August 28, 1887. Clear skies, 21°C.

Like usual, the Habsburg house and Eon arrived first at the gates of the Bozz, before the Jupiter sisters or Caius and Franco. Though it was said the Habsburg house, unfortunately, Karl was not coming and instead, Sisi was taking his place. There was some regret with Karl not being able to go with them as this was their last year together and this was a rare opportunity, but alas, it was unavoidable.

Holding onto Kato’s left hand was his dearest little sister, Teto. She decided to go with a big loose t-shirt over a chequered frilly skirt with sandals today, and true to her phobia of clothing she continued to refuse to wear socks. Her twin drills were rolled up around her hair rollers to maintain the strength of the curls.

Sitting on the bench were his two older stepsisters, both beautiful in their own right. The supermodel Evie chose to go super casual with an open shoulder sweater and pleated skirt, somewhat muting her naturally powerful sex appeal. On the other hand, his newest stepsister Yui went with a very mature look, complete with a light short-sleeved jacket over a dress shirt and a tight skirt. Standing up next to them was their guardian Sisi in a frilly tank top exposing her tiny but bare shoulders and arms.

Crouching next to the road some ways away from the bus stop where they got off not too long ago was Eon in his trademark cardigan. Kato himself was in his tight long-sleeved shirt and skinny jeans. There weren’t many options for men, to be honest.

“Get over here.”

Eon called out to Kato as a bus came in. He motioned for Teto to let go of his hand, and she ran into Evie’s open arms.

“What’s up?”

“I believe the dudes are here.”

They crouched together and watched from afar as the people got off the bus one by one. Sure enough, a short blonde-haired boy in a hoodie followed behind a tall man with a red-haired bowl cut in a polo shirt.

Next to the amused Kato, Eon waved frantically at the new arrivals but remained silent as to not disturb the girls on the bench. As scripted, Caius and Franco knew exactly where to look and immediately found the two of them. It wasn’t the first time they had this drill here at the Bozz.

“We’re here.”

They all huddled together on the side of the road, perhaps comically, all crouching if not already sitting down on the curb.

“Need a light?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Sure.”

They didn’t actually smoke. There were lots of kids who did, but because Kato had a very physically demanding job waiting for him, he’d rather not take up such an unhealthy habit. Instead, they did lollipops and Caius handed one out to the each of them.

“Caius, you saw them already?”

“Yes, they were there. They’re as glamorous as always. They should be coming off the next bus.”

“Excellent.”

Caius and Franco took the express bus to get here, but the stop that the Jupiter sisters would have waited at wasn’t an express stop, so they would pass by the Jupiter sisters waiting there and conveniently snoop on them.

“Glamorous as in expected?”

“Yes. Beautiful but we’ve seen them before.”

“Franco was very lucky that he joined our circle. He can join us gawking at our childhood friends.”

Kato snickered at Eon. That did sound kind of ridiculous, he thought, but hey, they were all men here.

“There’s more eye candy over there too, if you want.”

“I mean, they’re all really good too. I guess the fresh new figure is Yui, who’s not too bad herself.”

“No, she’s really good. Evie’s form is just unfair, but in isolation, Yui should be top of our class if Evie was excluded.”

“Yeah what the eff, Kato, how do you live with Evie when she’s the living definition of sex?”

“By spending every minute of your life with her so that every part of her becomes normalized. I’ll dig up Pavlov’s dog from the grave for you.”

“Are you sure you’re immune?”

“No, not all the time. Evie’s really unfair.”

“Agreed.”

They said in unison as they exchanged chuckles. Of course, they were always on the lookout for the girls in both ways, to appreciate their form and to make sure they were out of earshot of their conversation.

“How’s yesterday, Franco? Everything went as planned?”

“Yeah, it was a peaceful day. Mum didn’t freak out.”

“Bless you and your brother.”

Kato patted Franco on the back.

“Bless him.”

They all replied together again. Due to some extraordinary circumstances, his deceased brother was the reason why Franco was here with them today.

“I saw Alice yesterday at the white temple, actually. She was there to visit someone who passed away. Did she go to school?”

“Yeah, she was at school. She must have gone afterwards? That’s interesting. Didn’t she say she came to this city only last year? And she already needs to visit the white temple?”

“Hmm, a mystery we can’t solve.”

“Hey, what do you think Alice would wear for casual?”

The conversation inevitably returned to gossiping.

“She seems like a Bia, so maybe something a bit mature.”

“We don’t know that yet. She could be a cutie. I think that would suit her better.”

“No, I’m pretty sure Alice is the type who would go unexpectedly risqué. She doesn’t like bland or boring stereotypes.”

“Huh, Franco making a decent point for once. Do we have a Franco with a brain or a drain?”

“Eon!”

“Looks like we can make a bet on this.”

Kato grinned as he saw the apprehension on Franco’s face and the amused scepticism from the other two.

“I bet on a drain.”

“Me too.”

The Eon-Caius duo confidently predicted against Franco.

“We don’t even know what we’re betting on yet.”

“How about a dare? Absolute orders.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I’ll side with Franco this time, boys. I, too, will believe in Alice’s diverse taste in aesthetics.”

Though Kato wasn’t too confident in making that call, it was just all in good fun. If he really had to choose one or the other, he would definitely think that it was more likely that Alice would dress glamorously to express herself. Simply being different would be something Alice would seem interested in.

“Look, the next bus is here.”

They watched the bus come to a halt at the stop, and to their delight, already the first group of people who got off the bus included the Jupiter sisters.

Bianca led the way with a long heavy skirt where its waistline started from just below her ample assets, which her blouse shaped nicely around. Although it was old-school, she could still give a run for Evie’s money, even if she would lose. Eon commented.

“Bia’s expected outfit. Mature, plain, yet somehow sexy.”

Then the petite girl of the Jupiters followed, wearing a denim overalls dress over a white T. Between her listless expression and her small form, it masked a competitiveness and endurance that no one would expect, so the boys often gave her the respect fitting of an elegant little lady like Sisi. In other words, they felt sorry for her lack of assets. Caius remarked.

“Ariel’s still like a middle-schooler. A cute one.”

A figure as tall and impressive as Evie’s kept pace beside the tiny one. She was the trendiest of the sisters, today wearing super short denim shorts with her v-cut t-shirt exposing her cleavage and midriff, and finishing with a sleeveless hoodie over it. Franco noted.

“Scarlett’s secretly the MVP of this group. She has Evie’s body but fashionable. Do ya think she gets lots of love letters?”

Then a trail of other people followed them out of the bus. Although Kato shouldn’t be too expectant, it was saddening all the same. Knowing her personality, he couldn’t help but think that she was pulling at his heartstrings on purpose.

And finally, the last of the sisters, Mirabelle, got off of the bus and onto the pavement with the rest of them. She wore a simple pink blouse with short frilly sleeves and a low cut which revealed a baby blue tank top underneath. Like Bianca, they wrapped tightly around her torso and accentuated her curves. Her khaki miniskirt contrasted nicely with her pantyhose, and she topped it off with a pair of tan-coloured boots.

Kato breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t realize he was holding onto, and he too observed.

“Perfect. Simple, but elegant. It sits nicely right between cute and mature.”

Because his eyes were trained onto Mirabelle’s exquisite form, Kato didn’t notice the pleasant surprise following behind Mirabelle until Eon and Franco pointed it out.

“We lost already, what the hell.”

“Aw yeah, I was right. Light loose t-shirt over dark tank top, exposed midriff, denim mini-shorts. A lot more like Scarlett than Bia.”

Alice followed Mirabelle off the bus with her usual wavy hair and red headband. If Kato didn’t know her any better, she really did look like a delinquent from the lower classes, and not a part of a powerful semi-aristocratic family. The rigid and uncompromising expression on her face made it the more convincing, but he was more impressed than anything else.

“We’ll think of a dare for the two of you later on.”

Franco said as he got up and out from their huddle and motioned towards the congregate of the girls. The rest followed him, and it was time to get the day started.

“Yo.”

“‘sup.”

A flurry of salutations exchanged between the two parties, the girls and the boys. Fortunately, ten of the thirteen people here actually knew each other since primary school so there were more embarrassing than awkward moments, mostly due to Eon.

“All right, now that everyone’s here, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! Get the fuc’ in there—”

Pompous as Eon was, this time not only did Bianca pull on his ear, but Sisi too pulled hard on his other ear, comically reducing him to tears together. Sometimes, Kato suspected he had some masochistic tendencies.

As the group headed through the massive front gates, Kato looked for and kept his stride alongside the new star of their group.

“Travelling with the Jupiter sisters?”

“I thought it would be more fun if I did. And it was.”

Now that he was up close to Alice, her exposed skin became the more alluring to his optical senses. It really was a stark contrast from her usual self at school.

“You’re a lot flashier than I thought. It looks awesome on you.”

“Th-thanks.”

Surprisingly, a stammer was followed by an aversion of eye contact and fidgeting hands. She was not used to being praised, and her reaction was met with a hand-muffled ‘pfft’ from Kato.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Without even letting him respond, she elbowed him in the ribcage. Needless to say, it only tickled, and a laugh followed from his muscle memory.

“You’re still Alice, eh, even after such a drastic change.”

“Is it such a drastic change? You just haven’t seen me out of school uniform.”

“The personality is finally matching the appearance, so maybe you’re right. You’re returning to normal and not false advertising anymore.”

She rolled her eyes.

“You should be thankful that I’m willing to come here.”

“You’re right. Thank heavens I’m blessed with such a wonderful girl.”

Kato clasped his hands together in prayer, and because of the pretension, she turned away from him entirely in embarrassment. Too late. Teasing her was too much fun for him.

He silently stepped over to her other side, lowering his head to match her eye level to see a beautiful face flushed red. A tiny gasp escaped her when she saw Kato in her field of vision and snapped back upright in surprise.

“W-w-w-what is it?”

Another cute stutter. More ridiculous words were forming in his mouth, but an unholy interruption stopped him right there.

“—nothing. Right, Kato?”

Mirabelle suddenly appeared in front of the two with an innocent smile on her face, but Kato had seen this before; many times before, when the girl was Evie instead of Alice.

“Absolutely nothing.”

Reeling himself back and metaphorically recovering onto his two feet, Mirabelle’s eyes narrowed as she continued to scrutinize Kato. He had no doubt that she had been watching them.

Or actually, she was just watching him, and he could guess why. They hadn’t seen each other for a while, and the first girl he went up to was Alice and not her.

But that was not fair to start with, he thought. She was the one who said she would be back the next day.

I wasn’t in the wrong, Mira! You had to be the one to make it up to me!

“Mira!”

Next to Kato, Alice thrust herself into Mirabelle, clutching onto her tightly. She seemed relieved to have been removed from his clutches, and even Mirabelle was patting her on the back tenderly. Then, for a split second, Alice turned her face back towards Kato over Mirabelle’s shoulder and stuck her tongue out in defiance. Kato swallowed a rebuke while trying not to grin at the absurdity.

“‘Nothing’ is right, Kato.”

Mirabelle’s smile never faltered. Although this time it had some of Evie’s aura in it, what was quintessential about her form remained as pure as Kato remembered. She carried Alice away with an air of arrogance around her, leaving him behind.

Though Alice was easy to fluster, her personality demanded her to fight back. Kato admired that prideful part of her and it let her assimilate into the Elites easily. As he stood in place and watched Alice walk arm in arm alongside Mirabelle, he was again surprised that she didn’t have many friends in Class A, when she seemed to have no problem befriending the Elites.

As they walked away from him and towards the front of their group, Bianca noticed and shook her head smugly in Kato’s direction. She stopped as to let him catch up to her.

“Alice decided to abandon you already.”

“That was entirely Mira’s fault. Alice would have stood her ground if there wasn’t such an easy way out.”

“So what you’re saying is that Mira’s playing you like a fiddle, still.”

“You’re fookin’ right. I should have known that from the start.”

“This isn’t the first day you’ve met Mira. Are you sure you’re not just dumb, or are you subconsciously a masochist?”

“I might be part of the first category, but not the second. I’ve had enough of Evie for one lifetime.”

They trailed behind the group considerably, which was loud and noisy as always. They could see that Alice and Mirabelle were at the vanguard with Evie, leading them deep into the Bozz.

“Kato, what do you think?”

“Of what?”

“Of how I look today.”

Bianca asked him directly with little hesitation. Her expression was a bit sheepish, not knowing what to expect.

“You’re as beautiful as always, Bia. Don’t worry about it.”

His praise here was different from how he praised Alice earlier. It was carefree and had none of the gung-ho attitude in it. Perhaps because he had known her for so long, there was no uncertainty in his voice. She breathed what Kato thought was a sigh of relief.

“I’m not worried about that; I’m Mira’s twin. I just wanted to hear it from you.”

He smiled wryly, impressed. Within the confines of his consciousness, a fanciful world emerged from his imagination, one where he and Bianca existed in a different, perhaps simpler, circumstance. She, too, made a content smile, affirming the honesty in her words.

“Franco’s still doing all right. We made it through everything in one piece.”

“He’s shaking, but the good news is that it’s all over now.”

Out of everyone, only Franco suffered from a near-fatal case of fear of heights, and all they did all morning was go on the extreme rides. From the Behemoth to the Minebuster, the roller coasters were a bit too much for Franco’s tiny heart.

“Let’s get out and get some food.”

Eon led the way out of the park to the adjacent roads where the local restaurants were. Although their group was always big, this year was and would be at its biggest iteration, for all time.

They sat down at a long table inside of a fairly busy Yue café, a bit of a ways away from the Bozz as most of the places near the park were fast food parlours. Here, they could stuff their faces with familiar Yue foods.

“Black bean sauce and beef with rice noodles. Cold lemon tea, no sugar.”

“Baked cheese and seafood casserole with fried rice. Cold milk tea.”

“Tomatoes and egg with rice. Hot honey lemon.”

“Chicken steak and black pepper sauce with rice. Hot coffee with tea.”

The children fired off their orders one by one with dishes native to the Yue café, which were really an adaptation of Yue food incorporating elements of Auxirian cuisines. The food was unquestionably from Yue, but had a bit of Auxirian flair and flavour in it.

Alice, Mirabelle and Evie decided to sit together at one end of the row and away from Kato, aggravating him as they had been avoiding him since this morning. It was even more surprising because Evie never listened to Mirabelle and was always doting over Kato, so it must have been Alice she listened to.

In lieu of their presence, Bianca joined him at the opposite end of the row, also away from the Three Heroines. She sat opposite to Kato, with the good-natured Ariel sat next to her and Teto next to Kato.

“Bia, it’s been the whole morning and they’re still ignoring me.”

“Serves you right, though I’m surprised they let us sit together like this. At the very least, Mira and Evie should have been all over you by now.”

She sneered. It was true, though. Kato couldn’t help but shake his head.

“Two can play at that game. It’s time I hang with Teto and the boys instead.”

“You’ve been doing that.”

“And it’s been fun.”

He hugged Teto tightly, to which she giggled but continued talking to the grandma and the Jupiters’ little sister, one column over. Apparently, they were talking about the current metagame of the trading card game they all played, and Sisi seemed intent to join in playing that game too.

Bianca sighed. She twirled the straw in her drink idly.

“I haven’t got the chance to get your opinion on it yet, but what do you think of Gilbert and Alice?”

“Why suddenly these two?”

“Gilbert is our enemy in school, remember? It’s not inconceivable that he’s after Class F, especially with such an easy casus belli to use.”

“There’s no point in worrying about that. If war comes, it comes. We’d fight, and someone will win.”

“Then what happens to Alice?”

“She said she’s not invested in the Class Wars, so I assume she’ll just be there for the ride. It’s not like she’s an asset for the war.”

“That’s why I’m asking. Do you think Alice is trustworthy enough? To not influence the Class Wars? She’s the fiancée of our enemy.”

Kato raised an eyebrow.

“I believe so. Her face is not hard to read. Now that can backfire, I’ll admit, but even if Gilbert’s able to weasel something out of her, that’s not a reason why I won’t be friends with her. The Class Wars aren’t that important to me.”

“Then what about Gilbert?”

“He’s an enemy, right?”

“There aren’t permanent enemies. Only permanent interests.”

“So you’re saying we can use him?”

“Maybe. Through Alice, perhaps.”

She grinned. From her tone, he could hear a bit of Ariel in it. Historically, Bianca and Ariel were the masterminds on the Jupiters’ side, while it was Kato and Eon on the Elites’ side. And it was probably not a coincidence that both Bianca and Ariel thought of the same idea here.

“Unlikely. You’re giving her too much credit. You already know that they aren’t on very good terms.”

“It doesn’t matter. Alice may not think of Gilbert as someone she could make a close relationship with, but she still has to make a compromise at some level because he’s her fiancé. Similarly, Gilbert will do the same, if not more for her.”

“More? How so?”

“Do you think in this day and age, someone can get away with being so callous about their life partner?”

“Yes, but only if you’re the girl. Because in this day and age, the patriarch has lost its position in the social hierarchy.”

“Spare me the socioeconomic issues of the modern day. Just think of it from a normal person’s perspective.”

“Yeah, I know. I was just being a smart-ass. You’re suspecting that Gilbert’s being lenient on Alice’s attitude not just out of his personality?”

Bianca nodded as she took a sip out of the cold lemon tea before continuing.

“Yes. I believe that Gilbert wants to make their relationship work out, even progressing enough to something resembling a couple.”

“Wait, how do you know so much to even deduce this?”

“I’m in your physics class, dude. I see everything going on there.”

“Wait, how the fuck is everyone in my class and how do I not notice this.”

Bianca laughed heartily. The disbelief on his face must have been comical.

“I’m just kidding. We all share home econ fifth period. Alice and Gilbert are in that class with me, Evie and Franco. Alice always sticks to us and away from Gilbert, but Gilbert of course tries to appease Alice constantly.”

“Ah, I see. So I’m not going crazy.”

“You’re supposed to say, ‘damn it, I don’t have any classes with Bia.’”

“What a shame.”

Kato took a sip from her drink using her straw. She watched without a change in her expression, but that itself gave it away. She was definitely thinking about something.

“You deserve to be ignored by Alice and Mira.”

So that was what she was thinking. Internally, Kato concurred. He accepted her charge of wrongdoing.

“Okay. In conclusion, Alice’s position is as clear as day, but Gilbert’s position is more open-ended than one might suspect. It’s still a question mark if that’s advantageous for us or not.”

“Yes. And it’s important that Class B has the support of a usable Class F, where most of our firepower will come from.”

“By usable firepower you mean pure physical ability to fight in a Class War and make a dent in all the other classes.”

“Indeed.”

“How would we win a war against Class A? We don’t have intel on them.”

“You probably don’t have much intel on any of the other classes, but Ariel’s got the docs on them ready already. You can come by the student council room tomorrow morning to have a look at it. Or tell Eon to come.”

“You mean our new hideout. Aight. We’ll see. And I’ll be on the watch for Gilbert.”

At this time, the waitresses arrived at their table with their food. Most everyone else got their main dishes, but Kato’s and Bianca’s were the only ones left without their main dish. This particular café was one of the fancier ones so there were appetizers to go with the meal, and so the two of them only had the appetizers to start with.

“Enough about work. How’s life?”

“Life? Same as ever. Eat and sleep. How ‘bout you?”

“Enjoying life.”

Without thinking too much, Kato used his fork to stab into the small loaf of white bread in Bianca’s tray, and held it up to her.

Oops. She was right. I probably deserved it.

She too, seemingly without thinking too much, gobbled it up from the outstretched fork in one go. As if reading his mind, she shook her head disapprovingly, confirming the truth in her earlier accusation. Then, she also forked his bread and held it up to him.

“Now, eat this.”

Though it couldn’t be heard in her voice, you could see she was just a tad bit embarrassed by the act. Cute. Instead of eating it whole, he took a bite out of it.

“You can have the rest.”

“You don’t like it?”

“No, I just want you to eat that.”

There was a grin on his face. If it came down to this, he didn’t care about her accusation anymore. She was going to eat it and he wanted to see her reaction.

Again, without hesitation, she ate the other half like it was nothing. She put down her fork and tidied up their fronts before chiding him.

“Did you think I’d give you the reaction you wanted?”

“No, but it was worth a try. It was still within my expectations.”

Maybe it would have worked a few years ago, but apparently not anymore.

“If it doesn’t work with me, it’ll definitely not work with Mira.”

“Did it completely whiff? Absolutely nothing?”

Kato’s eyes narrowed. He refused to believe it didn’t at least make her heart skip one beat.

“Absolutely nothing.”

She said with a poker face reminiscent of Mirabelle. He could take it at face value, but still, it seemed too unlikely to be true.

“Then let’s try something else.”

Then he reached over and used his napkin to wipe the corners of her mouth. Like the good girl she was, she let him do it without a fuss.

“Am I a little kid now? I’m not Teto.”

Bianca smirked. Her determined resistance too reminded him of Mirabelle, and like she said, these clichés wouldn’t work with Mirabelle.

“Kato! Me too!”

Reacting to her name, Teto, who was already halfway through her lunch, pointed at her lips. Of course a big brother should take care of his little sister. He wiped hers as well.

“Me too.”

A soft voice echoed Teto’s words from across the table, on the seat next to Bianca. Kato nodded at her request. He leaned over the table to wipe Ariel’s too.

They giggled, satisfied that they were babied by an older brother, and went back to talking about that card game. Kato was very satisfied too, being able to baby two little sisters.

“Your little sister complex is acting up again. Will you ever be cured of it?”

“No, and I don’t need to be cured of it.”

Kato said affirmatively. No shame in loving his little sister and her little sister.

And then their food arrived just in time. They were just a bit slower than the others.

“Do you think the gang will stay together like this? After the end of this year?”

She asked under her breath, just out of earshot of those sitting next to them.

“For sure. Why wouldn’t you guys stay together? You’re a part of the gang as much as we are.”

“Dude, you’re the pivot centre in our gang. Anyways, I’m talking more about our futures. We’re third-years now, and we’re going off to college or university next year if we could.”

“Ah, life. Just think about it when the time comes.”

“Think about it when the time comes?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not like we all will always be together. We may have to separate soon, but until then, we’re all together, right? Enjoy your life right now, and when the time comes, say what you need to say.”

“What I need to say?”

“So you don’t have any regrets when we do say goodbye.”

Bianca nodded slowly. She used to be a very melancholic kid and some of it resurfaced just now, but she kept it under control.

“How mature. If only you were that mature a couple of years ago.”

Another smirk. He could see the accusation clearly in her face, and he had no retort. It was totally justified.

“I’m sorry.”

She began eating her lunch, her smile still bright and unyielding. Kato’s head suddenly felt heavy, allowing it to droop. Despite the time passed since then, he still felt guilty seeing it, as he knew he didn’t deserve it.

“Have you thought about your career?”

He asked her hesitantly.

“I’ll be a musician, what else? I’ve been playing since I was a kid.”

“Sticking to your guns, eh?”

“And you? Your future hasn’t changed?”

“No, it hasn’t. This is the way things are meant to be.”

“Then when that time comes, I’ll wish you good health. That’s what I’ll need to say, right?”

“And in return, I’ll wish you good luck.”

Kato avoided the question, one that he felt like he shouldn’t answer. He knew she wanted him to say what she wanted to hear; to give her hope, which he could not.

Bianca held out her fork with food on it once again. He looked up to see her still smiling. It reminded him of how she put herself into a special place in his heart. How things had changed so much since they were children.

“For now, we’re still here in Livia.”

She said sweetly, hiding behind her vague words. With her other hand, she held up a small trinket that she made him buy for her at a souvenir shop earlier, out of sight of the others. It was all she could get him to do. Seeing the metallic star-shaped keychain he bought her, he nodded and smiled back.

He let her feed him and their conversation continued, leaving their baggage behind them for the time being.