Byakuran didn't know how it happened.

One second he thought spending time with the Virtuosi would be boring and a waste of time while being necessary to please his brother's vision of high school life. The next second he was contemplating how great of a coincidence they decided to study in the library today.

Here in all of their— glory?

Well, sitting in front of him was a handful of 3-E students— the origin of most of his problems here, as well as his brother's side mission. He did not remember the Varia ever caring for the well-being of teenagers, Belphegor, their Storm executive being the best example of this statement. (The boy joined at 8, already a budding psycho, and look at how he turned out!)

It merely added to Byakuran's suspicions regarding his brother's involvement in his mission.

"Look at what we have here!" Araki called out, leading the group of five students. "Why if it isn't all of you from class 3-E?" he rhetorically asked, his voice seeming polite, yet the underlying ridicule in his tone was anything but misplaced.

Purple eyes swept the group that sat in front of them. One, two, six students total, two boys four girls, and one of them seemed oddly familiar. The whitehead tilted his head aside in musings, his eyes minutely narrowing as he brushed his thumb against his tattoo in contemplation.

"What a waste," Araki continued, sighing in false distress as he mockingly narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. "For you, this library is like casting a pearl before swine, isn't it?" he provoked behind a polite front. It elicited a laugh from Koyama, the science prodigy, and a snort from Seo, the Los Angeles expatriate. Sakakibara was too occupied smiling at his fangirls to grace them with a response, while Byakuran was lost in musings.

Surely because he was a transfer student who directly scored a seat in 3-A, the new top-scorer with an impeccable 500 points, and was on a first-name basis with Gakushu, the student council president, Byakuran beneficiated of a famous reputation. His display of wealth was a bonus afterward.

He took a step forward, his bag loosely slung over his shoulder, and a pack of marshmallows habitually snuggled in his arms. Araki's eyes minutely widened before a grin stretched on his face, probably thinking about their newest addition joining the fun. Seo, who was about to call out to the girl with twin-tails, also stopped to see why the usually uncaring transfer student seemed interested.

Byakuran did not notice the shift of attention on his person, and if he caught it, he ignored it. His fingers expertly picked a piece of marshmallows that he popped in his mouth with practiced ease. His violet eyes focused on one blue head as he stalked closer to the said boy in silence, casually munching on his treat.

"You," he said, purple eyes shining with a glimmer of recognition as his lips stretched into a broad grin, eyes crinkling into crescents. "Aren't you the one from the assembly?"

Nagisa stilled, his eyes focused on the male in front of him. The pressure that seemed solely focused on him made him unable to do otherwise. He felt his throat tighten and sweat slowly build on his back despite the AC.

Byakuran was famous in the main building for his wealth, academic achievements, and supposed equal relationship with the student council president and Virtuosi. The student body awed at him as much as they envied him.

Byakuran was infamous withing 3-E because he was related to their history teacher— a hitman from the most powerful Famiglia. This could only mean that he wasn't quite normal either. The latest interaction between the teen and their teacher in front of their baseball game only solidified those thoughts.

More than his classmates, Nagisa felt on edge facing Byakuran. That was the boy who did not hesitate to bash two students right behind the gymnasium after the students' assembly in front of teachers. It was the same teen who easily countered Karasuma's punch while gazing at their homeroom teacher with knowing eyes that swam with a morbid sense of amusement.

Byakuran blinked at Nagisa's silence, his eyes thinning instead of crinkling and his lips tugging into a more apparently fake smile. "Hey, uhm?" he tilted his head aside, pausing.

"Shiota Nagisa, Chouku-san," Sakakibara provided without missing a beat.

The white head hummed. "Oh, yeah, Nagisa right," he muttered. "I tend to forget unimportant names," he apologized. That was a lie, no matter how tiny the detail, except if he chose to ignore and not recall it voluntarily, Byakuran remembered almost everything.

He relished in Nagisa's minute twitch of his finger as well as how 3-E tensed, even more, faces painted in (resigned and outraged) indignation. Byakuran ignored the mocking snorts behind him, plucking another marshmallow from his bag and eating it.

"Forgive me, yes?" Byakuran did not wait for Nagisa to answer before pulling a chair from the table behind them. He sat next to Nagisa, comfortably sitting criss-cross atop the chair, his marshmallow pack on his lap and school bag on the ground. As if only noticing the five other students' attention on him, Byakuran flashed them a smile."Don't mind me, get back to whatever you were doing," he waved and turned back to face Nagisa.

"So, Nagisa, my brother recently got suspended," he enunciated, not caring for the fact that Yucca introduced himself as his cousin. At this point, he was 99% sure that 3-E knew better; as for his brother's cover— oops?

Nagisa gave a tentative nod of his head.

"I wanted to hear the reason why he got suspended," Byakuran expressed, seeming distressed. "Just confirmation from someone who was there when it happened," he added with a careless wave of his hand as if he wasn't indirectly asking whether his brother bashed a special force agent into unconsciousness during their P.E. class.

"Uh, Aarden-sensei," Nagisa paused, eyes unable to leave Byakuran's purple orbs. "He—" purple slowly blended with blue, then indigo. Nagisa felt himself getting sucked into those mesmerizing hues as if under a spell.

Byakuran leaned forward. "Who did he kill?" he whispered, voice low and smooth, tone leaving no trace for disregard. It was a voice that reeked charisma and a will to be obeyed and followed. It was the call of a leader— Nagisa thought, the white head's gaze minutely blurred to orange.

Numbly, still sitting straight like a pillar, Nagisa uttered: "Aarden-sensei didn't kill anyone?"

He didn't?

It was Byakuran's turn to feel surprised. If Yucca lost his nerves, it was better to go all the way than to leave unfinished ends. How come Yucca didn't kill the guy? Did he decide to have him discreetly taken care of by his men? Yes, surely that was the case. Yucca wasn't so soft that he'd leave it at a simple bashing.

Though, these days, Byakuran wondered why his brother was so soft with 3-E and anything related to them.

"Aarden-sensei fought with Takaoka-sensei," Nagisa stated, his eyes slightly dazed and his voice a hushed whisper.

Byakuran hummed, eyes slightly darkening before they went back to their regular violet shade. He straightened his spine, ate a marshmallow, and flashed the confused Nagisa a bright grin.

"I— what?" Nagisa mumbled, not entirely understanding the words that slipped out of his mouth or how easily they rolled off his tongue with clinical detachment.

"Haha, thank you, Nagisa," Byakuran laughed, taking Nagisa's thoughts off his mind problem. He picked his school bag, slung it over his shoulder, and waved. "Well, I've got to go," he bade, dismissing all around him in favor of exiting the library.

Takaoka, Takaoka, his purple eyes narrowed.

Pulling his phone out of his school bag— ignoring school regulations that prohibited the use of cellulars within the school grounds, Byakuran made his way downstairs and out of the building. He sent his driver a text, notifying them that he'd wait by the café at the corner of the street before switching to Torikabuto's contact.

Torikabuto wouldn't kill Takaoka, and he had fewer chances of ever being found out. He was the best option to gather information if you excluded Shoichi (who would refuse, this guy was missing on sooo much fun) and himself who had other things to attend at the moment— like midterms, somehow.

Byakuran wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the next day, he learned that 3-E and 3-A were at war.

War?

Oh, the fun!

"I'm retiring from the bet," Byakuran declared with a fed-up sigh as he stuffed his face with a handful of marshmallows. The sweets were part of his coping mechanism, and he seemed to ingest the sugary treats faster than usual— he also carried more bags in his schoolbag, but that might be because they didn't need anything but their pencil cases.

"Wh— why?" Seo asked, an incredulous look on his face as he controlled himself not to yell at the white head.

Byakuran violently chewed on his marshmallows. "My brother told me to," he stated as he brushed his hair back in tired exasperation.

He wasn't sure how Yucca came to know of 3-A and 3-E's bet in the library since he hadn't stepped inside the school grounds since the beginning of his probation, but yesterday, the eve of the first day of midterms, Yucca had very naturally told him not to take part in the game.

Oh, spoilsport!

—he wishes he could say this, but after the baseball incident where he refused to take the first step, Byakuran didn't want to add another lion (damn animal) plushy to his collection.

Byakuran ignored the heavy stares on his figure.

"Pff—"

Byakuran's virulent glare was enough to make Koyama choke on his spit and refrain from laughing.

"Anyway, what does it change if I take part in the bet," Byakuran dismissed, the wave of his hand not as casual as usual. It was evident from how his eyebrow twitched and how he ate marshmallows after marshmallows that he wasn't okay with not taking part in the bet. "You guys will still win, right?"

"Don't worry about it, Byakuran," Gakushu reassured, patting the man's shoulder. "We managed to do it until your transfer, don't forget it," he boasted with a smile dancing on his lips.

Byakuran lowered his eyes to stare at the confident student. He drew a small smile, humming through his teeth. "I'll trust you then."

He walked away to the classroom assigned to him.

Byakuran would not admit it, but he had this feeling in his guts that 3-A would lose this bet— that his brother wanted them to fail and knew they would without him.

His eyes flashed. He remembered Torikabuto's answer to his inquiry, and to lift his mood, he began to scheme on ways to get back at the government agent.

Byakuran didn't take note of how the week went by. He only knew that by the end of it, a mere two days after handing in their last paper, results were out.

::

"Wow, congratulation on getting first place, Ran-chan!" Koro chirped, popping the party poppers as soon as the younger stepped into their shared condo.

Byakuran gave his brother a grin, his purple eyes narrowing in evident consideration.

"Mmhmm, thanks, Yucca-niichan," he grinned, brushing the colorful confetti out of his white locks. He made his way into the living room, leaving his school bag in the entryway for later as he slipped out of his shoes to put on slippers.

Koro smiled happily. Even if he did not doubt that Byakuran could easily topple most geniuses with his 'otherworldly' knowledge, the hitman couldn't help the pride that swelled into his being. Byakuran was his little brother, his only biological family, and he cherished him enough to give up most things—

The Varia executive quickly buried this notion. He didn't need another problem pilling up after getting on probation once for suspicion of treasons.

"Soo? What does my Ran-chan want to eat to celebrate?" he asked, throwing the party popper in the trash and pushing the confetti aside with his foot— the housemaid would deal with the aftermath, oh the joy of wealth. "Take out? Homemade cooking? Or should we go to the restaurant?" he listed, pulling his professional phone out to dial one of his subordinate's numbers.

Byakuran considered the proposition with a pensive hum. He balanced his weight from one foot to the other before carelessly slumping on the sofa. "I want to eat Sichuanese food," he said with a nod.

Koro grinned. "Consider it done!" he chirped. His fingers flew across his phone's tactical screen, and he stuffed it in his pocket. With a fond gleam in his eyes, Koro gazed down at his brother. He felt like dotting on him.

Byakuran could feel his brother's eyes on him. He ignored them, his gaze thining as he switched the television on and zapped through the channels. He didn't know if his brother was fondly looking at him out of pride or guilt— or both. He silently bit on his lower lip, settling for some random nature show.

"Ne, Yucca-niichan," Byakuran called, eyes riveted on the screen but attention divided. "You knew End Class would lose if I participated in the bet, no?" he stated.

There was a pause on Koro's side, and the silence filled itself with the low buzz of his cellphone. Probably an underline confirming their table at a Sichuanese restaurant.

"Ran-chan is the smartest. Of course, you'd win!" the fake blond happily countered.

Byakuran took the compliment with a smile, nodding as if it were a given before sparing his brother a furtive glance. "Yes, of course."