"Ding dong—" Reaching the top of the stairs, Mei heard the bell. Just a minute late. The teacher wouldn’t mind, right?
Suddenly, a loud thud and a flash of white filled her vision.
Both girls landed on the floor. Mei rubbed her sore bottom, slowly getting up. Then she saw who had bumped into her.
That familiar voice, that clumsiness... Kiana.
"Kiana, are you okay?" Remembering Kiana’s sprained ankle, Mei reached out to help her, but Kiana, rubbing her head, jumped up, seemingly uninjured.
"Eh? Mei? Ah... sorry, hee hee..."
Seeing Kiana’s carefree grin, Mei smiled, about to ask about her ankle, when a voice echoed in her mind: "Mei, you understand your situation, right?"
She didn’t know the full details. Her father and Michael hadn’t told her everything, but one thing was clear: she was a target. They were after her father and ME Corp, but perhaps her father’s defenses were too strong, so they’d resorted to kidnapping her as leverage.
But Michael was protecting her. She wasn’t afraid. If they couldn’t get to her, would they target her friends?
It wasn’t impossible. Even she could think of it. That experienced team would certainly consider it.
Mei sighed inwardly. She was popular at school, surrounded by admirers, but she rarely interacted with them personally.
If she maintained a distance, they wouldn’t be targeted, right?
Before Kiana could speak, Mei turned abruptly and hurried towards her classroom.
"Eh?" Kiana frowned, watching her go. "Mei! Mei!"
She ignored the ongoing class, calling after Mei, but Mei didn’t stop or turn, disappearing into the classroom.
"Uh... what’s wrong with Mei? Is she avoiding me?" Kiana touched her head, pressing down on her ahoge.
"That’s not right. She was so concerned yesterday... Maybe she has a split personality! One personality doesn’t know what the other one does!" Kiana offered a ridiculous explanation.
But she seemed to have forgotten—the bell had already rung.
"Ahem!" Hearing the noise behind her, Kiana turned, bumping into a solid, unyielding figure.
"Ah... Mr. Katsuki, what are you doing here?"
Katsuki, his face as impassive as a robot, spoke in his usual flat, stern tone, enunciating each word clearly: "Kiana, did you hear the bell?"
Katsuki’s eye twitched. "The bell rang two minutes ago. Get to class."
His unwavering stare unnerved Kiana. She scurried away to her classroom.
Mei rushed into the classroom. Mr. Katsuki, notoriously strict, the only teacher unafraid of the Raiden heiress, was teaching the first period. He treated everyone equally, neither favoring nor punishing anyone based on their background.
He was relentlessly rational, like a machine. Yesterday, he’d spared Kiana not because of Mei’s status, but because he’d accepted the "sprained ankle" explanation.
Being caught by him... although Mei didn’t want special treatment, being scolded in front of the class was still daunting.
But the always punctual Mr. Katsuki was late?
Mei glanced around, confirming his absence, and quickly slipped into her seat at the back.
A minute later, he arrived, placing his thick textbook on the podium. Mei’s gaze followed him. He looked at her pointedly, then cleared his throat and began as usual.
"Class begin! Student on duty—" He drew out the last word. Mei remembered. It was her turn.
Closing her notebook, Mei realized the class was over. No one dared to sleep in Katsuki’s class, at least not Mei. But usually, despite her best intentions, fatigue would win, and she’d doze off.
But today, despite feeling drowsy earlier, she’d been wide awake, her mind unusually clear, her energy levels high.
"Well... that’s good. It’s nice to be alert in the morning."
Despite her words, she instinctively rested her head on her desk, closing her eyes.
Two minutes later, she opened her eyes and sat up. She was too alert to rest. She’d go for a walk.
But she hesitated. Knowing Kiana, she’d be roaming the halls during break. They’d inevitably run into each other.
And if Kiana clung to her...
"Hey! Lady Raiden, no nap today? Want to go to the restroom together?" A classmate tapped her shoulder. Mei turned, shaking her head with a polite smile. "No, thank you. I’m just going for a walk."
This scene played out often. Initially, some were persistent, but after repeated rejections, they’d given up, treating her invitations as empty pleasantries.
Of course, some still grumbled behind her back.
"That Raiden heiress is so stuck up! No one can get close to her! She even refuses to go to the restroom with us... What’s she so proud of? If ME Corp goes bankrupt, no one will care about her!"
"Don’t... don’t say that. Mei shares her bento with us. And the chef’s food is amazing."
"Hmph! Don’t you see what she’s doing? She’s treating us like stray cats and dogs. Sharing her bento is like tossing us scraps."
"Yeah, she always mentions her family’s chef, showing off! Hey, if she offers us her bento again today, should we accept?"
"Of course! Why not? Free food!"
Mei clenched her fists. The girls’ voices faded as they walked towards the restroom. She stood frozen at the back door of the classroom.
It felt like a dream, or perhaps she wasn’t as alert as she thought. She couldn’t believe she’d heard their conversation so clearly from this distance.
And she was shocked by her own reaction. How had she earned the title "Raiden Queen"? She’d never cared about gossip. But now, she felt... hurt.
Their words stung. Normally, she’d brush it off, but now, the feeling lingered, a heavy weight on her chest, constricting her breath.
"What’s wrong with me today?" She tapped her forehead.
She wasn’t superstitious, but... everything since waking up had been strange: Michael’s unusual courtesy, his cryptic words, Katsuki’s tardiness, her own unusual alertness, her unexpected sensitivity to gossip...
What would happen next?
She shook her head, pushing aside her unease. As she stepped out of the classroom, a sudden warmth spread through her lower abdomen.
"Damn! Two days early... Why is my luck so bad today?"
Thankfully, she was prepared. She grabbed her supplies from her desk and rushed to the restroom, slipping into an empty stall before anyone noticed, locking the door.
A strange guilt washed over her. She’d just refused their invitation, and now... what would they think?
The thought was absurd. Why should she care about their opinions?
Mei crumpled the bloody tissue and tossed it in the trash. She patted her cheeks, trying to reclaim her composure.
But familiar voices interrupted her.
"She’s so pretentious! We invited her, and she refused, now she’s rushing here herself? Does she think she’s too good for us?"
"Maybe... she just wasn’t feeling well...?"
"Who knows? That heiress... she’s so weird!"
Mei groaned, opening the stall door. Break time was almost over. The restroom, previously crowded, was now empty.
She walked towards the exit. As expected, the girls were in the hallway. Again, she heard their whispers clearly, despite the distance.
"Am I... hallucinating?" This was the second time. While their words weren’t surprising, this was defying physics. Hearing whispers from twenty meters away? Impossible.
Mei shook her head, telling herself it didn’t matter, and slowly walked towards the exit, as if reluctant to approach them.
"Who are you talking about?" A familiar voice, tinged with anger, echoed in the hallway.
"That’s..." Mei, feeling strangely guilty, ducked back into the restroom, listening. It was pointless, of course. She shouldn’t be able to hear them, but that voice... loud enough for the entire floor to hear.
"Who are... Oh, it’s the idiot from the next class. What do you want? Do I need your permission to talk to my friends?"
"Who’s an idi—No! You were talking about Mei! I heard you!"
"With which ear? Maybe you need a checkup."
"You... I heard you say ’heiress’!"
"Pfft! This is Chiba Academy. Every girl here is an ’heiress.’ Oh wait, you’re not. You don’t even have parents..."
"Enough!" Seeing the conversation turn into a personal attack, Mei stepped out of the restroom, her fists clenched.
Her head was down, her bangs hiding her face, but her demeanor screamed "Raiden Queen."
Her pace quickened, the air crackling with static, her hair lifting slightly, the sky darkening ominously.
"Sumimasen!" The girl who had started the gossip bowed deeply. Apologizing was always a safe bet.
"Sorry, we shouldn’t have... talked about Lady Raiden behind her back..."
The other two girls echoed her apology. Students in the hallway and classrooms were watching. As long as they apologized, Mei couldn’t do anything drastic.
But Mei didn’t stop until she stood directly in front of them, close enough to step on their toes.
She slowly raised her head, her expression unreadable. In a quiet but firm voice, she said, "You don’t need to apologize to me. Apologize to Kiana."