(Cadel Pov)The next day, I noticed Jonah being a bit more distant than usual. In fact, he had been ignoring me the whole morning. Kaede had noticed it as well.During a quick break in our lesson, she leaned over and whispered to me, "Hey, did something happen between you and Jonah?"I shook my head. "Not that I'm aware of.""I don't know, but he's been seeming kind of troubled lately," Kaede said with a frown. "I'll check on him during lunch break."It wasn't just Jonah who was acting weird. I observed Kazen constantly eyeing me and Jonah as well. I suspected that they might have something to do with each other, given their odd behaviours. However, the more I thought about it, the less likely I felt that was the case. Kazen didn't seem the type to impose on innocent people.As the lunch bell rang, Kaede requested for Jonah to meet her at the stairwell beside the classroom. I mused over the familiar feeling, given that she had called me to meet her there as well on the first day of school.Scarlette and Mira approached me, their faces etched with concern."I hope there's nothing bad happening," Scarlette commented. Since she was sitting behind us, she would've observed Jonah's weird behaviour as well."Is something wrong?" Mira asked. Mira sat right in the front of the class, so she wouldn't have known if anything was up.I shrugged. "Jonah's acting weird, so Kaede's decided to check in on him. Honestly, he's been seeming out of it lately."Scarlette agreed. "I thought it was strange how he didn't want to join us for night practice yesterday. He's usually pretty enthusiastic about it." She let out a soft smile. "So this was what happened back then as well? When Kaede also went to find me alone the other day when I was feeling miserable?"I nodded. Kaede had a knack for sensing when something was wrong and always knew how to offer support. Her talent for emotional awareness and providing comfort was remarkable. I was grateful to have her as a friend, and I was sure the rest of us felt the same way.After a couple of minutes, the two of them returned. Jonah's face was unreadable."So umm, is there something you would like to share with us?" Scarlette asked."I have two things I wanna talk about," Jonah stated. His unusually serious demeanour alarmed us."We're ready when you are," Scarlette offered.Jonah looked down. "The first thing… I wanna talk to Cadel. Alone."The two of us shuffled out of the class, aware of the three girls anxiously watching us leave.We headed back to the stairwell."Let us get something straight to begin with. Are you hiding something from the rest of us?" Jonah asked. His tone was startlingly cold.I didn't reply immediately. My brain worked overtime, trying to consider what may have prompted his accusation. The only logical conclusion I arrived at was that I had been spotted with Kazen last night. That would be a problem.I decided to be honest. "I had a sparring session with Kazen last night," I said bluntly. "Nothing more than practice."Jonah balled his fists. "Why didn't you tell us?" His eyes reflected hurt, not anger."It would make things complicated for our team.""I know that… that's why I haven't told the girls that I saw you with Kazen last night. I didn't want them to panic as well," he sighed. "Why Kazen though? Were the rest of us too weak for you?" His voice cracked on "weak".I shook my head. "It's nothing personal. I just want to test myself against all the 5-Stars in this school—to know my limits, and theirs. Anyway, what were you doing last night?" I asked, hoping to deflect the conversation back to him.Jonah looked down, calming his breathing. "I don't know if you trust us, but I will trust you, okay? Lately I've noticed how the rest of us have useful powers, or have been improving. But me? I've been and stayed useless." He slammed his fist into the wall.It was weird seeing him look so upset like that. I had read somewhere that the happiest people may feel the opposite inside, and watching him now made that appear to be the case."Have you been practising your Ability lately?" I asked."Well, not really… I can't really practise much with it anyway."I put a hand on his shoulder. "Sure you can. If you keep practising, surely you will be able to surpass your current limits, maybe even find something new about your Ability. You can bend light right? That's already an incredible foundation." I vaguely remembered saying something similar to Kaede."I thought that I'd come to accept myself as a 1-Star, but looking at you guys, I felt like I would be a burden in the future. Especially now that we're a team. I'm fine with being weak, but I don't wanna be dragging you all down."Ah, so that was what he was worried about. How benevolent.He continued, "Last night I was feeling a little moody, so I decided to head to the convenience store near our dorm for some ice cream—it always cheers me up. It was on the way back that I heard y'all approaching. It felt like something I shouldn't be seeing, so I took cover."
That made sense. Our convenience stores were open 24/7 since they were fully automated. All we had to do was to scan our student card for purchases. Admittedly, seeing me with Kazen must have been a weird sight for him too.
"We won't fault you if you tried your best to improve. Try not to miss any group training sessions if you can," I advised.Jonah nodded. "Yeah. You're right. I know I'm just being a coward right now.""That's fine, as long as you do something about it." I pondered on the current course of action. "What should we tell the girls?" I asked.Jonah straightened up. "I'll explain what I've been feeling. You should probably tell them that you duelled with Kazen last night."I frowned. "Is that really a good idea? I don't want to sow more seeds of distrust among us.""If we keep hiding stuff from each other, it will eventually stack up. You should just confess now and apologise."I thought that was a logical take. "Okay, let's call them out for lunch. We can tell them at the cafeteria," I said.As the five of us got to our usual table at the cafeteria table, Jonah got up and gave an apologetic bow. He explained how he felt pressure to keep up to the standards of the team, and how he did not want to drag us down. After letting it out, I sensed what seemed like relief on his face."Oh Jonah," Scarlette facepalmed. "No one here thinks you're a burden. Everyone here is an essential member of our team. If anyone's got a problem with that, they can come talk to me about it," she challenged.Kaede and Mira agreed as well. "Don't be too hard on yourself. We're all trying to improve, even Scarlette," Kaede couldn't resist a little dig at Scarlette, who blushed."I'm not Cadel alright, I still have plenty of room to improve," she huffed.I spoke up. "Hey, I'm not perfect either."This was the perfect opportunity for me to fess up to the group over last night's incident. "I don't mean to startle you guys, but last night, I had a sparring session with Kazen. I didn't inform y'all because I was afraid that y'all might take it the wrong way." I gave an apologetic nod in Scarlette's direction in particular, knowing she was especially sensitive to this topic. I then further explained my reasons for fighting him, and that it was nothing personal to the team.There was a moment of silence around our table as the group soaked in the information. I noticed the colour momentarily drain from Scarlette's face before she composed herself.She took a deep breath. "Well, I think I can speak for everyone here that we're glad you at least came clean with us. Though I do hope you would tell us if you were up to anything… uh… weird, in the future."Kaede looked a little disappointed, but she still flashed a little smile at me. "No more hiding, okay?" she tutted, wagging a finger.They seemed to be taking it better than I expected. Perhaps I made an oversight with my judgement of the team. I had thought that keeping my meeting with Kazen a secret would've been more optimal, but I underestimated how understanding my team was. I would have to reconsider the maturity of my teammates.As the rest of the school day passed, things between us gradually returned back to normal. Scarlette had finally approached me for our own private training session, and I tentatively told her I'd be available sometime this week. I had also told my friends that I would try to challenge Zoey Leomane sooner or later, as she was the last 5-Star in the school I hadn't yet fought, preferably in secret as well. Finally, I wanted to research more on the upcoming school camp we would be experiencing. Ms Reina should be briefing us in about a week or two.As we walked back to our dormitory after the school day, Jonah seemed more like his usual self, which was refreshing to see."I promise you guys, next week I'll have a new trick prepared instead of just rainbows," he joked.Kaede giggled. "And I'll work on not blowing myself up with my own plasma attacks."I observed the camaraderie within our group. At that moment, I felt a sudden urge to protect them from any external danger. Perhaps I was starting to grow attached to them?No. I knew all too well what would happen if you grew too attached to something or someone from experience. Since the incident a couple of years ago, I had made it a point to avoid forming strong connections—it was my way of staying safe.After a quick wash-up back in my room, I turned on my computer, intending to get some revision done. It was then that my phone rang. An unknown number. I answered it."Cadel Ren," a gruff, familiar voice announced."Who is this?" I asked."Forget me already? Last I saw you, you and your girlfriend were stumbling about blindly in the park after you tried to paralyse us.""Ignar Maximus." I felt a tinge of annoyance. He was certainly up to no good."If you care about Kaede Tsukishi, meet me at Eastpine River, near the bend, at midnight tonight."So they were using Kaede to drag me out huh? I sighed. Not another late-night battle."Must it really be tonight? I would prefer if we did it tomorrow evening or something," I requested."It seems you don't understand the position you're in. If we don't see you, you won't be seeing Kaede again anytime soon.""How do you know our names? And how did you get my phone number?" I asked."Midnight. Eastpine River" He hung up. Administration Notes:School: Horizon HighName: Ignar MaximusGender: MaleYear: First-yearRank: 5-StarDivision: CombatAbility: Ignar's primary weapon is lava, but has deceptively flexible applications. He is able to manipulate lava freely, and can instantly cool it down to harden it into rock. Highly dangerous individual: caution should be practiced by wearing synthetic Abizium suits when in combat with him.