Chapter 94: Uninvited Guest
Lily’s eyes were instantly glued to Mika, who just arrived.
She could only see his head due to the people around him. And even though he slicked his black hair back, she could still recognize him from afar.
"Isn’t Cail here, too...?"
"And those clothes..."
"Well, I guess we should let them be, right?"
The students from the other classes whispered among themselves, whereas the black class students quickly surrounded him with beaming eyes, treating him like a celebrity.
"You’re back, Mika!"
"Are you alright? We heard that you were held captive in the tower!"
"Can I get an autograph?"
"You’re without a doubt our class’ hero!"
Mika was overwhelmed by his classmates’ pressure.
"..."
Harik glanced at the smirking Belian.
"Did you know about this?" he asked Belian.
"We talked about a few things when I visited him in the tower a couple of times." Belian replied.
He stared at Mika, who had trouble moving forward.
"I-it’s great to see you guys again, b-but could you please let me through...?" Mika asked his classmates awkwardly with a stiff smile.
And with great struggle, he managed to get out from the crowd for the time being.
He walked over to the others.
"Mika..." Lily muttered baffled as if she could not trust her eyes.
"Good to see you again." Sylvia greeted him casually with a joyous smile and slightly reddened cheeks.
"Lily... Sylvia..." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Mika was at first shocked, too. But his jaw-dropping expression turned into a happier one.
His mouth formed a wide crescent shape and his eyes were also beaming with joy.
"Long time no see, huh- What the..."
He was taken by surprise as Lily suddenly jumped at him and went for a tight hug.
"We were told about what happened during that month... We’re so glad that you’re fine...!" Lily said softly, sounding delighted as well as on the verge of tears.
Mika was initially overwhelmed by the current situation.
What should he do with his hands?
Should he hug her, too?
Was that even the right decision?
"..."
Confused, he glanced at the smirking Sylvia.
She nodded her head.
"..."
Without uttering a word, he hugged Lily.
"But really... You had us worried there, you know? First, we’re told that you went alone with Ms. Ross to an emergency mission to rescue Gerard’s team and the next thing we knew was that you were absent from the academy for an indefinite amount of time." Sylvia teased him as she shrugged her shoulders.
"S-sorry..." Mika apologized, smiling wryly.
She had a genuine smile on her face.
"Don’t apologize. I’m just happy to see you in good health again." she stated.
The three friends were finally reunited.
Belian and Harik were standing a little bit away from them, not wanting to ruin their moment. However, there was still someone else.
"Mika Elbar...!" Cail grumbled as he meddled in.
"Cail..." Mika responded with sharp eyes and a deep voice.
Lily was still clinging to him, but her grip loosened up a little as she turned her neck to Cail.
"I’ve got many questions for you, but first things first! How dare you disrespect the academy like that?!"
Enraged and offended, Cail pointed at Mika’s clothes.
"Hm? Oh, that?"
Mika looked down.
Contrary to his usual appearance, Mika did not wear his academy uniform. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"Pfft...!" Harik tried to hold his laughter in.
"..."
Belian also seemed like he giggled as he averted his face from the rest.
"Jeez..."
With a smile, Sylvia shook her head with her hand on her forehead, covering her eyes.
"Hahaha..."
Lily was the only one, who showed her small giggle.
"You...!"
Cail’s veins were about to burst.
Instead of his black uniform, he wore the uniform designed for the white-class students.
"Well, there’s a reason for this..."
Mika scratched the back of his head while smiling apologetically.
"It’s fine. After all, it’s you, Mika. If there’s someone else worthy of that uniform, then it would be you." Belian stated confidently.
"Belian..."
"I-it’s not fine!"
Cail turned his head to Belian.
"Not only is that the uniform for the white class, it’s also the uniform for the second-year students!"
"Oh, really?"
Belian tilted his head.
"Y-yes! You can see it on his chest!"
Everyone looked at Mika’s chest, where a golden star-like badge was.
"The amount of badges displays the person’s rank in the academy! One badge means that you’re a second-year, two stand for the third-years, three say that you’re a graduate, four show that you’re a staff member and five badges will be given to you if you hold the position of the headmaster!" Cail elaborated.
He was grumbling like a mad dog.
"!"
His eyes noticed something else again.
"What is it this time?" Mika asked exhausted by Cail’s antics.
"W-w-why do you have that on...?" he said with a trembling voice as he pointed at his left upper arm.
On his left arm was an armband attached. It was a black armband with the letter ’D’ on it.
"That? Just like I said there’s a reason for that. I-"
"Let me explain this."
"?!"
Those around him were surprised by the appearance of the new person. Or rather, the person, whom they did not pay attention to.
Said person was behind Mika all the time, waiting for the right time to appear.
The sound of chains rustling was heard as the person passed by Mika.
"Greetings, everyone. I’m Lisa Vonder, the vice-president of the disciplinary committee."
She wore a yellow dress. The skirt was short and bouffant. The upper part’s neckline was low. And she wore black high heels.
In addition to that, she wore several pieces of golden jewelry. Be it a necklace, arm bracelets or earrings.
"What...?" Sylvia murmured surprised.
"Heh, interesting." Harik remarked excitedly.
Lily walked backward to Sylvia’s side as she nervously gazed at Lisa.
She looked down at Mika’s right hand.
For today’s occasion, he wore white hand gloves, but that was not the thing that caught her attention. It was rather the handcuff on his wrist.
He was restricted with only one handcuff. The other handcuff was put on Lisa.
The handcuff’s chain was a little longer than the usual one’s, which allowed the two to move more freely.
"I allowed Mika to attend today’s event under the condition that I will constantly observe him, hence the handcuffs on the two of us." Lisa explained.
"B-but what about the clothes?!" Cail said.
"There was no way I could let him go to the ball in his prison clothes or his dirtied uniform, thus he was given the clothes of a committee member."
Mika averted his wry expression from everyone.
"Then-"
"That’s enough, Cail Maystra. I won’t answer any of your questions anymore." she cut him off sternly.
"Tch..."
Lisa sighed.
"If I had been told earlier that I would come here, then I would have taken my time choosing a dress..." she muttered regretfully.
"Ah, there you are!"
Another person joined the group.
"Wha-"
"No way..."
"I-is that you?!"
"N-no... Her twin?"
Belian, Lily and the rest already had to deal with grand surprises, referring to Mika and Lisa.
But the appearance of the new person shook everyone to their core. Even Belian was flabbergasted.
"Jeez, I told you to wait for me!" the person pouted while clinging to Mika’s left arm.
"Sorry, but I was too eager to see them again." Mika replied with a smile.
Whereas Mika kept talking to the person, the others, especially those from the white class dorm, looked at them with very big eyes.
They were in utter shock and disbelief.
The person in front of them was commonly known for being lazy, sleepy, always in a foul mood, deprived of energy and rather anti-social.
But now the person was beaming with energy and joy, completely different from the usual described traits.
"W-we’re in front of the others, you know? Could you please get off me, Rachel?"
"No, I don’t want to. Lily was allowed to cling to you, too, right?"
"Wha- Did you see that?"
The person, who was acting all spoiled and like a little child, was a student from the white class.
Rachel Troa.
She bundled her hair together into a big knot. Just like Lisa, she wore golden earrings, hanging from her earlobes.
Her dress was dark green paired with black shoes. The bouffant skirt reached to her knees and had white ruffles on the ends. The dress was sleeveless, too, and the bodice went up to her neck. Her upper body was therefore covered completely from the front, but her back was exposed by the dress.
The others were about to reach out to her.
"Rach-"
"!"
However, confusion broke out among the students, when the lights turned off. Only the chandeliers at the end of the hall, where the window and the entrance to the academy’s arena were, was still illuminated.
Footsteps coming from above echoed in the hall.
The students’ gazes were directed to the front, where a person descended the stairs and stood in front of the crowd.
It was the academy’s headmaster.
Lucio Graymen.