"So... you want me to give you permission to go out of school tomorrow?"
Liam nodded. "Yes, sir. That is... if it's not too much of a problem."
Jet remained silent, his gaze sweeping across the otherwise empty teachers' lounge in Administration before returning to Liam.
"Well, since you have your camp next week," Jet said with a smile, "I don't see why not."
"Really?!" Liam grinned.
Jet chuckled, then patted the air, gesturing for Liam to calm down. "It won't be that simple, though. I'll need to go through Kane, then the dean..."
The hope in Liam's grin died almost instantly, and he lowered his head.
"I-I guess I won't be seeing my f-family on Sunday..." he muttered.
Jet waved a hand in minor panic. "Ah... um, I'll try to convince Kane, so don't sweat it."
Liam nodded, the light returning to his eyes. "Th-Thank you, sir!"
Jet nodded, but then noticed Liam was still standing there, fidgeting.
He frowned faintly. "Do you... need something else?"
Liam fidgeted a little more before pulling a stylus and a small tablet from the satchel hanging off his shoulder.
"Can I... g-g-get your autograph?"
Jet froze.
"...Huh?"
****
Yes~! Liam thought as he ran out of the Teacher's Block. I got an autograph fromJet!The Asuran Legend JET! Wait, this isn't a dream, right? No, of course it isn't.
"Yes!"
Liam pumped his fists before looking around to check if anyone was watching him. A few teachers and students were passing by, but luckily, none of them were paying attention to him.
Before he could relax, however, his CID vibrated, alerting him of a new message.
He opened it and, after reading it, groaned in frustration.
[Lee: Come to the Crucible. Kazumi and I have some things we want to discuss with you.]
"Can't I enjoy the rest of the day by myself?" Liam muttered as he shoved his hands into his pockets and turned in the direction of the Crucible.
"...Wait a minute."
He paused.
"When was the last time I was able to spend the day all by myself?"
Liam's mind slowly spun as he recalled the events that had transpired over the past few days.
Apart from his first week at school...
I've never really been alone here, he thought, surprised. Lisa was with me during the first week, and now... we both have our own friends. Friends who won't leave me alone, sure, but...
Liam pursed his lips, trying to suppress the smile that threatened to break out.
They're honestly the best friends I could ever ask for.
He frowned.
"Now, if only some of them didn't leave socializing with Kazumi up to me..."
Liam sighed, smiling faintly.
****
Liam frowned deeply, his eyes narrowed.
"And why exactly are they here?" Liam turned to Lee with a sour expression clear on his face.
Lee shrugged, then pulled his shades down his nose a little as he glanced to the side. "Jay, care to explain?"
Jay shrugged. "I don't know why they're here either. I have no reason to get friendly with them, and I'd rather these guys just stayed away from us. Who knows, they could start another fight."
Obanai sneered. "What, are you looking down on me?"
"Yes," Kazumi answered as he stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "You barely qualified as a good fighter, what with you throwing haymakers every chance you got when we fought."
A vein popped in Obanai's forehead. "Would you like to repeat that, punk?"
Kazumi smirked, and was about to open his mouth when Jay laid a hand on his shoulder. "Stop, Kazumi. There was an agreement."
Kazumi glanced down at Jay. ...He wants me to defer to him. I guess... displaying a degree of deference would strengthen Jay's image. And we did have an agreement.
"Alright," Kazumi sighed as he stepped back.
Obanai smirked. "What? You scared?"
Kazumi chuckled. "Scared? No. Just showing both restraint and respect for my class's representative. What are you doing?"
Obanai's eyes widened a little, then he grunted and stepped back.
"Thank you," Fohl said in a sarcastic tone. "A scare tactic against the guy who beat you before? Real smart."
Jay narrowed his eyes and scratched his hair. That was most likely planned from the start. Neither of us discussed how we'd start building the bridge, but he said we'd need to start things off with a little tension. The easiest way would be to make use of existing tension to create that spark of cooperation.
Jay glanced behind him, looking at Raidou, Lee, Kazumi, Nanami, and the rest of his friends.
Well, this will be necessary for all of us to move forward, so it's a small price to pay.
"What do you want?" Jay asked quietly.
Fohl smiled. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm the new representative of our class, and I decided it would be best to apologize for what we did."
Fohl lowered his head. "On behalf of all my classmates, I sincerely apologize for the fight we started. None of us will hold it against you if you don't accept our apology—"
"Is that all?" Jay cut him off. Fohl flinched, then looked up with eyes that were clouded in confusion.
"What... do you mean?" Fohl asked, narrowing his eyes.
Sorry, Fohl, Jay thought with a shrug.
The first thing I need to do for our plan to work...
Jay sighed. "You came here to start another fight, didn't you?"
Is to create the conditions for it at the very top.
Fohl's mind began moving a mile a minute, trying to make sense of Jay's sudden hostility.
What is he doing?! He thought as he frowned and straightened up to look Jay in the eye. We agreed to change the relationship between our classes from enemies to rivals—is this his way of saying that he's decided against it? That he's going to fight me?
Fohl flinched, and his eyes widened a little. Wait... fight?
"Jay Ares," Fohl said in a low voice as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Can you back those words?"
A faint smirk pulled at Jay's mouth. "First, your classmate tries to intimidate us. It could've been overlooked if you actually put some effort into stopping him."
Fohl narrowed his eyes as Jay continued. "All the people behind you reek of hostility, definitely not the sincerity you claim to have. Believe me, I can tell."
Fohl glanced at the group of people behind Jay, then groaned inwardly at their immediate caution.
They actually trust his words, Fohl gritted his teeth. But how can he say we reek of hostility when...
Fohl felt a shiver go down his spine, and he glanced behind him to see Obanai, Sam, and Chul with irritation burning in their eyes. Lance seemed annoyed, while Daji and Buddha looked somewhat amused.
Morty, who was standing at the edge of the group, flinched when he felt Fohl's gaze land on him. He looked up, sleepy-eyed, then gave him a thumbs up.
You got this bro! he said.
Ugh... Fohl looked away. They do have some amount of hostility, but how can they all take his word for it? Unless... there's an insurance in place. Something irrefutable... something they've already proved.
Fohl licked his lips. "So... Jay. You're saying you think this apology's just an excuse to pick a fight? That's absurd."
Translation: We talked about this! Why are you trying to pick a fight?!
Jay rolled his eyes. "Absurd? Well, I guess you'd call it that. Though I don't really think you guys can say that since, you know, you guys picked a fight with us first."
Translation: So what? I decided it won't work out.
A vein popped out on Fohl's forehead, but he kept his voice under control. "I already talked with my classmates. We decided to come here with a small group to show our collective sincerity. If we were going to pick a fight, why wouldn't I come with more people?"
There was a plan. Listen to me.
Jay shrugged. "Because it's obvious that these are your best fighters. More people would be more of a burden. Besides..."
Your plan has holes in it. Also...
Jay smiled and jabbed a thumb at the group behind him, and when he spoke his tone was jeering. "If you can't tell, our class has quite a lot more skilled fighters. If you wanna fight, then come at us."
We're better than you. We don't need your cooperation.
Fohl gritted his teeth, and when he glanced back he saw Obanai clenching his fist so hard veins popped out all over his arm. Chul's skin had turned a darker sheen of silver, whilst Sam's eyes were shadowed and fixed on the opposing class.
...I see.
Fohl turned to Jay, his eyes calm. He's baiting us. Me. He doesn't want a fight per se...
A smile pulled at Fohl's mouth as he came to a realization that quickly became conviction as he stared into Jay's coal black eyes.
The plan was to turn our respective classes into rivals, and he's aiming to make even us representatives look like enemies! How come I didn't see it earlier? Ugh, I'm an idiot.
Fohl took a breath, as if trying to calm himself down. Then that means...
Fohl's mouth slowly curled into a sneer, and his gaze turned sharp.
I just have to play along.
"Can you back those words up?" Fohl asked quietly.
Jay smirked. I can't exactly tell, but I think I've got a hunch that he got the message.
"Of course I can," Jay smirked. "I—"
"Woah there bud." Buddha smiled as he walked past Fohl and stared Jay down. "Do you really think you can write us off so easily?"
Jay looked up at Buddha's eyes, absently noting his X-shaped pupils. "I'm guessing you're going to say 'We can take on more than one of you', right?"
Buddha showed no indication whatsoever that Jay was correct.
Jay shrugged. "Let me tell you, I have three guys right behind me who can take on two of you at a time and come out on top. Not only that, I have the advantage in numbers."
Sometimes, Jay thought as sweat ran down his neck, the simplest tactic is the correct one. He'll definitely back off, but... he might try to shake me.
Jay laughed inwardly. Try? Nah, I'm already scared of this guy! He's only giving off a faint red vibe, but I can tell that he's no joke! If he hits me, I'm getting a ticket straight to the nurse's office.
Buddha glanced down and noticed one of Jay's legs quivering ever so slightly, then chuckled. He made an abrupt turn and walked back to his group, meeting Fohl's eyes for a brief moment.
Fohl gave Jay one last glare before turning around. "You'll have to back those words up one day, you know?"
Jay smiled as the Hero Class group began to walk away. "Oh, I know."
As the gap between the two groups widened, both representatives smiled faintly.
Step one: establish contact, complete!