Chapter 24: Date gone wrong
Entering the meeting room,
Ryan was greeted by a group of anxious teachers, administrators, and staff members who paid him no mind.
The head professor, Alfred, Professor Ania, martial arts teachers, special guards unit leader Daniel, and multiple academy personnel were present.
The seer beckoned to Ryan, inviting him to sit beside him.
Alfred was the one to begin speaking: "There is a high possibility that a villain has infiltrated the academy grounds."
"A strange unregistered person has been spotted in the mountain forest," Daniel reported.
"What person?" a staff member asked.
"I don't know. Only some footage was captured by the monitoring devices, not enough to identify anyone," Daniel answered, shaking his head slightly.
"It could be some student or a curious..." another staff member paused, realizing how foolish that sounded. They had surely checked into that possibility.
"The disappearance of Professor Mia is a huge concern," Professor Ania commented with a frown.
"The probability of her being dead is high," a female administrator named Laila said. While her relationship with Mia wasn't the best, to say the least, she was still concerned. It wasn't a matter she could brush over due to her dislike for the other woman.
"What about the corpse?"
"No corpse was found."
"She probably just ran away."
"She would have already caused trouble somewhere else, making it on the front page of the news articles, if she truly ran away." Ania rolled her eyes in ridicule.
"What should we do now?"
"Of course, we need to alert the union."
"That's not acceptable. Those bastards will just come here to boss us around."
"The Union isn't that bad…" someone added hesitantly.
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"That… that we... we search for her ourselves."
"Search for whom? Mia, or the unregistered person."
"Isn't that like searching for the same thing?"
"Then who will protect the children and the island?"
"We lack numbers."
"We can just recruit more."
"Then the union would wonder why we need more people, it's the same as telling them what's going on."
"But..."
"I know that your relationship with the Union isn't the best. Neither are most of you here, but we need to take action."
"Should we make her disappearance public?"
"That's not a very wise decision."
The room turned chaotic as various voices rose and fell, everyone trying to figure out what to do and how to respond to this situation.
Alfred's eyes swept over the room, and his gaze silently met with the seer's. He asked, "What do you say, Headmaster?"
The room fell silent as everyone waited for the headmaster's decision.
"We will not contact the Union," the seer paused, thinking for a moment, and added, "Mia's disappearance will not leave this room. The world will know that Mia's services are no longer needed. She has committed many mistakes and violated several rules and regulations in a short period of time. And she has been dismissed from the academy as a result."
Mia's whereabouts after her dismissal would then not be of Erou's concern, so the union couldn't enforce entry to the island or investigate inside.
"What about the intruder?"
"A small team will be assembled, led by Daniel." The seer concluded.
Everyone in the room nodded, and no one asked further questions as they trusted the headmaster.
There was always a reason behind his actions.
Alfred finally found the opportunity to ask his most curious question; he spoke as if just in passing, "By the way, the student beside you, who is he?"
His question caught the attention of most people who were preparing to leave. While they might not know all the students, they certainly knew the top most talked about trio. They were all wondering why he was there.
"My grandson," the seer smiled and dismissed them, not allowing any further questioning.
"Ah, why did you leave my consciousness awake?" The seer sighed, curious since Ryan could have just turned him into a puppet.
Ryan replied tiredly.
The dizziness started to hit as he struggled to keep himself awake. "If I did that, you would never experience the pain Hiro. had. to. go. through."
"You do say some strange things from time to time, don't you?" The seer laughed helplessly.
"Just live. quietly. Until... you. die," Ryan yawned.
***
[Annoying Amanda: Going on Date with Ryan operation start.]
[Annoying Amanda: Don't fail, XOXO.]
Wearing a green t-shirt with high-waisted jeans, Tracy waited in front of the academy entrance. She had arrived two hours before their date and had been waiting for 40 minutes now, all because she hadn't checked the time before leaving.
She was currently oblivious, wondering where Ryan was. Did he get lost or something? Or did he forget?
She wore a forced smile on her face, and many people gave her either side-eye glances or weird looks.
"Good_ morning, Tracy. You came early," Ryan said as he stopped on his way to the cafeteria.
Taking in the warm, humid breeze, he noticed Tracy standing alone at the academy gate. This prompted him to change his plans and walk toward her.
Tracy looked back.
The blonde youth wore a crisp white T-shirt, a tie, and a black blazer, complete with a pair of polished black shoes.
He flashed her a smile, his bright golden eyes, and his somewhat faded blond hair sparkled under the soft ray of sunshine, dazzling Tracy momentarily.
He looked especially handsome as though he was made of gold; however, the badge of the academy was especially striking on his school uniform.
"Hmmm… Why are you wearing a school uniform? I told you to wear something else." Tracy hummed slightly and asked, clicking her tongue in annoyance.
"This. is all. I have. My. roommate… T_ told… me- I. could… not. go. on. a date. wearing pajamas," Ryan grinned innocently.
"..." Tracy was very grateful for that roommate.
"Let's go," Tracy said, lowering her head, defeated.
The duo walked on the cobblestone road, and multiple eyes followed Ryan, looking at Tracy with envy.Euro Academy resided on Erou Island, a place mostly filled with a training facility, dorm building, a town for the original inhabitants of the island, teachers, staff members with their families, and retired heroes who chose this place as their final destination.
There was also a forest and a huge stadium-like infrastructure.
Tracy dragged Ryan to the nearest mall, where they entered a men's clothing store.
She began to choose a lot of clothes, stuffing Ryan into the changing room for no less than an hour and a half. Everything he wore looked good on him, but being especially fond of fashion and in tune with trends, it wasn't long before she chose ten outfits for him to use on special occasions.
If they weren't living in the academy, where only the uniform was required for daily use, she would have urged him to take more.
'I wonder if he has any casual wear for daily use; he mentioned he only has pajamas.' Just as she was having thoughts about which boutique they should visit next, Ryan emerged from the dressing room wearing what Tracy had decided to be today's outfit, something that aligned with the keyword 'date'.
Wearing a button-up sky-blue shirt with black jeans, coupled with a delicately handmade black coat decorated with a touch of gold at the shoulder, giving off an air of royalty, Tracy was satisfied with Ryan's outfit.
'He looks quite different from earlier.' Instead of the image of a naive child he was spitting a while ago, he now looked more refined, more like a full-grown adult who lived roughly a decade more than she did.
This air suited him quite well and would have been better if he hadn't flashed her that toothy grin just now, shattering her fantasy. He would have been a better trophy and much more popular if he stayed still like a statue.
Tracy groaned on the inside and forced herself to smile back with as much vigor, and then told the staff to send the rest of the clothes to the academy dorm, including the academy's uniform as well.
She was about to pay when Ryan handed his credit card to the cashier.
'I thought he was poor, but it makes sense; someone with that look and naivety couldn't possibly have been born into a lower-class family,' Tracy thought, her eyes falling on the platinum card in his hand. It was something hard to come by, even if you had the money. Even her father, an SS ranker tycoon, couldn't get his hand on.
"Let's go buy..." Before she could complete her sentence, her hand was wrapped in a much slander hand. A hand belonging to someone ill-fed— again, Tracy couldn't help but wonder if Ryan was abused back at home. He was much smaller compared to guys his age.
"Let's go to the arcade." Ryan's eyes looked at her softly, his palms tightening around hers in a gentle manner.
Fearing that Tracy would keep dressing him up like a doll, he spoke up, half dragging her, but she soon withdrew her hand and walked by his side, acting somewhat bashful, even if she didn't feel a thing.
They left the shopping mall and went to the arcade, playing most of the games. Some games were tricky, made especially difficult for low-ranking awakeners.
The date went by like a regular date, except that none of them took the initiative to speak; both quietly did what most people would do.
Normally, staying silent on what was supposed to be a date would feel awkward and stifling to most people, but for the two, it only felt natural to just keep each other company without having to force a useless conversation when they didn't have much in common.
Finally, they went to a restaurant and ordered food.
As Ryan's usual drowsiness started to hit after the long five-hour date, he was truly tired, and when all that he could think of was sleep, they came to a stop at a nearby park by the lake.
Tracy stopped, took a deep breath, and looked back at Ryan. She was tired, but she had to do what she had to do, this was her chance. Eyes filled with affection, even if faked her words spoken in a pleasant tone, "I like you, Ryan. Would you go out with me?"
"We are. already out," Ryan said, tilting his head in feigned confusion. "Y- you can_ N- not… leave… T- the… academy."
Tracy shook her head, moving closer to Ryan and interlocking her fingers with his. "That's not what I mean. I want us to be boyfriend and girlfriend."
Ryan pointed at himself and said, "Boy." Then he pointed at Tracy and said, "Girl." He smiled and concluded, "Friends."
Veins appeared on Tracy's previously beautiful face. She grabbed Ryan's collar, pulling him closer. Her mouth was blocked by Ryan's hand.
The once-smiley face turned confused. "Do- does… Tracy_ wants. to_ be… my- wife?"
"..." No, I only want to be your girlfriend.
"Grand- pa… said- only… husband- and. wife- can… d_ do- this."
"Do what?" Tracy asked.
"Have a… baby," a faint blush appeared on Ryan's face.
"Your grandfather told you that." Ryan nodded at Tracy's exclamation.
Nobody told him that; he watched that in a children's TV show with his sister when they were younger. It was funny when his sister believed it until she turned fifteen. It was also fortunate cause he didn't have to deal with her bringing a boyfriend home. Thinking like that, a smile appeared on his face again, but this time it was genuine.
"Tracy," A beautiful, enchanting voice, sounded close to their ears, attracting their attention.
Lisa and Astin appeared in the two's line of sight.
A frown appeared on Tracy's face as she took Ryan's hand and dashed out of the park, heading straight to the academy.
"Ah, T-Tracy," Ryan stuttered, his dragged body almost tumbling face-first to the ground.
"Don't go." Ryan grabbed Tracy's arm. His action, coupled with the look on his face, was similar to a child begging his mother not to abandon him; it sounded like he wanted to spend more time with her, but his thoughts were quite different.Ah, don't leave me alone; my crazy roommate stuffed Damion's body behind my closet, and it's terrifying.'
Tracy blankly and annoyedly slapped Ryan's hand and walked off, her face contorted.
She didn't care about maintaining her persona anymore.
Ryan sighed as he watched her depart.
The innocence and confusion on his face were gone, the blush faded, replaced by a helpless smile.
'I don't think I can hide in Jacob's room either. I should have stayed in the hospital some more.'
He massaged his hand as he walked toward his dorm room. It was going to be another sleepless night, having to experience and feel Damion's fear, desperation, and pain.
Experiencing someone else's emotion was a troublesome side effect.