Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 4-6) ✓

206 | Exchange Secrets

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[EARLIER, back at the airport]

"I'm so tired!" Nicolás complained as they all walked out of the airport, holding souvenirs they got from Japan. It wasn't really much of a trip, but at least everyone seemed to have enjoyed their time there.

     "What time is it?" Kingston asks.

     "It's 5:30 AM, Tuesday. We've been gone for two days," Gengxin answered.

     "And the funny thing is, we've spent most of our time in the airplane than we did in the destination we went to," Nox says before laughing at the realization he made himself.

     "I don't think I have the energy to go to school," Magnus then says before giving out a loud yawn. "I'm beat. I don't have enough life in me to do anything productive."

     While everyone was talking amongst each other and waiting for their rides to come, Felix's phone suddenly vibrated. He took his phone out, and then he saw a message from Siren, saying that they had already started training yesterday and they were hoping he could finally join them as soon as he returned.

     "Honestly, I'm going to school if you're all going," Ari then said, making Felix put his phone away to listen in on the conversation again.

     "You guys can decide on your own, but I'm not going to school," Felix then told his friends. Even if he wanted to go to school, he wasn't entirely required to, considering he's really a brotherhood member who is only disguised as a white uniform.

     "Oh yeah, the Annual Brotherhood Reranking is next week. All the brotherhoods aren't in school since they're all training," Keigo then remembered, immediately making Felix look at their techy friend with an 'I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that' look.

     "That's right, I totally forgot about that," Nox, a student of the House of Rooks, said before scratching his eyes, that was starting to get heavy. "The battles are about to begin."

     "I heard about that from one of the orientations. It's when the students in black uniforms battle each other to get a higher rank, right? Something similar to Mr. Brains & Brawn," Kingston then added.

     "Something like that. The difference is that it's a five-day event, and they use actual weapons. A lot of the brotherhoods get badly injured during this battle, so you really have to be physically and mentally prepared," Ervin then explained.

     "I heard some news outlets are trying to cover it," Magnus then says.

     "They've been trying to for years, but the Battles is very secretive. No one outside the Houses really knows what happens during the five-day event," Nox answered.

     After mentioning this statement, Kingston suddenly laughed at himself and said, "Oh yeah, that's why your motto is whatever happens in the castle, stays in the castle. I remembered how dramatically Gengxin said it during the closing ceremony."

     Ari and the others remembered it too but decided not to laugh at it as Kingston did since, for them, the mere fact that Gengxin mentioned that motto and even bowed to them after the ceremony was enough for the entire house to be thankful.

     "When is my ride even coming?" Felix restlessly asks, hoping to join Crazy 8 as soon as possible, even though he's exhausted himself.

     Vacation was finally over after all. The Annual Brotherhood Reranking is next week, and if Crazy 8 gets demoted, Felix will be forced to leave J.S High, and that's the last thing he wants to do. He needs to start focusing now and help his brotherhood prepare.