The sound of Maya's marker clicked against the whiteboard, the hum echoed in the room. Ryan's mind was still spinning from everything she had said—the map, the entry routes, the teams, the plan. But her last line about a 'third team' stuck to his mind like glue.

"There's a third team," she'd said, her voice firm as it carried authority in it.

Now she just stood beside the whiteboard as her gaze was stuck at Arthur and Ryan, a small smile curled up on her lips.

Ryan leaned forward a little, visibly confused—voice came low. "Wait, what do you—? One more team? Wha—? Since when?"

Maya just blinked once, then she fixed her ponytail a bit as her voice came low. "Yeah," she said casually. "You can come out now, captain. No need to stay there for ages."

A small door inside of the room 212 opened slightly—a slow creaking sound filled the room.

The hum of footsteps—slow, calm—filled the silence of the room. A figure stepped into the light from the side-storage area, brushing the dust off his uniform.

It was Leon Krais.

Ryan froze in his seat, a small drop of sweat welled up on his forehead, eyes went wide in shock as he stared at his face. "Wait, wait, what the fuck? Him?"

Arthur's expression didn't change, arms were folded next to his chest as his expression was neutral, but the air around him changed. His shoulders tensed slightly, his voice came low, the tone carried that low familiar annoyance. "Him?"

Leon's smile widened up a bit as he fully stepped inside of the room. "YO."

He raised his right hand lazily in greeting, waving it slightly at the both of them like they were old buddies meeting for a coffee date. He had the same confidence, the one which is both confident yet cocky—the kind that made people either laugh or pee their pants.

Leon then went to the side of the room, picked up a chair and went next to them—he flipped the chair backward, and sat down next to Arthur. He leaned back into the chair comfortably.

Put his arm around Arthur's shoulders like they were teammates once again, voice came out as a smile curled up on his lips. "I know what you're thinking about right now, Arthur." he said with a teasing tone. "Ew, this guy? Am I right?"

He made a fake offended face, then pointed towards himself as his voice came out flat. "Yes, it's me. Surprise. We're together now."

Arthur's jaw tightened slightly as he turned his head towards Ryan, voice flat carrying a pinch of annoyance. "You allowed this?"

Ryan didn't waste any other second as he turned his head towards Arthur, caught completely off guard by this sudden question. "What the fuck? Me? What do you mean me? I didn't even know about this at all in the first place."

Both of them suddenly looked at Maya, heads turned in unison.

Maya froze completely for a second as she noticed their gaze fell on her, then she let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of her neck. "Okay, okay guys chill. Don't look at me like that, I just had suggested to him..."

Arthur's eyes narrowed down slightly. "Suggested."

Maya nodded quickly as she shrugged a bit. "I asked him for help, at first he said no. But, then I mentioned that you were in this and that it was regarding West High Crew, and well... he agreed to come."

Ryan was looking at Maya as his sweat dripped down his temple and reached his neck, gaze slowly shifted towards Leon.

A grin curled up on Leon's face like he'd just been flattered. "Well, guilty."

He extended his hand casually towards Maya. "Maya, first of all drop the thing about 'Captain' stuff, I'm not here as the kickboxing club's captain. Besides..."

He took a small pause as his gaze shifted towards Arthur. Voice came out loud, mischievous tone. "We might already have a leader, right? Because I think we already have one here."

Arthur looked back at him, face blank as usual. His voice was sharp and low. "I'm not the leader here and this isn't a part-time hobby thing, Leon. It's a crew—and the leader is Ryan. If you want to join in, you have to take his permission first, if he allows it then you're in."

Leon paused for a second as his gaze shifted towards Ryan, studying him. Then, as if enjoying the drama, he made an exaggerated expression and then clapped his hands together, trying to act excited. "Ohh, so the hero of the Boxing Club is our leader, huh? That's wonderful."

Ryan shifted in his seat, getting comfortable as he leaned his back to the seat, feeling awkward as Leon leaned forward slightly, grin widened.

"So, leader," Leon said, his tone playful yet curious. "Can I join the crew, please?"

Ryan stared at him for a moment. He wasn't sure if Leon was joking or serious, but his eyes held a spark of something real—something that wasn't just for show.

He sighed lightly, straightening up in his chair as he said, voice low. "More the better," his words came out of his mouth finally after a long time. "If you're reliable enough and won't betray us then you're welcome on board."

Arthur eyed Leon with the side of his eye, tone remained calm, but there was something underneath it—like he was holding back a sigh. "He won't betray us, I can assure you about that at least. He'll just be annoying to handle at times."

Leon leaned back in his chair, laughing slightly. "Hey, don't say that you know. I'm a fun company, you'll love to be around me, leader. Don't listen to his words."

Arthur didn't even look at him. Ryan couldn't help but show a small smile. The tension in the room softened a bit, for the first time in a while it felt like they were something more than just the kids.

Maya clapped her hands together once, trying to shift the attention of the others back to the whiteboard. "Alright, enough with the jokes, now that we're done with all of it, let's move forward."—she said as she glanced at Leon, who winced back at her. "Let's now go back to our plan."

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