"So, because it's our last days in school and all, right? My boyfriend suggested we 'do the deed', but I'm afraid of something going wrong. I know we have seals we can use, but the pain is what frightens me. I hear it's really painful the first time, and every time he comes around me, my heart races just thinking how disappointed he'll be if we don't go through with this," The student blows down.

"Hmm," Victor slowly nods, leaning in as he taps his watch, observing her body language. "And have you thought of addressing this matter to him?"

"Yes, sir. But I'm kinda afraid to say anything. Like, will he still like me after I tell him? Ugh, I'm not even sure when I'll be ready. Last week, he even tried touching my leg and I responded wrongly. I don't want to upset things between us anymore than I already have," She shakes her head, rubbing her legs at the feeling of distress.

"There is nothing wrong with feeling frightened. I can assure you, that many others have gone through similar emotions. No one is truly ready either," He comforts her.

"Really? Ah...then, what must I do, Sir?"

"I say, confess to him the way you feel. As you're the person he cherishes, he should surely understand your worries, not make a mockery of them. And if he does fail to make the right judgment, a beautiful lady such as yourself shouldn't be forced to please his desires. As for such big leaps, is trust most important. I believe only then you'll be freed from your worries. Don't be afraid to speak up on this matter with him"

"I-I see...I understand now. Thank you, Sir Victor. Whew, I'm feeling a lot better now," She grins, nodding as she takes a breather while getting up. "Sir, if things do turn sour...may I come and speak with you again?"

"Whenever you would like to. I'm here until you've graduated," He assures to her.

She leaves with a bow of gratitude, leaving him to his thoughts that emerge in his silent pondering. And as he rubs between his eyes, he chuckles a bit, reminded of his brother's words that have come to fruition, with this student being his fifth one of today, out of all who came to discuss their relationship problems, with the school hours not even being close to ending anytime soon. He checks the time on his watch, stretching out of his seat as he sees that a break would be around this time. With leaving the office, he intersects with one of Thea's students passing the door, greeting the elven boy who stops with his face looking gloomy as he turns to Victor.

"Arlo, right?" Victor greets him. "Everything alright? Have you come for a talk?"

"Ah no, Sir. I'm just going for something to eat," Arlo rubs his head.

"I see. Well, do visit whenever you're ready. I'm sure plenty of you have much to say, hm?" Victor smiles, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"...Sure" Arlo looks at Victor's hand.

Calmly letting his hand off his shoulder, Victor watches as Arlo continues his walk down the passage, with viewing his back that seems to be lonely. And so he also makes his way to the cafeteria, getting for himself a box of milk and bread, seated with sighing as he opens his food.

"Awoo!" Thea appears, attempting to scare the man. "Aw, I guess I'm cured of my scary bearings now. So, how's the first day on the job?"

"Rather...interesting," He sips his milk.

"Huh? Oh, don't worry. Just tell them if they kiss, that's enough to get them pregnant," She recommends.

"...Their grown students, Thea"

"Hey, you never know," She bites into her sandwich, as Victor witnesses a group of boys coming in, seeing Arlo in their midst.

"That boy, is there something about him I should learn of?"

"Arlo? Well, he's a good kid. He's well behaved and he always pays attention in his classes"

"I see," Victor nods, watching as one of them says something to Arlo, with all the other boys laughing except him who only splits a smile.

"But...I've been teaching these kids for a while now, and as a teacher, I can always seem to tell who is friends with who"

"He does seem distant from the rest of them," Victor observes.

"Exactly," Thea agrees. "You remember seeing one of my students in the back, right? Chloe? The weird thing is, he and Chloe were always like two peas in a pot, always around each other. But now, I haven't seen them even look at each other anymore"

"What happened?"

"Not sure, but since the end of their exams, Chloe began distancing herself the same way, but with everyone. And that's when I realized, he started hanging out with those boys. Ah, I just wanna take the both of them and just have them smooch it out," She portrays with her sandwiches.

"I don't think they would enjoy their teacher forcing these actions upon them, Thea," Victor informs her, as the boys leave the cafeteria.

"Ahem. Well, Victor, it's time I go sprinkle a little on some flowers," She gets up.

"Yes, enjoy your restroom break," He teases her.

"Shhh," She pushes his head.

With that, he also finishes his meal, and on this breezy day, he decides to take a stroll in the courtyard. As they have no more classes for the rest of the term, the little number of students that are present use their free time to enjoy activities of sports and other things, with Victor checking his phone for news, also receiving updates on his units to see what they're up to. Then he abruptly stops in his walk, senses telling him to look above him, discovering one of Thea's other students resting in a tree, watching as she sways her leg with earphones tucked in her ears. And as she also senses his presence, she reciprocates his action, looking down with a face that speaks of her unfriendly attitude.

"Good afternoon," Victor smiles, proceeding with walking again to leave her to her own time.

"...What are you doing here, like actually?" She stops him.

"Well, I believe I've already stated why I've visited," He reminds her. "Are you perhaps sceptical of my presence here, Ms.Chloe?"

"I don't know. A captain like you could be doing way more important things with his life, but you decide to come and talk to a bunch of kids...and talk about the timing too...hm," She smirks.

"...Care to elaborate?" Victor fixes his glasses.

"I'm just saying what I'm thinking, don't mind me," She waves off. "You are a past student, after all. Maybe this is all really in goodwill of you, who knows," She shrugs.

Her eyes turn her attention to another behind him, face cold of emotions, and so Victor is tempted into turning around, seeing Arlo once again. The boy's eyes falter away from them both, as Chloe had hissed at the sight of him, catching up with the rest of his friends like a puppy with its tail between its legs.

"You see that one right there? Osuv Larsen. You can say he's one of the popular kids here," She points to the dwarven boy of the group. "Every day he comes to school and bullies everyone who isn't his yes-men. And that idiot, Sabrina, decided she wanted to date that fool. I don't know what she sees in this clown, and now she acts like she's the fucking queen of the whole school. Oh, and small-tip, I've seen him smoke cigarettes multiple times on the school ground. Maybe you should go look into that, Sir knight"

"...Hmm," Victor simply sounds.

"Pardon the language," She apologizes.

"And do you have evidence of these violations you've stated?"

"Unfortunately not," She shakes her head. "If you don't believe me, how about you go ask their little puppy over there"

"You mean Arlo?" "He glances at him. "Has he upset you before, Lady Chloe?"

"Huh?"

"A little birdie sang to me," He smiles.

"Tch, you mean a big-mouthed, nosy dragon lady," She figures, annoyed at her teacher, then shrugging as she smirks. "One day, he just began acting weird. I tried talking to him, and he proceeded to cuss me out. I saw he wanted to be left alone, so I did just that...now look at him"

"Any ideas of why he did it?"

"Probably embarrassed he tripped in front of me, I don't know...come to think of it, some stuff fell out his bag that day, and it's like his whole face went pale the whole time he was hurrying to put them back in," She explains.

"Interesting..." Victor checks his watch. "And did you see anything unusual among his belongings? Something that could tell you as to why he was like that?"

"He was blocking the view, so I can't tell you much more than that," She shakes her head.

"Bro!" Liam comes, looking atop the tree on Chloe, tilting his head to the sight of her. "Huh, who's this?"

"Tsk..." She concludes, falling off the tree and on to her feet, walking off as the school bells go off.

"Hm, wonder what's her problem. How's it going so far?"

"Well...you were right," Victor scratches his head.

"See! I told ya!" Liam grins. "The summer looking like it's about to get heated, huh?"

As Liam goes on, Victor looks to Chloe who has stopped for a last look before she goes off, waving to him as to tell him they'll talk later.

***

And hidden within the grounds of the school, the group of said boys begin their practice of what they believe is their leisure activities, some enjoying a nice puff of their cigarettes, and others playing gambling games as they chat, with leaving Arlo by himself, quite as he enjoys some games on his phone.

"This is nice," Osuv takes a puff of his cigarette, looking at the dark clouds flowing heavily in the sky. "Just a few more weeks and I'm getting out of this fucking goody-two-shoes school, a free man with his right to do anything he wants. I should just tell these teachers to fuck off while I have the chance"

"Hey, as an early celebration, how about we make our little way down to the red light district to celebrate? Who's with me, ah?" A second proposes.

"Mhm. But say...would we take turns on one of them or...?" A third suggests.

"Ugh, what the fuck?! I am not gonna be taking turns with you, weirdo. I know you're gonna want to get into some weird shit. What's it going to be? You gonna tickle her bum with some sloppy tongue techniques?" The second laughs, followed by the others. "I say, we start by putting our money together. I hear there are even special offers going on there for a while, a friend told me one of their girls left not too long ago"

"Is that a good thing?" A fourth questions.

"No, not for them, at least. She was like their #1 girl there, so her clients are really bummed out about it. But for us, gentlemen, it's a great opportunity! I'm talking about 4 girls for the starting price of 2! 2, I say!" The second emphasizes, expressing his excitement.

"Holy shit! Alright, here's my contribution," The fourth lays down 100js, then counting how many boys they are. "Wait, there's five of us though"

"Huh, you're right. I guess two of us are really gonna have to share one. We have no choice," The third nods, putting his arm over the second.

"Stop trying to push your weird fantasy on us, you freak," The second pushes him off. "Osuv, you joining in? Since you have Sabrina already and all. Can't imagine how annoying it'll be if she found out you came with us"

"Hey, you think I would want to pass this up because I'm scared of her crying?" Osuv laughs, with them agreeing with his words.

"Alright, then it's settled," The second claps, dropping 100js.

"It's five of us still though, which means someone is gonna have to get their own," The fourth says.

"Hey, Arlo, how much you willing to spend?" Osuv asks him.

"...I'm good. You all can go without me," He goes back to his game.

"Well, that makes four then," The third claps.

In a spark of provoking annoyance, the second kicks Arlo's phone out his hands, hurting him in the process. And with this sudden happening, Arlo slowly looks up to him, eyes of a lad holding back his anger. And with seeing his reaction, the second grabs his shirt with a smirk that expresses his annoyance for Arlo's attitude.

"Since the day we had you join our circle, you've done nothing but annoy the living crap outta me," The second tells. "Why are you always like this, huh?! You act like your fucking royalty or something, always ruining the vibes when you don't want to add to what we're planning, and then you go on acting like you don't have a fucking mouth when I talk you!"

"A-Alright, easy there, bro," The third tries to calm the situation, brushed off by the second's hostile glare.

"Hey," Osuv steps in, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, face warmed with a smile. "We're all free souls here. That's his choice. If he doesn't want to enjoy a nice night out, that's his problem. And it only means more for the rest of us, huh"

"...Tch," The second lets him go. "You best remember why we even have you around, asswipe. Don't think you have you equal privileges around us"

Hearing these words, Arlo also chooses to relax, going for his dropped phone, hoping it hasn't cracked. With reaching for it, another hand gets to it first, startling the others as they're caught with what they have.

"Hm? 'Commander Garno'," Victor states, seeing the game on his phone. "I never knew there was a mobile version available. Is it good?"

"Huh- Yes, sir," Arlo answers, getting back his phone.

"This was a game I fancied as a middle-schooler, back when it was released on the older generation of consoles. Very fascinating of the developers to release it on mobile hardware. It was one the most played games once upon a time," He teaches, turning to the others. "I understand at seventeen, you're all adults with freedom of choices, but I must ask that put those stuff away, immediately. I should have you remember you're in your uniforms, on the school property as well"

"So...you're not gonna lock us up?" Osuv raises an eyebrow.

"I'm only here as a past student to discuss with you all, nothing else. I imagine the summer questline has you all stressed, hence your participation in these activities. I have only come here to help calm the strain, not make it tenser than it already is," He lets them understand, comforting them with a smile.

They are relieved as to not be in trouble, quickly taking out a black plastic bag. In there, they throw their cigarette butts, taking out an air freshener with spraying the bag like there's no tomorrow, then placing it in one of their personal bags. They finish up with also taking out mouth sprays, each of them spraying three times as max.

"Well, we'll be on our way now. Thank you, Sir Victor," The fourth states, followed by the others, with Osuv passing him with a dirty look in his eyes.

"This is our fourth time crossing each other's path now," Victor stops them. "Perhaps we should get to know each other. Don't you think so, Arlo?"

"...I guess so. Hm," Arlo scratches his cheek, slightly smiling.

"Best behaviour now," He sends them off with.

And so he observes, keenly watching Osuv's back, with a fix of glasses, curious of these boys, curious of Arlo's character.