Let’s talk.”