Arthur approached Gabriel calmly, as if he already knew what it was.
"Can these things be talked about at school?" Arthur asked wryly.
"Safer than in other places." Gabriel replied indifferently. He took his cell phone, also state-of-the-art, out of his pocket and opened an application. After a while, he lifted his head to look at Arthur.
"I have two things to deal with you. First, the reward of your mission. You'll receive your mission share as agreed, but you'll also receive a higher total for solving the unexpected problem." Gabriel spoke while looking deeply at Arthur. Inside him were still many questions about the origin of this person in front of him. And the strangest thing is that he felt a certain familiar feeling of Arthur, which made him even more curious.
"No problem. I'm not interested in the reward. Give it to the families of the people who died." Arthur waved a hand as he started walking without waiting for Gabriel. But he soon stopped after feeling a shiver down his spine. Gabriel's cold voice echoed behind him.
"I'm still your superior, so have a little respect. The second matter is more personal. The management here is interested in you." Gabriel soon put away his cell phone and walked by Arthur. But before he left, he spoke low: "I don't usually do this, but I'll make an exception for you: Be more discreet."
Arthur was a little irritated by what Gabriel did, but he tried to calm down. His last words also helped to understand a little more of his personality.
Arthur nodded and said, "You should use that worry to take care of your wife. I also have something to say: You two match." Remembering Janice's appearance, Arthur firmly agreed with his own statement. That respectful way of hers was just a facade, with the warm, caring looks that were inevitable when she looked at Gabriel giving everything away. A cold person, and a loving one.
Gabriel stopped for a moment, then continued forward. Unbeknownst to Arthur, a small smile formed on his face.
After that, each went to their own room. But a surprise made Arthur a little strange. The teacher in the class was exactly the person he was talking about a short time ago: Janice.
***
Arthur watched Janice leave the room with a strange look in his eyes. He knew this had been done by Gabriel.
'Love is beautiful…' Arthur smiled a little.
After that morning class, it was finally breakfast break. Arthur's newly opened wounds were slowly but steadily recovering. It was still hurting a lot, so he decided to stay in the room. Suffering to eat a little would not be worth it.
"B...Beatrice." Arthur hesitated a bit before speaking, "Could you borrow the notebook so I can copy the subject from the last few classes?"
Beatrice looked at him and nodded. She pulled out her fluffy pink notebook and handed it to him.
"Cute…" Arthur blurted out as he received the notebook.
"Hehe" Beatrice giggled at that, but then got up to leave the room, "Are you coming? If you're not going upstairs, I can bring your coffee here if you want..." she asked, her voice getting lower with each word.
Arthur looked at her strangely, wondering where all this kindness came from. He looked at her for a few moments before nodding his head positively.
"So I'll be right back!" A light shone in Beatrice's eyes before she calmly went to talk to Aline to go upstairs together. Aline was still a little resentful of Arthur.
Arthur tried to forget the scene he saw while writing the contents in his own notebook. Teachers made it very clear that this were one of the grading requirements, as it encouraged personal organization and helped with memorization.
Arthur personally didn't need this, and even thought it was a little useless. Very few people memorized content by this method, as most paid more attention to writing than to what they were writing.
With reasonably good handwriting, at least above average, Arthur managed to write all the content quickly. He took advantage of the fact that there was only him in the classroom to speed things up. As soon as she was finished, Beatrice walked into the room with a cup of latte and some cookies.
Arthur noticed that Aline was not by her side, but decided not to bring it up. He handed the notebook back to her, before pulling a chair to his side. Arthur was internally screaming not to do this, but his body wasn't responding the way he wanted it to.
Beatrice was a little surprised, but she still sat down beside him. She hid it from Arthur, but her cheeks were slightly flushed.
"Music?" Arthur pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and the wired earphone.
Beatrice nodded and put the phone to her left ear, while Arthur put the other in his right ear. They had to put their arms together to get comfortable.
Arthur shuffled the playlist and closed his eyes, feeling the comfortable feel of Beatrice's arm. Little did he know she was in the same situation.
The first song he played was 'Infinity - James Young'. As the music passed, it seemed to resonate with both of them. There was no love between them, but the music still played in their hearts.
It was pretty emotional for the first song, but the second one wasn't all that different. From oldies like 'Stand By Me' to 'Fire On Fire', the playlist wasn't pitying.
When Arthur went to see what was wrong with the cell phone, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Beatrice had laid her head on his shoulder.
Arthur smiled, his heart beating a little faster. He decided to leave it as it was. He even straightened up a bit to be more comfortable.
After a few minutes, when the break bell rang again, Beatrice suddenly woke up. A little drool was at the corner of her mouth, and also on Arthur's coat. She looked at Arthur, and saw that he still had his eyes closed.
Her cheeks turned red and she almost lost control.
'Why did I do this?!?!? I slept??' These two questions rang in Beatrice's head as she continued to look at Arthur and the drool on his shoulder.
When she was about to do something, Arthur's hand came up, carrying a handkerchief. He stretched out in front of Beatrice.
She quickly picked it up and wiped the corner of her mouth, before folding it twice and going to clean Arthur's coat. She blushed as she did this, but Arthur stopped her.
"It is not necessary. I'll do it..." Arthur smiled, his heart pounding even more. But this time it was a bit of a panic, as she almost touched Arthur's wound. It would be a bad sight if it ended up bleeding again.
Beatrice nodded before heading back to her own table. She was still a little confused by what had happened, and her heart was uneasy.
After this intimate scene, the day passed normally. He went to talk to the girls at lunch and they decided to go to the mall in town for the meet up. Arthur basically listened, not having much of an opinion. He was more distracted than usual, but the girls pretended not to notice.
After returning home with Thomas, Arthur ordered more food. He was too lazy to do it.
He ate like a bull again, which greatly improved his body's regeneration. He estimated that the next morning, after a good sleep, he would be completely healed. After all, what he had was a heavy worsening in the wounds that were left, so the worst of it had already healed.
After talking a little with Thomas, Arthur went upstairs to his room. He again plunged into that endless darkness before closing the door.
As soon as he got into bed, he closed his eyes to sleep.
But the moment he did that, a bloody and chilling scene began to flash across his vision. An endless madness began to creep into his mind as the black bands on his wrists and ankles turned into thick cuffs that left his body completely rigid.