Enigma

Chapter 24

With the majority of their time being taken away by doing preparations for the incoming Intramurals, the following weeks went by in a flash. The entire University had been buzzing for the past few days, mainly because of the professors in charge of the different events being accompanied by their assigned committees and the constant training of the competing students once their daily classes were over. After days of either practicing with their teammates or just exercising on their own, the date of the awaited activity— that most of them usually referred to as a sports festival— was slowly drawing nearer by every passing hour.

And when it was finally the last week of June, Axelia found herself standing outside the gate of the Empyrean University, peeking a couple of glances at the illuminated screen of her phone as she continued to wait for several certain people.

Letting out a deep breath, she frowned upon looking up for a brief moment. The beaming rays of sunlight were blazing at that particularly hot summer day and she was silently cursing the blinding intensity of the harsh glare coming from the celestial body revolving around their planet that was too luminous to her liking. Despite the pair of sunglasses blocking her eyes from the disturbingly fulgent view, she still couldn't help being irritated by the vibrant scenery around her.

With nothing else left to do but to stand around until the four of them arrive, her thoughts began to wander back towards the conversation that they had a few weeks ago.

“What did you want to talk about?”

Nyclaine only looked up without saying a word for a second before saying in a soft voice, “It's about the tournament.”

“What about it?” Jiro asked. He was slowly getting bothered by how quiet the other was acting.

The blonde turned her face in order to look at him before flashing them her signature sweet smile, although at that moment seeing it felt different for the felicity that was expressed by the upward turning of her lips didn't quite reached her eyes.

“I just wanted to tell you that I'm thankful for the way you and Raze stood up for me. I really am,” she said to him before looking down, muttering a series of words that wouldn't have been heard by Axelia if it wasn't for the deafening silence. “It's been a long time since anybody ever did something like that for me.”

Axelia was just about to ask her what she meant by that statement when Nyclaine suddenly turned to her with a guilty look. “That's why I'm truly sorry to say that I wouldn't be able to help you in that competition.”

“I can't,” she added.

“You're backing down?” Raze asked with a bit of a surprised expression on his face.

Both Nyclaine's and Axelia's behavior changed drastically upon the short extent of that morning. He was slowly finding himself talking face to face with the silhouettes of the two's previous demeanors, the exact duplicates of how they were before he was able to get to know them. It felt like he was being a mere witness to the way two people— whose companies had he really grown attached to for the past months— were abruptly reverting back to their aloof attitudes. And there was just nothing more concerning than that.

“No, I'm not,” the blonde denied. “But I'm telling you right now not to expect too much from me. I'll only be paving the way for Axelia and Killian; just like you said. I can't do anything else other than that.”

She took a deep breath before continuing with a more certain tone, “What I mean to say is, I can act as a defense and a support, but the rest will be up to the two of you.”