It didn't take long for Eden Academy to finally put out the results of the entrance exam. Crowds of people surrounded the three bulletin boards, looking up at their names. Some were cheering upon finding theirs, and some were gloomy when their name didn't show up.
And that second part is especially true with the family of three standing there, with faces that would make you think someone killed their dog or whatever.
"K-212 isn't there."
WESTALIAN INTELLIGENCE, ANTI-EAST DIVISION (WISE) HQ
Inside the confines of a rather strange looking building, a room full of screens provided light to the darkness surrounding the people, most of which were working on communication devices. A man sat in a faraway section of the room, back turned to them and facing a large screen.
"It's today, isn't it?" A woman said, approaching him. He didn't turn his seat around, but his head visibly tilted a little.
"Hm? What is?"
"Have you forgotten sir? It's the exam results for Eden Academy. They're being announced at 1200 hours."
"Oh, you mean that new thing Agent Midnight is dealing with?"
The woman shook her head in disbelief. "Sir, Operation Strix is a vital part in our strategy to ensure peace between the east and west! Please try to pay closer attention towards it!"
A gloved hand waved about dismissively, as the screen before them showed footage of Amane in the park, presumably taken in the day he was chasing that purse thief. "Relax. He knows what he's doing. I'm sure we'll get his report saying 'The cherry blossoms bloom' soon enough."
"And what does that mean, sir?"
"It's a code we borrowed from the orient. It means, 'We passed.'"
Unfortunately for them, that didn't look like to be the case.
We failed. The family thought simultaneously. Amane especially had a pretty obvious look of exhaustion on his face. So all of the commotion from that one time had severely pushed him back to square one, after all.
"Let's... let's just go home."
Sensing the gloominess in the air, Nene spoke up. "O-oh, um, I'll make us some tea again if you'd like!"
"Thanks."
Haruto felt like his heart dropped down from his chest, and tears began to well up his eyes. Was this it? Did he really fail? Will he really be separated from his parents for good?
"Wait right there, Yugi." The stern voice of an old man made them stop in their tracks.
"Professor Henderson!"
Henderson took the family behind one of the school buildings, where it was devoid of people that could possibly see them. He handed Amane a sheet of paper.
"This is...?"
"Look at the top of the page."
Huh? Sure... Amane did as he was told. On the very top spot on the list, was Haruto's name. Why was his son's name on it, along with a couple more other names that he realized were other children?
"That is... The waiting list. It's confidential outside the faculty, of course." Henderson answered his unspoken question.
"Waiting list?"
"Precisely. Based off his score, Yugi Haruto is the first on the list to fill in any vacancy. If even one of the accepted students declines to attend Eden Academy, he'll immediately be moved up and enrolled."
Ah. So there's a chance he might... "But... after what I did back there..." Amane began, but Henderson spoke up once more.
"Do you know what animal kills more humans than any other? The mosquito."
The... what.
"Indeed, you have saved Professor Swan from the world's deadliest beast. That was worth more than a few points."
"I guess you're right..." Was what Amane could merely reply to that. That sounds ridiculous coming out from you, but whatever.
Henderson huffed, nodding his head. "Hold your chest out with pride, Yugi. You are worthy to attend our school."
"So, Haruto can attend if there's an opening?" Nene then asked.
"Yes, that's correct."
But... What if there weren't any? Her mind began to wander off from the conversation, and her imagination took her to the image of a grand ballroom of some sorts.
Suddenly, there were screams, and blood splattering everywhere. "It's the Siren! Why is she here?!"
Indeed, Nene walked ominously in the room, slashing at everyone's throats as she slowly approached a terrified man, the center of the occasion.
"Are you Secretary Ekeniel? Would you mind forfeiting your life to me?"
"N-no, please spare me! I have a son, and he's only six years old! He's going to start going to a good school next month! If you kill me, he won't be able to go to school! So please, I beg of you!"
"I'm sorry, but that's exactly what I'm aiming for."
"What?!"
Nene squinted her eyes shut, shoving her blade into the poor man. "Please die for me! So Haruto can move up the waiting list!"
That imagination was shortlived, as she went back to her senses, shaking her head violently, not noticing Amane and Henderson looking at her with confused faces. No, I mustn't! I must not kill innocent people!
Haruto, having been rather amused by her fake scenario, let out a small laugh to himself. Mama sure has an active imagination, huh? She's even apologizing to that fake guy she just killed.
Henderson cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention back to him. "As I was saying, every year, without fail, there are always some who decline to attend. So prepare yourselves for that."
"Thank you, Professor."
"Well, by the next time you're here, the school and I may have already parted ways."
Amane raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I gave that disgusting pig man a solid blow to the noggin... So I can only imagine what fate Eden has in store for me, to protect their reputation." Henderson recalled that incident with Swan.
Between this professor and that other guy, I'm not sure which one of them will be a valuable asset for the mission. Well, if in any case he becomes a problem, there's many ways to ruin his social standing.
"Well, if there's anything I can do to help, Professor..." Henderson raised his hand, shaking his head at Amane.
"Trés élégant, even if it's just empty consolation. Go home and await the good news, my boy."
--
"Mama, look!" Haruto exclaimed, running towards Nene who was busy finishing reorganizing the refrigerator contents.
"What is it, Haruto?"
Excitedly he pulled up a crayon drawing of what seemed to be him, Amane and Nene, and some peculiar little pink rabbit creatures. "Do you like it, Mama?"
"I do, it's very cute. Are these rabbits?" She pointed at one of the rabbit-like things.
"That's a Mokke! They were in one episode of Bondman yesterday!"
Huh? Does he mean that spy anime? I remember Amane telling him not to watch too much of it.
"I showed Papa, and he said I should put it up the fridge door." Haruto tried to reach up to the highest point of the fridge, yet he couldn't really get far ahead because of his height.
Nene smiled, patting his head and gently taking the drawing from his hands. "Here, I'll put it up for you." She took one of the little fridge magnets and stuck the drawing on it.
"There. Doesn't it look great up there?"
"Woah! You're right!"
Meanwhile, Amane sat across from where the phone was, his eyes focused on it intently. It had been three days since their conversation with Henderson. He had been keeping check on the phone for any calls, so admittedly he was a bit on edge.
Just then, the phone started to ring loudly. He quickly stood up and briskly walked towards it, picking it up. "Hello? This is the Yugi residence."
Behind him, Nene and Haruto watched as he spoke to the person behind the line. Maybe it's those guys from the school. Papa looks so serious.
Amane finally ended the call, silently putting the phone back down. He looked back at them, and nodded gravely.
pop!! Came the sound of a party popper, followed by cheering. Haruto was now eligible to enroll in Eden Academy!
"Great work, Haruto!" The boy squealed with delight when Amane picked him up into the air, spinning him around.
"Yay! I did great!"
"Oh, thank goodness! This is cause for celebration!" Nene breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily for her, she didn't have to kill anyone after all.
"Mm-hm. I also have to thank you too, Nene. All of you worked hard, so why don't we have a little party to celebrate tonight?"
And that, they did.
"Hey, I heard you passed! Congratulations!" Kou greeted them with a big grin and a bottle of wine upon Amane answering his knock on the door.
"What? News sure spreads fast around here, it seems."
"Heh, never estimate the capabilities of an information dealer."
"Waaah, it's Scruffy!" Haruto ran and grabbed onto Kou's knee, getting a headpat in return.
"Heya there, kid! Oh, and you must be Mid-I mean, Amane's wife! You can call me Kou. It's nice to meet you." He bowed, and Nene mirrored his actions.
"N-nice to meet you too."
"Scruffy, got anything to eat?" Haruto tugged on his pant leg, in which Amane muttered a "don't be rude" to the boy, but it unfortunately went ignored.
"Of course I do! This is a party, after all! I got plenty of wine, and I already ordered delivery!"
A-all on his own? Both Nene and Amane thought, while Haruto cheered.
"I want donuts! Donuts!"
Around the time their food arrived, the dinner table became lively with laughter. The adults conversed happily while Haruto chomped on his plain donuts, crumbs getting all over his cheeks.
"Geez, if it weren't for me stealing those questions, you wouldn't have gotten this far." Kou laughed, face already turning red from the alcohol.
"Hey, be quiet! She'll hear you!" Amane hissed at him, yet when the two of them looked over at Nene's direction...
"Huuuh? Whaaaat did you sayyyy?" She let her words slur, a shaky smile forming on her lips. In other words... she had a low tolerance to alcohol.
Kou snickered, turning to Amane. "Are you really drinking, you sober bastard? Light up a little."
"I've been trained not to get drunk no matter how much I drink." Amane replied, taking a bite off his own donut as Kou groaned.
"Seriously? Sucks to be you, I guess! But you know, Haruto." The blond then looked at the boy, who looked up from his donuts at him.
"Aren't you happy? Now your Papa has to buy you anything you want!"
"Don't go around making promises for me!"
Haruto shook his head. "I don't wanna buy a thing, I wanna do something!"
"Is that so? Well, alright, if we can do it."
There was that look of mischief in Haruto's face as he hopped off his chair and went towards the TV, switching it on. There was another episode of that spy anime airing.
"Save me, Bondman!" A princess cried out, being dragged away by a sketchy looking person dressed in all black head to toe. Then the scene cut to a masked man in a communication monitor.
"Good morning, Bondman. Your mission today is to rescue Princess Honey from the evil organization and free the castle."
The scene once again changed to Bondman in the castle, fighting off the bad guys, and a narrator began to speak over it. "Bondman, the kingdom's number one spy, infiltrates the castle, defeating every enemy in his way before he reaches the princess."
"I'm here to save you, Princess!"
"Oh, Bondman!"
"Once again, Bondman has saved the day!" The narrator exclaimed, before the credits started to roll.
"I wanna do that." Haruto pointed at the TV. Amane blinked, trying to process what he had just watched.
"So by that... You mean...?"
"I wanna play Bondman rescuing the princess from a castle!"
A castle? Where in the world would I get a castle? Can't we just do it here? "That's impossible. No way." He turned down the kid almost immediately.
Haruto stood there wide-eyed, before he began to sniffle, a tear falling down his cheek. Kou, who had sobered up a little, went over to his side to cheer him up.
"You're such a heartless fiend! If he can't get what he wants, he won't go to school!"
"Hey, don't go putting words into his mouth."
"But Amane, I heard from a couple of my sources that there's an old castle in the nearby district that you can rent out for a hundred, tops." Kou whispered to him. "Besides, it's not under government control, so why not live it up a little?"
Why would I do that? That just sounds wasteful. But... Amane looked at his son. He continued to cry, even as Kou patted him on the head.
"What a shame. You went through all that trouble to get accepted, and now your Papa won't even let you celebrate how you want it. He's really a jerk, isn't he?"
"...Geez."
One moment they were in the apartment, and the next, they were now standing in front of a castle.
Amane's eye twitched. He really had to stoop so low just to drive them all the way here.
Haruto's eyes sparkled, and he ran inside the empty castle, spinning around. "A castle! Castle!!"
"Good for him, ufufu~" A still drunk Nene giggled.
"Hmm... But something's missing. There's no bad guys. There's no castle servants either." Haruto slumped his shoulders. "Guess I can't go to school after all..."
"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Kou joined him.
You two are seriously pushing things too far! The raven haired man heaved a sigh.
In a split second, cars began to gather outside the castle, and before anyone could blink—the whole interior was now filled with people. More specifically, agents that were called to come in disguise to blend in with the castle's atmosphere.
"Look, it's Agent Midnight, in the flesh!"
"He looks so cool!"
"I should ask for his autograph later!"
"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! See, look at how happy he is!" Kou slapped Amane on the back. "It's amazing how fast your agency can get things done in a flash."
Haruto then gathered the three adults together. "Okay, here's how it'll go! Papa's gonna be Bondman!"
He pointed to Kou. "You're gonna be the bad guy!"
He pointed to Nene. "You're gonna be the princess! So that leaves me to be one of the evil sidekicks!"
"Eh? Why are we the bad guys? And I don't remember him having a sidekick—oof!" Kou was shoved to a spot by the boy kicking him on the knee, making him jolt.
"Mama's gonna be in here!" Haruto pushed a chair down to it's side, taking his mother by the hand and making her sit behind it. "Okay! We're all set!"
"Uh, alright then."
Kou went into a stance, doing an evil laugh. "Mwahaha! So you have come, Bondman! But I'm not giving up the princess that easily!"
H-he's really into it... Do I really need to embarrass myself like this in front of the whole agency? Amane thought, not realizing just how much the other agents were watching him with eager looks.
"Wow, we're going to get to see Midnight's acting skills!"
But this is all just so he could go to school... "R-return the princess..." He stiffly uttered out, face begining to turn red. And it definitely wasn't from the wine.
"Heh! Did you really think it would be that easy?" With a smirk, Kou snapped his fingers. "Come out, my minion! The ultimate beast, Haruto! Tear that man into pieces!"
Haruto hopped into view, doing his best roar. "Grr! I'm gonna gobble you up, Bondman!"
There's monsters now?! What in the world is this setting?!
"Oh no, be careful Bondman! He's very strong!" Nene, drunk and also now immersed into their little performance, unknowingly grabbed Kou by the tie and began shaking him back and forth. Due to her strength, however, he struggled to even catch a breath.
"Gah—Don't end my reign of terror so early on!!"
"Ruohhh!!!" Haruto lunged at his father's leg, wrapping his arms around it and giving it a chomp. Amane grimaced, trying to shake him off.
"Hey, don't do that! Let go!" He swung his leg around, but Haruto kept gripping on tightly, still sinking his teeth in, growling.
Amane sighed tiredly, lifting his leg up, grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt and pulling him off. He continued to growl at him, still in character.
"I'll eat you up!"
"Really? Will you be able to eat me if I do... this?" Wiggling his fingers, he approached Haruto, who backed away. No way he was going to—
"Tickle attack!" Immediately Haruto was defeated, him being left on the floor giggling from getting tickled.
"Uh, you okay?" Amane picked him up to his feet, and he nodded.
"Mm-hm! You broke the spell the bad guy put on me! Now I'm free!"
You can just make up whatever, huh.
"Hehehe... You've made it this far, Bondman!" Having been released from Nene's iron grip, Kou stood back up, readjust his tie before continuing. "But it won't be easy, for that I—"
He was simply thrown a punch to the face by Amane, who by then was now ignoring him.
Papa's so cool. Haruto lumbered over to Kou, sitting next to his twitching body.
Amane approached the makeshift prison Nene was being kept in. The two of them could only stare at each other for a moment.
His hair was all ruffled up, cheeks tinged in a slight red, beads of sweat rolling down from his face to his collarbone... yeah, he was a total mess right now.
Yet she felt like her heart soared when he put his hand out to her, speaking in a low voice,
"I'm here to save you, Princess."
Why did her own cheeks suddenly feel warm? It certainly wasn't the alcohol this time around now.
"...T-thank you." She took his hand, and he pulled her back to her feet, however she tripped on the chair that was on the way, and she was about to fall if not for Amane catching her.
Ah... I can hear his heartbeat. It's going fast... just like mine.
"Papa did it! Yay!" Haruto cheered, hugging his father and mother by their legs. Even the other agents who had been watching gave applause, to Amane's confusion.
What is even going on here right now?
"You know, it's all been so fun after I left the orphanage! And it's because of you, Papa!" The boy said out of the blue.
"Oh, uh, that's nice."
"I'm gonna do my entire bestest at school, too! You better believe it! Right, Mama?"
Nene gave him a smile, nodding in return. "Of course, Haruto. Let's all do our best."
As they both continue to talk, Amane let our a small smile of his own, putting his hand on Haruto's head.
"It's a little late, but... congratulations."
--
Midnight's report number 006 reaches HQ.
"Sir, you are not going to believe this bill from Agent Midnight! It says 'Castle Rental fee...'!!"
"..."
[Operation Strix Phase 1 Complete: Admission Confirmed]