Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 4-6) ✓

191 | Stakeout

     "Believe me, I'm going to learn more about your school here than I did when I was studying there. Let's face it, I was just another spoiled kid studying in a school that my family sponsored, so I didn't really care much," Max explains, and this time, Kingston ended up chuckling.

    "You transferred to a school that has your surname on it, so I don't know what's better."

     It's strange to see them getting along now because they were practically enemies in the past. I guess the pageant really made them closer.

     "Well, since you're already here, take these brochures," Kingston says, handing out the brochures to Max so he can give them to his friends. Max takes them with no complaints, but then someone behind him suddenly clears his throat.

     Max turns around and sees Keigo making eye signals, so Max smiles and looks back at Kingston. "I know you're busy, but let me introduce you to my friend. That's Felix, and then Ari and Ervin. And sitting beside him, the one with the blue armband is Kawanishi Keigo. He's a huge fan of yours."

    Ari and the others looked back at him while Keigo waved excitedly.

     Kingston doesn't really greet them and just looks back at Max. "I know who they are. We crossed paths with each other at the cafeteria yesterday."

     "You mean the Great Hall?"

     "Whatever."

     "To be fair, you were the one who was looking for a fight," Ari then says, making Max shoot a look because he didn't want to start anything here, so Ari just rolls his eyes and looks back at the stage to continue watching the presentation.

     "Looks like you're with the other members of the student council," Max then says, changing the topic and gesturing at the Westberg Academy students on stage. "When I was the president, most of them didn't really inform me about anything."

     "It's because you're never really in school. But I guess you transferring here favored me more because I finally got elected as the president," Kingston fires back, almost making Max laugh out loud.

    "Anyway, I don't want to hold you back. Thanks for the brochures. We'll listen to your presentation attentively and give you our honest feedback," Max says, touching his chest and bowing his head to Kingston.

    Kingston was surprised, but he nodded his head at Max before running back to where his fellow schoolmates were.

     When Max sat back in his seat and passed the other brochures to them, Keigo immediately leaned toward him and said, "Max, please introduce me to the other contestants. I think they'll notice me more if you do it."

Max was about to answer him, but Ervin, who Keigo shoved so he could lean toward Max, immediately pushed Keigo away to scold him.

     The two of them start bickering, so Ari and Felix join in to make them stop. The other students were obviously bothered by their noise but were too afraid to say anything to them. But amidst the chaos, Max just stares at his friends with a warm smile.

     Today was going to be a normal day. As much as he wanted to worry about Jontell or any other things that might stress him out, Max didn't want his friends to worry about him anymore. He was here to enjoy the convention like everyone else and just worry about the stressful things after.

    But little did Max know that his protectors were already working on solving his problems for him, making sure that Max did get to enjoy his day and finally have the rest he desperately needed.

...

"Have you guys already seen him?" Hans asks over his phone.

     "Some of our Jacks reported to us yesterday and told us that he found him walking near the Hall of Janus, almost like he was looking for something. Over," Brave—who was at the rooftop with the rest of the jesters, answers.