"Because the thing is… your brother left me for dead"

"Harvey, could it be…?" ​​

"W… what's going on!?"

Andrea could not help but holler in frustration, did something happen between Harvey and Van that she was not aware of?

Hearing Van's words, Beatrice's eyes widened in shock. "Harvey, could it be…?"

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on!?", realizing that she seemed to be the only one who had no idea what in the world was going on, she hollered again.

"You don't know?", Beatrice muttered as she looked at Andrea.

"Know what?"

"You see…", Beatrice proceeded to briefly tell about what happened to Van, how he was beaten to death by a group of students. And now, hearing Van's words, it would seem that Harvey's brother was involved.

"S… something like that happened?", Andrea could not help but cover her mouth as she looked back and forth between Van and Harvey. But after a while, she let out a long sigh. She already knew what Van was going to answer.

Forgiveness? That was impossible. One of the first things they learned in the slums…

"I am sorry too, Harvey", Van let out a breath, "But your brother needs to pay for what he did"

"..."

The room once again instantly became quiet with Van's words. Beatrice and Andrea's eyebrows were both lowered as they waited for something to happen, maybe another word from Van, but alas, nothing.

The only sound echoing in the room now was Harvey's blood tapping on the floor.

After a few more seconds of silence, Harvey shook his head, "...Okay", he muttered as he wiped the blood dripping from his nose, "...I understand. Sorry for showing such a mess", he then stood up and also wiped the trail of tears on his face.

Andrea quickly rushed and cleaned Harvey's face with her clothes. Van, however, could only sigh and close his eyes.

'I guess this is as far as it goes', he thought. He was already prepared to lose Harvey as a friend as soon as he knew that Gerald was his brother. He just didn't think how hard it actually was to lose a friend. He hasn't felt this way before and it was making him uncomfortable.

"Hahaha!"

His thoughts were then disrupted by Harvey's sudden burst of laughter. "I am sorry for putting you on the spot, Van", he then said, "I just wanted to try… just maybe, you know?", he let out a long and stuttered sigh.

"The thing is… I guess you're kinda like a brother to me now as well", Harvey scratched his chin as he let out a chuckle, "Don't worry… My brother was wrong. I know it… and if it comes to it, expect me to be on your side", Harvey said, his voice filled with resolution as he stretched his fist towards Van.

"...Tch", Van could not help but scoff and click his tongue as he looked at Harvey's fist. "Protect your brother instead, he will need it when the time comes", he said as he bumped fists with Harvey's.

Both of them stared at each other's eyes as if making a silent promise. But after a few seconds, Harvey let out a chuckle, "By the way, Bea…", he said, "Van has female clothes in his closet"

"Hmm…", Beatrice fixed her glasses as she squinted her eyes, "Do you like men?", she then said to Van, her tone filled with suspicion.

Alright, now it's personal, Van thought as he used his superspeed to put Andrea's unwashed underwear in Harvey's hand.

"..."

"...I can explain"

It took a while before the commotion calmed down and Beatrice and Andrea went back to their respective room. They needed to wait if something else was going to happen, but it would seem their worries were in vain, as the altercation really was over. Harvey apologized again before they left the room.

The two could not help but sigh, was it really that fast and simple for boys to get along again?

And so, the group fell asleep peacefully, except for Van, whose ears were almost deaf due to Harvey's snores.

The morning after, Harvey and Beatrice ate breakfast before leaving. Harvey wanted to stay until Monday so the three of them could walk together to the Academy, but he was quickly pulled out of the house by Beatrice.

"You really do have complicated friends", Andrea once again said as she watched the two bid their farewells, "Harvey seemed a little simpler though", she then let out a chuckle before returning back to the house.

"...Yeah", Van let out a sigh, "I'm going back to sleep"

***

It was Monday again and Van seemed to be the first one to arrive. He was finally able to get a good night's sleep, and so, he was in a very good mood. He peacefully sat on his desk, relaxing as he looked through the window. No matter how much he looked at it, the sheer size of the Academy still baffled him. He could not even see the end of it.

He could not help but wonder, though. Only a handful of people enroll in the Academy in a year. Even with his batch, there were only 50 of them in total… So why was the Academy so big? It was a good thing that the freshman building was near the entrance.

"Good morning…"

"...Morning"

Van then blinked a couple of times as he realized who greeted him. He was so lost in thought that he just answered by instinct.

It was Victoria. Victoria greeted him all of a sudden for the first time in class.

Van then also realized that almost all of the students were now looking at him, even Harvey, who just arrived, had his eyes widened in shock.

"D… did Victoria just greet him!?"

"Amazing. As expected of the number 1 freshman"

"Did you guys know that there was a rumor that a sophomore confessed to him and stalking him?"

"What!?"

"There's also a rumor that he is living together with a woman"

"Wha--"

The student that was overreacting was about to react again, but then he saw that Victoria was glaring at him, quickly shutting him and all of the other students down.

Seeing this, Van could not help but raise an eyebrow. Maybe he should bring Victoria everywhere, she seems to be effective in shutting people up.

"...Have you talked to any animals lately?", Victoria said in a low voice as she proceeded to take her seat.

"...No"

"I… see"

"Hm…"

"..."

The two were silent for a while before Victoria spoke again, "I have a pet in my house"

"...", Van tilted his head as he looked at Victoria.

"Maybe... you can talk to it?", Victoria said, her emotionless eyes glancing at Van back and forth.

"That…", Van really did not know how to deal with someone like Victoria. But there really wasn't any reason for him to refuse. And so… "Sure", he said.

As soon as he said that, Victoria took off something from her bag and gave it to Van.

"This is…?", Van could not help but furrow his eyebrows in confusion. Why was Victoria giving him a golden… card?

"So you can enter our property anytime you want", Victoria nodded, "My pet is usually deep inside our forest"

...They have a forest inside their property? And why would she even give Van something like this? He seemed to be surrounded by wealthy people. First Harvey, who is the son of probably the richest man in the country, and now Victoria.

Are rich people really this… eccentric?