As the day's classes ended, Nero didn't waste a single moment as he left the campus in a hurry, moving towards the city. The moment he vanished, the refined and calm looking Elly had only now made her way outside with a few females, though they were talking and laughing, her eyes were scanning the surroundings like a hawk. Still, as she didn't see Nero, she could only clench her slender palms as she cursed inwardly, "Pervert, just you wait!"
A few girls saw her look had changed a bit and question, "Elly, are you okay?"
Elly, having returned to her usual demeanor, spoke with a smile, "Yes, I am; I've only been feeling a little nervous lately. Plus, I have to get to private tutoring in a while, so it's been a weight on my shoulders."
The girls made an understanding expression as one of them who was an innocent-looking girl, with curly hair and large blue eyes spoke, "Elly, don't try to push yourself, it's not good to always be studying. Tell you what, why don't you join us for a treat? There's this good place that we sometimes hang out after school."
Elly made a hesitant look, but the others showed a thumbs up when they looked at the innocent-looking girl. A different girl with black hair in a pigtails hairstyle fixed her glasses and spoke, "Oh, Claire is right, we haven't gone in a while now that I think of it. Elly, you should come, it's a really nice place to hang out!'
The other girls remained silent as they looked at Elly for an answer. Elly looked at them for a while, but as she was about to speak, a black car pulled up.
Soon, a man in a suit walked out and spoke with a hand at his mouth, "Ahem! Miss Elishia, please come with me. Your parents are waiting."
Elly sighed as she saw this, she looked at them and saw that they were a bit stunned as she spoke, "I'm sorry, but I am currently on a strict curfew. How about this, we can go visit this place of yours on the weekend, how does that sound?"
"O-Okay Elly, that's even better," The girls replied a bit flusteredly as they didn't expect for her to have such a status.
Elly nodded and left while saying goodbye as the car drove off with her. Now, only the girls remained while staring off at the distant car, moments after they began to separate.
Claire looked at the blacked hair pigtailed girl and spoke, "Kara, is there a reason you wanted me to invite Elly? Isn't it a bit too soon? We've, after all, only met her for a day."
Kara who heard this made a smile as she spoke while texting, "It's fine, I want to get to know her more, don't you think it's nice to make new friends, Claire?"
Claire hearing this made a strange look as she knew Kara wasn't so friendly to strangers, but she didn't want to press it and only nodded and replied, "Um, okay, I don't mind it either."
Kara smiled and nodded as she tapped Claire's back and spoke in a lively manner, "Great, now come on, let's get going we can't keep dallying here."
Clarie nodded as she allowed herself to be pulled by Kara towards the city. Unaware to Claire; however, Kara, who led her along, had a strange smile on her face; the phone in her other arm had only just forwarded a text message.
Far from this scene, in a dark red luxury car that was driving along the highway, Kailyn was currently seated with her legs crossed over. A poisonous look was on her face, every time she recalled how close Elly had sat near to Nero, her chest grew blazing, even more so when she heard her shout and reaction.
As she thought of Nero, a strange look came over her face; her legs kept fidgeting as she bit the bottom half of her lip tightly while gripping her palms.
'He dares to ignore me; he dares to disturb my emotions? No-no-no! No one can have him; he is to be mine, my little slave, my tamed pet, my trash! I'll have him kneel below my skirt and do my bidding for the rest of his life!' Kailyn thought while biting her lips.
Her mind right now, already falling into a stage of madness. Just by thinking of those thoughts, her face turned every stranger with a hint of flush as her breath grew erratic.
Suddenly, she noticed that her phone had beeped, she cleared off her thoughts and stared at the screen seeing a text that caused her to smile as she spoke in a soft but sinister tone, "Don't blame me..."
The scene here remaining one of silence as the car sped towards the distance, preluding the forthcoming event of a later time.
***
After walking through a crowded street, Nero had arrived at this part-time. It was a large bar that was very popular with the locals of Rambruck, a place known as Heaven's Paradise. As Nero entered, the first to notice him was a classy, handsome bartender with glasses; he couldn't help but rub his eyes as he spoke.
"N-Nero?" He asked a bit hesitantly.
Nero seeing his reaction, shook his head and replied, "Yes, it's me, not someone else."
The bartender made a confused look, but he soon recovered as he spoke, "You look good, you should try keeping that appearance from now on, we can't always having you come here looking like a bum."
"Whatever," Nero said as he made his way past him to the backroom.
The bartender didn't bother paying him any mind and continued his tasks, flirting with the women who sat around his counter.
Nero's job wasn't anything too important; he was merely the runner who catered to the various guests around at their tables.
In a few minutes after arriving and changing, Nero had already gotten work; he went back and forth carrying liquor, water, and whatever was required of him to earn his short few hours of pay.
There were many things one could do here, be it partying, drinking, singing karaoke, playing games, finding hosts, or directly hooking up with prospective partners in the Hook-Up lounge.
Hence, this was why this place was so popular amongst many, and one would find students from the senior years in high school here, mingling amongst others that got off from work.
A few female hosts and lady guests couldn't help but show him suggestive looks, but Nero didn't want to waste time with them.
By this time, it was already nearing 5 pm; he had to hurry and get back to the campus to catch the last bus, the ever so run-down thin can that was unmaintained for years.
Nero hurriedly cleaned up and changed his clothing before he went to the bartender to cash in his daily hours. As Nero's case was a bit special due to his impoverished background, he had applied for this job under the Special Category, allowing him to get his pay daily.
While many businesses still didn't support this type of procedure, there were quite a few like this business facility that had already adopted it. The only problem was that Nero wouldn't earn the typical hourly amount for an hourly wage and would earn only a dollar or more shoulder than the rest, dependent on the owner's benevolence.
After earning 13 EU Dollars, Nero then started to leave the pub, but as he was leaving, he couldn't help but notice from the corners of his eyes a few strange faces, men seated in a corner that hats shrouding their eyes.
Nero's face sunk as he saw them, but he didn't consciously pay them any mind, quickly he left the area and headed back for the campus. Not even waiting for a second, he jumped on the bus, ignoring the fat bus driver as he sat near a window seat and stared out of the window.
There, Nero saw that a few men in black clothes had stood nearby the school gates, but as they saw him enter the bus, they hesitated before turning around and leaving.
'Whew! That was scary; I need to be even more careful when getting back from work. It seems that their actions are limited, and they are not privy in taking strange actions before the public eye. This is good; it's better that way... it looks like I'll need to stop somewhere after I enter the Gutter Zone to train my skills in real life...' Nero thought to himself as he couldn't help but feel slightly anxious about his current state.
A few moments passed before the bus began to drive off, and Nero felt a bit better, he was about to close his eyes to rest, but couldn't help but notice that on his left side in the opposing seat of the bus, was Ryo.
Ryo sat comfortably, idly minding his own business as he played a mobile game on his phone. Nero was surprised as he saw him here, he grew suspicious once more as he didn't think Ryo would still need to wait so long to leave school.
He wanted to confront him but also knew that it was a foolish move. Hence, Nero decided to keep silent and pretend he saw nothing.
'The most important thing is strength, only with power can I no longer act like fish on their chopping block,' Nero thought as his eyes shone with firmness. The scenes of the Prominent Sector passing by his eyes as the beaten-down bus throttled its way towards the Gutter Zone.