I hurriedly stride through the corridor of the main building heading towards the Administration Department, distractedly finishing off a bottle of drinking water The Voice had spawned for me. After several days cooped up in the apartment I was savoring the opportunity to stretch my legs and do something else other than reading. I was also worried out of my mind.

With The Voice preoccupied with whatever it was doing at the moment, I finally completed studying up on all the Heroines after several more days of uninterrupted reading. Once I finished going through the data of the third and last heroine, I immediately slammed the file shut as the ramifications of the information within ran through my mind. Heroine number 3, the Idol. Something stank about her sudden return to the Academy, and from the information I have on hand, I strongly suspected that Fate was using the Idol to screw with my host as well. I needed to discuss the Idol with Alley urgently and see whether she could help in my investigation before things got out of hand.

.....

The moment I show up before the desk of Alley's secretary, the secretary with a frown on her face immediately tells me that Alley had been looking for me for the past few days before dropping a few not so subtle hints about my absenteeism. When I ask to meet with Alley right away, the secretary, with barely concealed satisfaction, tells me to head immediately into Alley's office, obviously relishing the thought of Alley tearing me a new one.

As I march into the office, Alley glares coldly at me, and an awkward silence settles between the two of us.

Alley finally breaks the silence saying, "Mr Greer, the police contacted me some time back about your altercation on the campus grounds. Care to explain what that was about?"

I shrug replying, "Spotted some trespassers. Got attacked by them, defended myself." The awkward silence settles in the office again.

Alley makes an annoyed noise in her throat before gesturing at me to continue. I just shrug noncommittally at her again. Given Alley's status as a not so voluntary ally, I was not going to go into a long explanation about the Hero. Besides, even if I explained everything to her, there was no guarantee that she would believe me.

Alley continues to glare at me before changing tack, "Then would you explain why this is the first time I have met my deputy in the office ever since hiring him?"

"I've been working off campus." the answer comes easily to me, especially since it was true, "Anyway, I need to discuss something with you."

Alley raises an eyebrow but says nothing.

"Its about my actual job, the one for our mutual friend." I clarify. Alley immediately goes on guard, her hands folded across her chest as she eyes me warily.

I quickly get to the point, "That idol, Kirarin, she is a student at this school, isn't she?"

Alley nods slowly before replying, "Yes. Kira Majima. What about her?"

"Are you aware of the details regarding her management company?" I ask, "There was a change very recently wasn't there?" I already knew the answer to this question from The Voice's data on the Idol, but I needed to confirm my suspicions.

Alley turns to her computer and starts pulling out records, "Yes. The management company wrote to the Academy recently about a change in their ownership and contact. Let's see, the new owner is a company called "Gallant Entertainment". Bought out the old owner. Ms Majima's agent remains the same though."

"When did Gallant Entertainment buy over the management company? Did they tell you?" I ask hurriedly. This was a detail that was overlooked by The Voice, and something that was bugging me ever since the Gallant name came to my attention in the data that had been compiled on the Idol.

Alley scowls at my rude questioning for a moment before replying, "From the letter they sent to the Academy, I would say not more than 2 weeks ago, though I would have no idea of the exact date."

Not more than 2 weeks ago. Meaning that Gallant's family got involved with one of the Heroines just after Fate's failed assassination attempt on me. Is Fate trying to trap me using my host's family? Since Fate cannot directly perceive Gallant ever since I was summoned back into his body, I cannot discount that possibility. Whatever the case, the timing is no coincidence. Fate was probably literally yanking various chains in order to set this scenario up.

"The Board of Governors approved of a joint project between the Academy and Majima's management didn't they?" I continue to quiz Alley.

Alley scans the screen of her computer and nods again, "A concert to be held in The City, bringing together the talent of two different generations. Ms Majima will be performing with our Mr Trietel. You know of him?"

I shake my head and Alley continues, "Music teacher here. Widely regarded as a genius in his field. The Board has decided to use this concert to showcase the Academy possessing not one, but two once in a generation musical talents. The concert is meant to add to the Academy's prestige on an international scale." Alley narrows her eyes at me before continuing, "Whatever your interest in this is, remember that if you mess the event up, I can no longer cover for you, regardless what our mutual friend says. The Board will have your head."

"When and where will this concert take place?" I press on.

Alley responds, "On the campus itself. Its not going to be a regular pop concert, more like a classical recital. The actual pop concerts will be held after this event. As to when, we don't have the details. You will need to ask the planning committee, or better yet, the performers themselves."

So, the scenario will center on the Academy itself, no doubt pulling in the Hero as well. I have said it before and I will say it again. This stinks. Badly.

"Can you give me all the information you have on this concert?" I ask. The Voice did not pay much attention to the concert itself, probably because the actual details were not available for it to retrieve. I will need to seek out this teacher and the Idol in order to get the unavailable information directly from them. Good thing I can approach them in the guise of a staff member.

"Oh, one more thing," I say before Alley can reply, "You won't mind if I liaise with the performers on behalf of Administration? I will keep you in the loop if anything needs doing."

Alley just sighs resignedly as she hands me a slim file, "Just try not to cripple anyone this time Mr Greer."