"Do you have anything to tell us?" Dewy asked and Key feigned confusion
"Don't play games," Rasheed warned and she looked at them with her smile turning into a small one
"Oh, Dominant Rooks' off-laner challenged me in a solo, but don't worry, we had a non-disclosure agreement. I won so even if they breach it, it won't implicate us." She said immediately but it's not the answer they wanted to hear from her
"Anything else to add?"
Bright urged her to continue but Key shook her head, she didn't know what she did wrong – or rather – Key perfectly knew what she did, it's just that her pride won't let her admit that it's wrong, so she deceived herself into believing what she did is alright.
"Are you sure you have nothing else to add?" Key shook her head at Dewy's question while smiling
"Off-laner, forward, support, mid-laner, and top-laner," Key looked at Rasheed when he started mentioning the positions in a team
"You, Keychantel, crushed those players with the shinigami they are known to be best at," Rasheed said in a reprimanding tone that made Key still for a moment before her eyes met Rasheed's darkened gaze
"They challenged me, and I won while playing by their rules." Key remained calm as she replied in a casual tone and that expression of hers pushed Rasheed's buttons even more
Sensing that something is wrong, Quant, Alexei, Rio, Opal, and El went up to the strategy area to check on the four of them only to hear Rasheed's irritated tone as he asked a question to Key.
"Do you take us for a fool, Keychantel?" this question gave Key the message that his temper is thinning
Key averted her gaze from their captain's and looked down on the tiled floor.
"What happened?" Alexei was surprised to see his indifferent cousin so worked up and upset so he asked
"Key had a solo with Dominant Rooks," Bright said in a low tone and they looked at Key who is now averting their eyes and fidgeting her fingers
"What did they do this time?" Quant asked in an unhappy tone
He's still holding a grudge after the mockery they received from the Dominant Rooks after when received their first loss.
"You should ask what that kid did," Rasheed muttered in annoyance, earning their attention
"I didn't do anything wrong, Captain." Her voice was soft yet it was firm and she didn't stutter
"Key," Dewy called her and Key's shoulders fell as the clueless members; Opal, Rio, Quant, El, and Alexei, looked at her in confusion
"Don't cry, don't you dare cry," Key looked up and glared at their captain because of his warning words
"Why would I? I didn't shed a single tear when they mocked us after we lost to them. Why should I cry now when I know I won?" she replied with her innocent expression diminishing into that of nothingness
Key's eyes lost their usual glitter, looking at her expression, they almost couldn't recognize Key as the Key they've been with for months, not that they have ever seen her as upset as she is now.
Her cheeks are red and so is her nose which has turned to a tint of scarlet, a dead giveaway to her current emotion.
"Why should I cry when it was them who deserved to be mocked? They lost to me, Captain." Her tone laced with annoyance matched her void expression, a scene they are seeing for the first time
"You were not playing fair,"
Rasheed shot her a glare but Key, who had forgotten how it feels to be aggrieved yet have felt it again for the first time, matched it with an equal intensity
"They mocked us when we were going through something and I beat them in their days of glory, how is that not playing fair, Captain?" Key asked in a tone they haven't heard her speak in before
"They set the rules, I played by it and still won, so now that's not playing fair?!" she asked in disbelief, her voice raising
"Don't throw your tantrums at me, we are only correcting you," Rasheed said in a stern voice, heightening Key's already existing irritation with him
"I'm not!" Key retorted in an irritated manner while cussing in her mind
"Really? Then it must just be that you're being too prideful right now, huh?" Rasheed asked, her face contorted with irritation
"I am not being prideful, I don't see what's wrong with what I did. I did what I did, no harm's done to us, and if anything, I actually managed to show them that they have nothing to be conceited of." Key replied
"Key, what you did is wrong." Dewy took her attention and her expression softened at their expressions
"We understand that you felt wronged but Key, that is not how we do our comeback," Bright said calmly
"What did she do?" Opal who seem to have not yet caught up with the situation asked for the rest of them who didn't know what Key did exactly
"Key, we're a team, we don't do things behind our team. It'll make us think you're underestimating us."
This statement from Dewy made Key's void expression soften into her innocent face again, only that there's a foreign emotion mixed with it
"We know why you did what you did, but we want to hear it from you. Why did you do it?" Dewy asked her in a calm manner and Key looked at them directly with guilt-filled eyes
"I didn't want them to mock us…" her voice was firm yet it reflected reluctance as she start to avert her gaze from theirs
"I just did what I thought would show them not to underestimate us. I didn't damage their reputation the way they mocked us mercilessly in front of the whole world."
She looked at them but her eyes didn't land in Rasheed's direction, instead she lowered her gaze
"Alexei, you're playing in the next match," Rasheed said and stood up
"Huh?" Alexei was surprised by his cousin's words that he couldn't control his reaction
"What, you don't want to play anymore? Why are you still here then?" Rasheed was completely mad that his anger is leaking out and vented at Alexei
"Of course, I want to play, no need to get worked up, Nico," Alexei said and looked at Key who's refusing to meet any of their gazes
"Who do you think you are, huh? If you are a princess from wherever you came from, you are not a princess here so get your act together."
Rasheed's tone is demeaning but Key's heart is too filled with guilt to feel offended, her system couldn't register other feelings and emotions anymore, just guilt for leaving out her team and anger because she wouldn't let it sink in her mind that what she did is wrong
"Nico, that's too much," Bright called him to stop because he is already hitting below the belt
"I'm sorry then," Key said and bit her lower lip
"Isn't that what you want to hear, Captain?" Key is still her so she can't lower her pride when she met Rasheed's eyes
"If it is, then I'm sorry if I went on a hunt to hunt them one by one and beat them with their best shinigami," Key said defeated, and then when her eyes met Rasheed's, it reflected regret
"You… what?" Rio asked in disbelief
They all can't believe it even after hearing it from Key herself, they saw her as a harmless little sister with great gaming skills so to hear her admit that she beat every member of the Dominant Rooks to get even after they mocked their team took them aback.
It was just not befitting the image they have of her.
"Key did those in the past week that we're just here training, and we found out because the Dominant Rooks reported to the management saying you're using Key's account to trick them in an agreement and when we investigated it, it was just Key alone," Dewy explained the whole situation and Key felt dejected so she didn't dare meet anyone's gaze
"Stay here, you're banned from the game," Rasheed said as he left them
"Okay,"
Key had foreseen this, she knew the moment that the club finds out about the hunt that she would be banned, she's still lucky that she wasn't terminated from the team
"Key," Bright called her and she looked up to meet his eyes
"What you did is wrong," He said and cracked a small smile
"But we're happy to know that you didn't drag yourself down in sadness." He said, she looked at Dewy who smiled at her and gently tapped her shoulder
"Who knew there is a firecracker hiding within the team," Dewy said and Key smiled a little
"Not because we are surprised and quite disappointed with what you did, we invalidate it," Dewy said
"It's just that, we want you to know that whatever you do or are planning to do if it's for the sake of the team, you must share it with the team, alright?" Bright asked and Key nodded silently
"No secrets," she said half-heartedly
It will take her a while before she finally understood and own her mistakes.
For years, everyone had validated her actions, may they be a good thing or a bad thing.
During all of her years of existence, she had her family and friends covering up and vouching for her so she's been too complacent that no matter what she does if she thinks it's what's right, it IS right.
Living with power in her hands from such a young age had her accustomed to doing whatever she wants and not giving a damn about what people think or feel much too much, and it's about time that she learns her lesson.
It'll be a lesson that'll help her continue her stagnant growth, and it'll be a bittersweet lesson that will give her heart the peace it's been longing for.