♛
MAX DOESN'T SAY ANYTHING and just stared at the person sitting across him. It was rank 9, Justin Griffith, who had a blank expression on his face. President Ian and sir Barron were talking to him earlier, but Justin remained silent and told them that he was only going to talk if it was Max.
"If you're still not going to talk then nothing will happen. Sir Barron will talk to you instead, and I won't be able to talk to you anymore," Max finally says, making Justin look up at Max after staring at his fingers all this time.
"I know you're still in shock, and I know that this might be too much to take in, but there's only one thing that I want to ask..." Max says, and Justin nods his head, telling Max that he was ready to listen.
Max takes a deep breath and stares at Justin before finally asking, "Does your brother, the Elites Treasurer, Dustin Griffiths, know anything about this? Is he involved in any way?"
"No," Justin quickly answers with no hint of hesitation. "Dustin doesn't know."
"Then the points he has now, are they—"
"They're my points," Justin cuts off. "The points I gave him are the points I rightfully own. They're the points that I acquired after all my achievements in J.S High. I knew that I was going to get caught either way, so I kept the illegal points and gave Dustin the rest. You can check my merit records if you don't believe me."
Max was surprised, but he takes a deep breath and massaged his temple. He remembered the time when Justin cried when he found out that his brother got promoted. Of course, Max felt bad, but there was nothing he could do now.
"Kenzo is in talks about getting expelled. Since he was also able to influence other students from the lower houses to participate in his auction, their council wants to make him accountable," Max explains, and Justin instantly looked terrified.
Max reaches out to touch Justin's hand, surprising him. When Justin was now looking at him, Max gives him a reassuring smile and says, "You don't have to worry. The students who participated in the auction will only get two days of suspension. But this also means that 1000 points will be taken away from you, as well as the illegal points you bought from the auction. You will definitely be demoted. Are you prepared for that?"
Justin takes a deep breath and squeezes Max's hand back. "My father has always looked at Dustin and me as one person. As long as Dustin doesn't get demoted, I'll be alright. I'm prepared to lose everything, just not him."
Max's eyes widened from shock as he watched a tear fall from Justin's eyes. He felt sad for him, not because Justin was ready to face the consequences, but because Justin was ready to do everything for his brother's sake. Max couldn't help but think of Marcus at that moment too. Because if they were in the same position, Max would have probably done the same for his brother.
"Here," Max says, letting go of Justin's hand so he could give him his handkerchief. Justin stares at the handkerchief and slowly takes it before wiping his tears with it. "I haven't even given your other handkerchief back yet," Justin tells him.
"You can keep that too," Max says with a smile, making Justin smile too.
Justin wipes his eyes and cheeks until his tears dried up. Afterward, he looks at Max and tells him, "Please take care of Dustin for me when you enter the Elites. He's always serious, and he doesn't make a lot of friends. He's hard to approach at times, but if you get to know him, he does his duties with great pride and dignity."
"Well, if I get into the Elites," Max clarifies.
"Oh, I'm sure you will."
"How so?"
"I heard what you did to Antonio. He told me everything about it," Justin then reveals, surprising Max. "We really hope you become the Elites' president Max. We'll definitely be rooting for you," Justin then says with complete sincerity, and Max smiles and nods his head.
"Well, before we end this, have you talked to your brother yet?" Max then asks.
"I haven't. I guess we can just talk at home," Justin replies, and Max stood up from his seat and tells him, "Then let's head to the meeting room. The others are already waiting for us."
Justin nods his head and stood up from his seat before heading to the meeting room where the others were. The Elites were already in their seats when they got there, and to Max's surprise, Thomas and Antonio were there as well.
"You're here," Ian says, gesturing at the empty seats so Max and Justin could take them.
When the two got settled, Max couldn't help but look at Thomas and Antonio. Antonio looked calm, and if Max didn't know any better, he seemed happier than before. He even greeted Max when he sat down.
Thomas, on the other hand, was quiet. The once intimidating leader of the Alpha Society was now timid. You could tell that he was embarrassed at what had happened, especially now when everyone else was there.
And then there's Kenzo who was nowhere to be found, and that was probably because he was still with president Janus and the others for his deliberation.
Max still felt guilty even though he knew that he did the right thing. But little did Max know that Thomas, Antonio, and Justin never blamed him for it. They only had themselves to blame.
The three almost impossible tasks were finally complete, and four white uniforms that were all from the top 10 were found guilty of being involved in illegal transactions of points. These four were:
1st Task: Thomas Anderson Woods
2nd Task: Antonio Fernández de la Paz & Furukawa Kenzo
3rd Task: Justin Griffiths
Kenzo was close with Thomas, and an acquaintance of Antonio. Apparently, all of Max's tasks were connected with each other, almost like it was a story.
It started when Thomas's brother—Daniel Anderson Wilson—bought his points from Checkmates' previous auction when he was still Alpha Society's leader. Thomas told Kenzo about this story, and that's where Kenzo got the idea to start one himself. As someone who grew up with famous painters, Kenzo knew the nature of an auction.
To protect his identity, he then sent a secret message to Antonio and told him about the auction. He encouraged him to organize it for him under the codename Iris. Kenzo knew that Antonio was desperate to earn money, so he was an easy target. So Kenzo invite most of the bidders while Antonio became the face of it all.
Antonio, who was now the organizer of the auction, noticed the sudden change that Justin had when he and his twin brother got demoted, and so Antonio invited Justin to the auction. That's how everything else took place.
Kenzo believed that if things went down, Antonio would be afraid to tell anyone about him because 'Iris' threatened that his scholarship in J.S High will be taken. Unfortunately for him, Max stepped in just in time, and everything fell into place.
"Thomas, Antonio, and Justin," president Ian suddenly calls out, making the three look back at him.
Everyone was quiet for a couple of seconds, and Max could instantly feel the tension. For a moment Max thought that Ian was going to scold them, but to his surprise, the president takes a deep breath and said, "You three have done well in the top 10. I always strongly believed...no...I do still believe, that you will become amazing additions if you all were to join the Elites. It is true that I am disappointed, but I hope this won't stop you from making things right."
The three didn't say anything, and when Max looked back at the rest of the Elites, Max instantly notices Dustin's teary eyes. It was rare for Dustin to show his emotions, so it's clear that what happened to his brother really affected him.
Gavriil and Richard were quiet and nodded their heads to what their president said, while Heaven—who Max strongly believed was a part of his task—was looking down and not saying anything either.
"Thank you for always guiding us, president Ian," Thomas then says, suddenly standing from his seat and touching his chest before giving Ian a respectable bow.
Ian was dumbfounded, but then Antonio and Justin stood up from their seats and did the same.
"T-Thank you for everything. Being a member of the Elites, and the t-top 10, was the best thing that ever happened to me," Justin then says, tears now falling out of his eyes.
Ian didn't say anything, but then a smile appears on his face. Max couldn't help but smile too because despite what happened, those three still looked up to Ian. Max's admiration of him only grew stronger.
"Such a crybaby," Dustin then comments, and the atmosphere finally lightened up as everyone starts laughing at the sudden attack.
Justin looks at his brother and smiles at him before pulling out Max's handkerchief so he could wipe his tears away. While everyone went back to their seats, sir Barron—the advisor for the Elites—finally enter the room with a serious expression, making them all tense again.
Sir Barron stood at the front and looked at everyone before taking a deep breath and massaging his temple. "There's nothing much I can say now. The damage has already been done," sir Barron tells everyone before looking back at Thomas, Antonio, and Justin.
"And as for you three, I have already said everything that I want to say, so just pack all your things at the office and clean your desk and locker. You are always welcome to come back, but you have to redeem yourselves and do better first. Is that understood?" he then asks.
"Yes sir Barron," the three answered in unison.
Afterward, sir Barron looks at Max and stares at him before finally saying, "Now that the three of you, plus Kenzo, have officially left your positions in the top 10, I know you all must be expecting that the ranking will change. Unfortunately, as per the association's instruction, all the ranks will stay stagnant for the time being, which means no one's rank will change."
Everyone was surprised, but then they looked at Max since Max was the one who was going to be affected by this the most. With Thomas and the others now gone, Max would easily become rank 6 by now, so freezing the ranks means that Max is still ranked 10.
"The reason for this is because we'll be reevaluating everyone's rank from the first merit points you received to the very last," sir Barron explains, which surprised everyone because such a thing can be difficult to do. Keeping track of where all the students are getting their points have always been an impossible task since each student adds points almost every day if not, every hour.
"How are you going to do that?" Richard then asks since the Elites have been trying to do that for years now.
"We found a solution," sir Barron says before looking back at Max. "We heard of what you and Mr. Kawanishi Keigo were able to do. Of course, the association wasn't happy about how you two easily hacked into J.S High's system, but president Janus was highly impressed by his skills. We reached out to him for this task, and Mr. Kawanishi was willing to participate."
"Really?" Max asks with a huge smile on his face, almost like he was a proud parent.
"With his help, we'll at least be able to check through everyone's activity. Mr. Kawanishi also explained that he can create a computer system for us which will help us keep track of everyone's merit points easier and more efficiently," sir Barron then adds, and then everyone started talking with each other, surprised and glad at the same time that a solution was already made.
"Until we reevaluate everyone, the ranks from 1 to 600 will not change. We'll reevaluate the remaining top ten first, and then the rest will follow. Is that understood?" Sir Barron asks, and everyone nods their heads and agrees to it.
"That will be all," he then says, and the nine of them immediately stood up from their seats to bid him farewell.
Sir Barron was about to step out, but then he stops in front of Max and tells him, "I would like to show you my deepest appreciation for shedding light on such a serious matter Maximilian, so thank you for your hard work."
Max doesn't say anything, but he smiles and bows his head as a reply instead.
"And for Mr. Furukawa, I was already able to speak with him earlier, but I hope you can extend my gratitude to him as well. I hope you two can grow more in the future. You, alongside Mr. Kawanishi Keigo...will be great additions to the Elites if fate would allow it," sir Barron then says, making Max's eyes widen in shock.
Sir Barron doesn't say anything anymore and pats Max's shoulder before finally leaving his room.
The rest of the top ten got ready to leave as well, but Max was still speechless. He always thought that he only needed Ari to join the Elites with him, but with four other students leaving the top ten, Max realized something that might just become a great advantage in the future.
...
"Max!" Ari shouts, running towards Max who just walked out of the Keep after a long day's work. Ari then drops his bag and grabs Max for a tight hug. "I missed you! I haven't seen you in about five days!"
Max laughs and hugs Ari too before patting his back. "I missed you too," Max tells him.
Ervin then arrives behind them, and when Ari lets go of Max, Max moves closer to Ervin to give him a hug too. "Thank you for earlier as well Ervin. You guys really helped out a lot."
"Don't worry about it," Ervin replies, hugging Max tightly before letting go.
Max then looks around and starts searching for someone. When Ari and Ervin noticed it, Ari looks at Max and says, "If you're looking for Felix, he already left. That kid's been out of it lately. We've been trying to talk to him, but he keeps brushing us out. I know you're busy Max, but can you talk to him for us? He only listens to you after all."
Max was surprised, but he somehow has an idea as to why Felix could be upset. "I think I know the reason behind that. Don't worry, I'll give Felix a call," Max assures his friends.
"Well, I guess that's—" Ari was about to say something, but he immediately stopped when he saw someone approaching them. Max noticed the change of expression, so he turns around to check who it was. To his surprise, it was actually his 'assistant,' Kawanishi Keigo.
"Keigo!" Max calls out, and Keigo smiles and waves at him before joining Ervin and Ari.
Max's friends stares at Keigo without saying anything, making Keigo gulp as he slowly moved closer to Max, almost like he was seeking protection.
"Hey, I heard from sir Barron. I'm glad you're coming out of your shell and using your gift to help out the school. I'm proud of you," Max says, and Keigo's face instantly turned red, not used to hearing such praise.
Ervin and Ari, who were looking at Keigo weirdly, then clears their throat so Max could look back at them.
"Oh yeah, guys, I know you already know who he is, but this is Keigo. He helped me a lot with the tasks for the banquet. I owe a lot to him," Max introduces, but Ari and Ervin continued to look at Keigo suspiciously.
"Hello," Keigo then greets, but the two still didn't say anything, so Max clears his throat and decides to grab their attention as he casually said, "By the way, he'll be joining us from now on."
Ervin and Ari didn't react to it for a while, but when it finally sank in, the two looked at each other with shock before shouting, "What?!"
Keigo flinched, while Max just chuckled and assured Keigo that his friends were harmless.
"Why all of a sudden? You're treating our friend group like an orphanage again. We barely know this guy," Ari says since he doesn't fully trust Keigo yet.
Ervin, on the other hand, wasn't really pleased about that idea too, but he took a deep breath and showed Keigo his hand anyway, which surprised not only Keigo but Max and Ari as well.
Ervin was like Keigo in the past. He was a bully, and no one trusted him. Felix and Ari didn't want him to join them either, but Max still trusted him regardless, and for that, Ervin owes a lot to Max too as he helped him grow and become the capable Jack that he is now.
"It's going to be a bumpy road, but welcome to the group," Ervin genuinely says, and a bright smile instantly appeared on Keigo's face as he grabbed Ervin's hand so he could shake it.
Max then looks at Ari and waits for him to say something as well. Ari was stubborn and didn't want to say or do anything, but after a while, he sighs in defeat and looks back at their supposed new friend.
"I'm going to trust you because I trust Max. But if you screw up..." Ari paused and suddenly moved his thumb across his neck, indicating that Keigo was dead if he tries to cross them.
"Y-Yes, sir...I mean...Ari," Keigo responds with a frightened tone. When Ari saw his reaction, Ari finally calmed down as he chuckled before patting his shoulder. "Welcome aboard," he then says, and Keigo's expression changed into a smile.
"I can't believe we have another serf, but I guess it's refreshing to finally see a scaredy cat in our group since everyone's so aggressive and dominating," Ari then says, and the happy smile on Keigo's face instantly turned into a frown.
"What do you mean by scaredy cat? I'm as tough as you guys are!" Keigo complained, and Ervin jokingly pumps him up, making Keigo flinch in an instant.
Ervin and Ari start laughing, and the three start bickering at each other like they have been friends for such a long time now.
Max looked at them with a smile on his face. He wasn't always the type to make friends, but this was something that he was never going to regret. His friends are everything to him, that's why as he looked at the three men in front of him, he couldn't help but think...
"This is going to be the future Elites of the House of Kings."
Max had a plan. If he and his friends could enter the Elites, that won't only be beneficial to him, but it will create a stronger bridge between the white uniforms and the brotherhoods.
Ervin is a Jack (Jokers' underling) who is graceful and at the same time has an iron fist. Ari is a Rose (BND's underling) who is smart and knows how to make others follow him effectively. Keigo is part of the Dynasty (PHD's underling) who's a genius with the computer. And then there's Gavriil who's a member of The Clan (Buster's underling), who has the right power and knowledge to run the Elites.
Max asked this earlier too, but a brotherhood can't enter the Elites as it will go against the rules. Since Felix is actually a member of a brotherhood and not an actual white uniform, of course with a few adjustments, Felix can only enter the top 10. But even if that was the case, Max has realized that the rest of the top 10 still has a significant role in the council. Felix will still be able to help them as a key member of Crazy 8.
With them by his side, Max is certain that they'll be able to reform J.S high and strengthen its foundation.
"Oh yeah, Max," Keigo suddenly calls out, snapping max back to his senses.
Max looks at Keigo as Keigo pulls something out of his pocket. He then hands it over to Max, and to Max's surprise, it was a golden invitation.
"I almost forgot to give you that. I just talked to the princes earlier, and they asked me to hand you this," Keigo explains, and Max couldn't even close his mouth because of how speechless he was.
"Well then Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire, get ready to face the princes because you are finally invited to PHD's most awaited banquet."
- END -