Seeing Naomi still in shock, Haruki decides to approach her to try to calm her down.
Haruki: I understand that seeing a dead body for the first time can be traumatic, but you need to pull yourself together.
Naomi still remains unanswered, staring into space.
Seeing that it doesn't work, Aron decides to go there himself.
~Aron's POV~
Me: Naomi, you need to stop. I know that doing nothing, letting your emotions carry you and being passive about the situation seems to be the easiest solution. But above all it is the stupidest solution. Being in control of the situation and knowing how to control your emotions is certainly more difficult, but above all it is the solution that allows success and victory. I'm going to ask you a question.
I reach out my hand and place it against her cheek, causing her to jump slightly in surprise and immediately snapping her out of her thoughts. She slowly turns her head and her eyes now meet mine.
Me: Would you rather be a loser or a winner? A silent answer is the same as a loser so you better respond.
My last sentence draws a slight laugh from him. She looks me straight in the eyes with a smile and a determined expression.
~~
Naomi: A winner obviously !
She gets up again before continuing.
Naomi: Sorry boys, I let my emotions take over and slowed us down.
Kenta and Haruki look at each other, then Haruki speaks.
Haruki: Don't worry about that. We were especially afraid for you.
Kenta replied with a big warm smile.
Kenta: I'm glad you're back with us too.
Aron interrupted their moments.
Aron: Without wanting to rush you, this whole thing has cost us a lot of time and we only have 30 minutes left and 2 other computers to activate.
Naomi: Yes, you heard, Aron, let's go !
For a moment Haruki frowns slightly, probably because he is jealous of how close Aron and Naomi are. Which Aron easily noticed but decided to ignore.
After 5 minutes of walking Kenta, who is at the front, suddenly stops walking.
Naomi: A cat ?
Kenta: No, it's another group of students.
Everyone began to listen in silence to the sounds of footsteps heading towards them.
Then after a while a group of three people containing two girls and a boy were seen. One of the girls has purple eyes and brown hair tied in a ponytail and she seems to be chewing gum, the other seems slightly younger than the first, she is also brunette but her hair is tied back with two pigtails and she appears to have a lollipop in her mouth. Finally the boy, he has white hair, pale or even white skin, with pale blue-gray eyes, which makes you think he is an albino.
One of the girls removed her pacifier before speaking.
Manon: Look at Sora senpai, another group of students !
She looks at the boy waiting for an answer, but he seems to have his mind elsewhere all the time, as if he is constantly thinking.
So the other girl answered for her.
Léna: Stop bothering Sora senpai for anything, you can see he's thinking.
Léna is a constantly calm and serious girl, but strangely as soon as it comes to Manon she loses her cool and even her serious expression cannot hide her nasty tone towards Manon.
Manon: I'm not talking to you, you sow !
Léna: Me a sow ? ! Who do you think you are, you big cow !
The two girls started arguing like two children and being still immersed in his thoughts, the boy with them didn't even pay attention.
Naomi: Um... They know we're right there, right ?
Haruki: Maybe we should leave and leave them there...
Kenta noticed Aron frowning slightly.
Kenta: Is everything okay, Aron ?
At the pronunciation of this name the two girls started to look at Sora at the same time. And that's understandable because his expression had completely changed. He who was completely in his thoughts now his eyes wide, pointing directly at Aron's.
Sora: A...A...Ar...
Seeing Shiro completely confused and in shock, the two girls immediately attacked him.
Léna: Shiro senpai, what's wrong ?!
Manon: Shiro senpai, you are fine !?
Despite their blatant concern Shiro didn't even pay attention to it.
Shiro: You don't understand, it's him !
The two girls looked at each other for a moment before one of them decided to speak.
Léna: Wait a minute, is that him ? Is this the famous Aron ?
Manon: Yes, look at his eyes !
Naomi: What's wrong with these crazy people ? Do you know them, Aron ?
Aron didn't bother to answer Naomi and preferred to address the boy directly with a smile.
Aron: Hi Sora. I'm delighted to see you again.
Sora came to his senses and cleared his throat before answering.
Sora: Aron, I finally found you! You need to get home quickly before Father gets so angry that he no longer forgives you.
Despite the fact that he came to his senses, he still had difficulty hiding his worry and anxiety.
Aron replied in a cold tone.
Aron: NO
Sora: Aron, please, I came all this way to warn you! You need to...
Aaron: Shut up. You still talk like that and your status hasn't changed. You are still Father's favorite little puppet.
Kenta, Naomi and Haruki talk among themselves while whispering so as not to interrupt this discussion.
Haruki: Do we have the same father? So he's his brother?
Kenta: No I think the person they call "Father" is their superior.
Haruki: A superior? But a superior of what?
Naomi: be quiet, I can't hear their conversations!
Aaron: Let's go. I don't want to be with this puppet without free will for another second.
As Aron and his group began to leave Sora grabbed Aron's arm.
Sora: That's not true! Father thinks that I am in Japan to go visit the Prime Minister, he does not know that you are also in Japan, I did my personal research, no one knows except Léna and Manon but I promise you that They won't say anything either.
Aron: So what are you doing here if this isn't Father's order.
Sora seemed to have trouble looking Aron in the eyes, as if he was ashamed of it.
Sora: First of all, I'm sorry for what I did to you in the past so I wanted to apologize personally. Then I wanted to convince you to come back and be forgiven by Father. But I knew you wouldn't want to, so I thought of something else.
He pauses for a moment before continuing.
Sora: I want to stay with you until you come home.
Aron seemed slightly surprised but quickly composed himself before answering.
Aron: Then you'll wait a long time.
At these words Sora started to smile
Sora: You didn't say no.
Aron: Don't slow me down. Let's go.
Sora and his group joined Aron's group and during the search for the other computers Naomi and Léna became friends while Manon and Kenta got to know each other.
Suddenly three cats appeared.
Naomi: Be careful if you are eliminated then you will die.
Léna: Yes, we know. I guessed the real rules of the exam. And the 4th member of our team proved my hypothesis if you know what I mean.
Naomi: It's horrible. That means he's dead...
Léna: No, it's okay, I didn't even know him, he's just a guy who wanted to be with us since he really believed in the rule of teams of four and no one else wanted him.
Naomi was both impressed by Lena's intelligence but also disgusted by her lack of regard for a human life.
Naomi: If you guessed the real rules you must be the brains of the group.
Lena gave a slight laugh before answering.
Léna: Thank you, that flatters me, but Sora is much smarter than me. And it was so easy to guess that even Manon could have done it.
Naomi lowered her head slightly.
Naomi: I hadn't guessed...
Lena corrected herself as she traveled Naomi's face and understood the blunder she had just made.
Léna: I don't doubt your intelligence. The only reason you couldn't guess is because you're still too innocent to see the reality of the world.
All of a sudden Manon came to the fore.
Manon: I take care of the little kittens.
She rushed at the opponents before killing all three of them with her bare hands in just a few seconds, which shocked Kenta, Haruki and Naomi.
Haruki: You just killed them...
Naomi was going to say something but Lena spoke up.
Léna: It's either they kill us or we kill them. Anyway if they lose the game they will be eliminated so it doesn't change their fate.
Kenta lowers his head before speaking
Kenta: Yes it's true...
Manon: hurry up, there are 20 minutes left.
Suddenly Haruki started looking around.
Haruki: By the way, where have Aron and Sora gone?
Aron and Sora had disappeared without anyone realizing it.
Léna: They probably left on their own to save time. Let's not worry about them and let's go.
Manon leaves ahead, followed by the others.
**********
They ended up finding the computer which was surrounded by around ten cats which were hiding within a perimeter of 10 meters around and which Manon quickly eliminated.
The computer was quickly defeated by Haruki.
"THE FOURTH COMPUTER HAS BEEN ACTIVATED"
Being amazed at how quickly he had defeated the computer, Lena turned to Haruki.
Léna: You're pretty good at chess.
Haruki: Thanks but it was pretty simple.
He didn't really seem flattered by the compliment. It's as if someone had been flattered by being good at breathing; their skill at chess seemed natural to them.
Léna: He was still at 2500 elo according to the rules.
Haruki: Besides, it was your team that activated another computer, right?
Léna: Yes exactly, it's Sora senpai.
He started to smile.
Haruki: I would like to face him one day.
Léna: I'm sure he would be delighted to play with someone as talented as you.
While they were talking, Kenta decided to interrupt them.
Kenta: What now?
Léna: Now we are going to place ourselves at one of the two exits while waiting for Aron and Shiro to have activated the last computer.
Naomi: But won't the cats all group together to try to protect the last computer?
Léna: Oh yes probably. But that's not much for members of the 7th generation.
Naomi: 7th generation?
Léna: Sorry but I have no right to say more. Normally we should have already eliminated you but since you are with Aron we did nothing.
Naomi and Haruki's faces turned pale.
Haruki: Eliminated !? Um ultimately we don't have any questions. Hey Naomi...
Naomi: Yes !
Naomi and Haruki's expressions made Lena laugh.
Lena: AhAhAh. I was joking. We brainwash, and only eliminate if it doesn't work.
Far from having reassured Naomi and Haruki, Léna's words made them tense even more. (which made her laugh again).
**********
Meanwhile Aron and Sora found themselves facing around fifty cats protecting the last computer.
Sora: I'll take care of the cats and you go activate the computer while I create a distraction, okay ?
Aron: As you wish.
As Sora rushed into the pile Aron made his way to the computer.
After a few minutes the speakers blared throughout the building.
"THE LAST COMPUTER WAS ACTIVATED"
"BOTH EXIT DOORS ARE NOW OPEN"
After this announcement, Léna's group rushed into the exit where they were waiting in front of the door, and Sora and Aron's group hurried to join them.
They found themselves in a white room that looked like the meeting room where the welcome speech had taken place, the principal on the stage waiting for all the winning students to arrive.
When all the students who had passed the test were gathered, the principal began.
Principal: Now that the real entrance exam has been passed, I would like to welcome all new students to my school and hope that you will pass all future exams as well as this one. But above all, I hope that you will succeed in obtaining your diploma following the next three years that we will spend together.