[Wednesday, Midtown High, Morning]

Stopping in front of his locker at school, Jonathan quietly grabbed his books, his mind absentmindedly replaying the end of yesterday's conversation between Rachel and Maya.

It was as he expected, though not exactly the same. Rachel and Maya did know each other, but only superficially.

As both of them explained, during a time when his mother and Rachel went out to eat and talk at a restaurant, Maya happened to appear in the same place purely by coincidence, which in turn led his mother to introduce them, and it was basically there and in that way that the two met, in a totally unexpected manner.

The problem was that after that explanation, both of them laughed and smiled in a friendly way, as if that first meeting was nothing more than a nostalgic and funny memory.

But even a blind person could tell there was still a certain tension between the two, which meant that probably something else had happened that they were both leaving aside.

Or maybe it was the fact that Maya probably knew about the information leak caused by his scientist mother, and she was possibly the agent sent to keep an eye on her.

Or maybe, simpler than that, the reason was Rachel blaming Maya for her mother's death.

That seemed the most likely in his opinion. Or maybe it was even simpler than that: they just didn't get along with each other.

That was also a possibility.

Although rare, there are certain types of people who simply don't like others for no specific reason, just because.

Anyway, after a few explanations and a conversation clearly full of fake smiles, Maya explained, going over what he had already said, making it very clear what he had to do and that he was truly necessary.

But if there was one thing he noticed, it was their complete lack of reaction to the information that this world had its roles reversed.

In his own explanation, he hadn't paid much attention to that, because he was nervous about how they might potentially react to his revelation. But when Maya explained it, he was already calmer, and their complete indifference became obvious.

Literally the only reaction was a joke from Marianne and, again, their complete disregard surprised him.

He didn't think that was the normal reaction, which made him question some possible reason for it. Or maybe there wasn't one.

What if that was just how they were? I mean, when he put himself in their perspective, imagining himself in a position where someone said that his old world, in reality, wasn't following the norm, he would probably just shrug too, not really caring, and would probably make some joke, just like Marianne did.

In the end, it only showed that they were similar to each other. As the saying goes: birds of a feather flock together.

But that didn't mean they hadn't thought about it. No, on the contrary — they were definitely thinking about it, they just weren't giving it as much attention as he imagined. He decided he'd talk to them about it later.

And besides the matter of their complete lack of reaction, there was something else at the end that stood out: his eventual mission, as well as an equally important subject for him — the fact that he would have to drop out of school.

After all, given the circumstances and the importance of this, it made no sense for him to continue going to school — on the contrary, it was a completely unnecessary risk, not only for him, but for all the students there and, particularly, for Tyrone, Chad, Janet and Liana.

The question was: he had no idea how he would explain it. But the real problem wasn't even that — that was the least of it. It was the fact that Maya suggested completely cutting off any connection, besides his family, that he had.

Which was something he obviously refused. Not even for a moment did he consider the possibility of cutting his friendship with Chad and Tyrone, nor the little relationship he had with the other girls, except for Elizabeth, Marianne and Rachel.

There was no way he would ever do that. Even knowing the risks. Of course, that didn't mean he would do nothing and leave everything to chance.

Naturally, he would protect them, since that's the most obvious answer, which in turn ended up leading to an argument with the three, who obviously didn't agree with him.

But at that point, he wasn't asking for permission, nor did he care about their opinion, even if he knew their concern was valid.

In the end, he was already decided, and nothing they said or did would change his mind, which left all three clearly dissatisfied, and with the matter of him putting his life at risk during missions, it naturally only irritated them more.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done about that. After all, he had already given his word that he would help, even if not directly. Naturally, he wouldn't go back on his decision, and he would honor it.

So, in the end, the argument ended with the three women sulking, but reluctantly accepting his decision, especially because he himself didn't have much of a choice there.

Honestly, the following hours, with him having to appease the three of them, were really tiring, but worth it: he managed to divert their attention toward more important things.

"Now that I think about it, that was the closest thing to a harem experience I've ever had." Muttering weakly, Jonathan smiled at the memory.

Yeah, considering the way he had to speak gently, hold their hands or touch them in some other way, and even the way he promised to keep himself safe and that he would always run at the slightest sign of major danger to his life, it gave off a very strong image of a man comforting his wives.

And he was sure they noticed that too and, considering how they went silent, it was a good sign... probably.

Shrugging lightly, Jonathan finally closed his locker. And right at that moment, Tyrone arrived beside him along with Chad.

"Morning." Tyrone said, letting out a yawn.

"Morning." Jonathan greeted him back, shifting his gaze then to Chad, not far behind him. "Morning to you too."

Chad returned the greeting with a nod, also letting out a yawn and looking equally sleepy.

Already knowing the reason why the two of them were like that, Jonathan asked: "You two stayed up late talking to each other, didn't you?"

While still sleepily letting out another yawn, Tyrone grumbled: "Yeah… and you should've joined us. But of course, you had to be busy with something that was way more important than emotionally supporting your wounded friend." He shot him a dry look.

In response, Jonathan only smiled.

Yeah, last night, while talking to the three and having the whole explanatory conversation, Tyrone called to invite him to a boys' night by call, which he obviously declined, since he was dealing with something more important at that moment.

"Hey, it's not my fault, okay? I was really dealing with something important at the time."

Tyrone raised his eyebrows, seeming to not believe him one bit. "Oh yeah? And what was so important that it was way more relevant than talking to me?"

Huffing lightly, with a faint smile, Jonathan replied: "Lots of things are more important than talking to you. Like breathing or something."

"Huh!?" Tyrone exclaimed, looking immensely offended, placing a hand over his chest: "How can you say something like that with a straight face?! Apologize!"

He pointed accusingly at Jonathan, and in response to that, Jonathan just stuck his pinky finger in his ear, rubbing it with an uninterested look: "Didn't happen. I'm good."

While Chad laughed behind them, Tyrone gave him a narrow look, hands on his hips, as if trying to intimidate him.

Although, in Jonathan's view, the only thing he saw was a yappy little dog.

Apparently giving up, Tyrone crossed his arms and then furrowed his brow.

"Alright, but being serious now: did something important happen? After all, if you simply didn't want to talk to us, you would've said it directly."

Sighing, with his hand on the back of his neck and his eyes turned to the ceiling, he replied: "Yeah… it's complicated. I'll explain it to you guys later, okay?"

"We'll be waiting for an explanation, then—" Tyrone accepted his answer, but stopped at the end of the sentence.

He looked behind him, with no indication as to why, but with Jonathan and Chad following his gaze, they saw Megan with the girls from the soccer team, in front of some lockers further back.

And the girl was already looking in their direction, smiling awkwardly, lifting her hand weakly.

Seeing that, Tyrone huffed, looking away. "Come on, let's go to class, suddenly I smell something rotten, like a pile of garbage just walked in."

Exchanging a silent glance, Chad and Jonathan followed behind Tyrone.

...

With the bell indicating the end of class, Jonathan stretched in his chair as he let out a yawn.

And, meanwhile, a few seats ahead, Marianne stood up along with Janet, exchanging a look with him.

He waved while smiling, but in response, the girl only scoffed coldly before leaving the room, followed by Janet, who gave him a curious look.

Laughing bitterly, Jonathan knew he still had work ahead of him, since yesterday's conversation didn't seem to have had as much effect as he thought.

While he wondered if he should follow the girl to talk to her, Liana appeared at his side.

"What did you do this time?" With her arms crossed, the girl asked, shooting him a judging look.

Looking at her from his seated position, Jonathan raised his hands. "What? I didn't even say anything and you're already treating me like I'm guilty."

In response, she slowly lifted an eyebrow.

"Aren't you?"

Jonathan opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't say anything. In the end, he could only nod. "Okay, you got me, I'm kind of guilty." But he pointed at her, stopping her smile from fully forming. "But I didn't do anything wrong. She's like that because I have to do something she doesn't really like."

"And what's that?" Liana asked, curious.

Looking at her in silence for a moment, Jonathan then smiled lightly. "You'll know later, don't worry."

She gave him a questioning look.

"Alright, if you say so. Come on, Tyrone and Chad are already waiting for you." The girl pointed toward the door as she turned sideways to him.

"Yes, mommy." Jonathan replied with a mischievous smile, stretching in his chair.

His gaze, unconsciously, lowered, focusing on her butt covered by tight jeans for a moment before rising and silently meeting her eyes.

In a silent exchange of looks, Liana turned and moved toward the exit without commenting or showing any reaction on her face, while Jonathan himself stood up, neither of them reacting to what had just happened.

...

Sitting in the bleachers, with his chin resting on his palm, Jonathan watched the handball match with a bored look.

Once again, the damn teacher had assigned handball instead of soccer, and once again he found himself bored.

But this time, he made sure to be the first one to get hit, not giving Tyrone time to insist he play along.

His gaze alternated between sides, curiously, with Chad, Tyrone and Marianne once again playing against Diana, those two friends of hers and, of course, Alexis.

Honestly, because of what happened yesterday, Jonathan had completely forgotten about her. It was only seeing her earlier today, when arriving at school, that he remembered his problem.

Although, strangely, the girl seemed to completely ignore his existence, not even throwing a single look when he stared intensely at her.

However, he did not see that as a good sign — quite the opposite.

'It's hardly ever a good sign when a Yandere goes quiet...'

"Suck on this!"

Attracting his gaze with that shout, Diana's shorter friend threw the ball forcefully at one of their classmates, hitting the girl squarely.

He then saw Diana's friend, hands turned sideways, smacking her own crotch several times, wearing a mocking grin.

She then turned to Diana and the other taller girl, lifting her hand, asking for a "high-five."

But, being completely ignored, the girl shrugged while smacking her own hand.

Laughing at that scene, Jonathan shook his head. That girl was really kind of crazy and utterly shameless, reminding him a bit of a certain someone. His gaze shifted to Tyrone, who made a face while staring at his nail, completely ignoring the game around him.

Sighing at that, he stood up from the bench, moving toward the exit. "Teacher, I'm going to the bathroom." He raised his hand, notifying her.

"Alright, don't take too long." The teacher replied without looking at him.

Leaving the gym, Jonathan made his way to the bathrooms, passing quietly in front of some other rooms.

Arriving there, he walked in without fuss, going straight to a urinal. Whistling carelessly, he started peeing.

His mind distractedly focused on the rhythm he was whistling, while—

"Hi~."

"Jesus Christ!" He almost shouted, turning quickly as he pushed himself forward, looking over his shoulder after hearing that right by his ear.

And, just a few centimeters away, he found Alexis smiling, amused, with her arms behind her back.

"Alexis? What the hell are you doing in here, you lunatic?" He asked with his heart still racing from the scare and completely incredulous that she was there, again.

"What do you mean 'what am I doing here'? I came to see you, isn't it obvious?" She said with her head slightly tilted, looking at him with a 'Duh' face.

But it didn't stop there: she leaned forward, looking over his shoulder. "Are you done there? Do you want help~?"

And seeing that, Jonathan moved, covering her view.

"No." He said, looking suspiciously over his shoulder, cautiously finishing peeing.

But instead of saying anything, the girl just stared at him, smiling, saying nothing, In. Total. Silence.

The only sound echoing in the bathroom at that moment being his pee hitting the urinal.

Which, obviously, only made Jonathan even more uncomfortable — and he was sure she was doing it on purpose.

Finishing as fast as he could, he shook just barely enough before zipping up and turning cautiously, still staring at her.

Going around her, he moved to the sink, keeping his eyes on her, turning on the faucet and washing his hands afterward.

All of this while Alexis just stared at him, smiling, in total silence.

Finishing washing his hands quickly, Jonathan simply shook them dry, heading to the door and keeping his eyes on her, opening it and slipping out slowly, still with his eyes glued to her.

Closing the door slowly, his eyes still focused on her figure, which remained motionless, until the door blocked his view, with him shutting it with a soft click.

And without hesitation after that, he ran.

However, the soft click of the door right after he took a few steps sent a shiver down his spine.

Looking over his shoulder, he already saw her coming out of the bathroom, still smiling and still acting disturbingly calm.

And worse than that, she started running after him, with that frozen expression on her face.

"Fuck!" Jonathan exclaimed loudly, rushing back toward the gym, running as if a ghost were chasing him.

Behind him, Alexis only laughed, amused, her expression finally breaking out of that strange face. Clearly she was teasing him just as much as she was enjoying it, very different from Jonathan himself.

And unfortunately for Jonathan, he didn't see that change of behavior and expression, completely focused on running from her and promising himself to solve this situation as soon as possible.

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