A/N: Today's a double update! In case you haven't read Harriet's POV chapter, please read that first before this one.

MORRIE

LIVING UP to people's expectations has become part of my life. It shaped who I am and what I'm willing to do to achieve anything.

I belonged to the Moreno family where every member was part of the law. My father is a police inspector. My mom is a state prosecutor. My brother is a special agent under a national intelligence agency. I, as the youngest and the second child, was also expected to take the same route as everyone else in the family.

In a way, I was walking on a path that was already paved by those who came before me. All I needed to do was to cross it and reach the end. I wasn't complaining. I've been interested in the concept of justice since I was child. Pursuing this path was something that I had already considered. When my brother enrolled in QED University, I knew it's only a matter of time that I would follow his footsteps.

My "live up to expectations" motto was also a thing in the detective academy. My brother Arturius was an overachiever, and he became a living legend in House Moriarty. Yes, even in the House of our choice, I had the same preference as him. He was one of the youngest leaders of our House. He was elected Regent of the student body during his senior year. And he won as the champion of the prestigious Quadetective Tournament, leading the Moriartians to victory in that year's House War. You could say that he had a long list of achievements.

Now it's my turn. I wasn't just a Moreno studying in this university. I was also the younger brother of a Moriartian legend. Much was expected from me since the day I set foot in the campus. That's why I had to work hard and work smart to reach the same level that my brother did during his time.

You could very well say that I was living in his shadows or just simply tracing his footsteps. I wouldn't deny it because it's true.

"Hey, Morrie?"

My eyes flicked up at the boy across my seat. I was finishing my soup that was served this morning in the mess hall of the Moriartian Manor.

"Kailan daw ia-announce ang designation mo bilang champion ng House natin?" My Housemate Andrei asked before chewing some bread. "Nabalitaan ko na unanimous ang consensus na ikaw ang magiging representative sa Quadetective Tournament."

I looked down at my soup and sipped from a spoonful of it. "They plan to hold off the announcement until every other House has announced theirs. Madali tayong mahahanapan ng butas kung tayo ang unang mag-a-announce."

"Pero sure na ikaw na 'yan, 'no? Wala nang ibang candidate na kino-consider ang Council?"

I shook my head. "Why? Do you want to take my place?"

Andrei almost choked on his coffee. He put down his cup and coughed a few times. "Ano ka ba? Alam mo namang malaki ang tiwala ko sa 'yo. I'm sure you'd easily beat whoever's the representative of the other Houses. Ikaw pa? Si Morrie Moreno yata 'yan!"

I smirked at the level of confidence he had in me. I was flattered.

Here's a disclaimer: I didn't ask for this role. Months ago, I was already told by our Council that I would represent House Moriarty in the tournament. They wanted me to be prepared as early as possible before the actual games. Ayaw nilang masorpresa ako at hindi maging handa sa papel na ibibigay nila sa akin. Some Houses choose their champions a few weeks or months before the competition. But House Moriarty, being always a couple of steps ahead, gave me this honor even before the academic year started.

You might ask: why me, of all Moriartians in here? I was still a second year student. Anyone in the higher years would probably have more skills and experience than me.

Apart from my abilities, it probably had something to do with who I am. I am a Moreno and my brother is a Moriartian living legend. I might have the same (or hopefully better) wit and grit as him. Greatness isn't hereditary, but our Council probably thought so. His brother did well, so he might do well too.

This was another moment where I had to live up to other people's expectations. I wouldn't lie. The pressure douled or tripled on me. My brother won the tournament four years ago. Our House is the defending champion. I wasn't only carrying my name and my brother's legacy, but also the banner of our House. I couldn't afford to fail.

"May idea ka ba kung sino ang nagnakaw sa mga... alam mo na?" Andrei asked in a low voice. "Pinaghirapan nating ipunin ang mga 'yon tapos mawawala na lang bigla?"

"No idea," I replied before drinking some tea. I was also surprised when I heard the news a week ago. I placed the teacup back on the saucer, creating a clink. "But whoever's behind it must be one of us inside the Manor. Our security here is tight. Not even a rat can easily get in."

"Ang suspetya ko, baka taga-ibang House? Wala namang traydor na Moriartian, 'di ba? Kung meron man at kapag nalaman ko kung sino, malilintikan sa akin 'yon."

"Only a skilled Adlerian who has perfected the art of disguise can pull that off. Still, they will need mastery of the security features inside the Manor. It's less likely that it's an outsider and more probably an insider."

Our House also didn't want to lose to any of our rival Houses. On their own, the Council thought of an ingenious plan to make sure that I would have an easy win. A select group of Moriartians was tasked of digging some dirt on potential representatives of the other Houses. Through blackmail, they would force those students to back out of the tournament. They wouldn't stop until the Houses would only have mediocre candidates to choose from.

We had collected enough materials to make sure that it's going to be not difficult for us to defend the title. But unfortunately, a week ago, everything that we gathered was stolen from the Pandoran Library. Now we had nothing to use against anyone. We're basically back to square one.

But Moriartians aren't known for giving up just because we hit a deadend. We would find other ways to still make it happen. If Plan A didn't work, we still have twenty-five letters of the English alphabet.

AS SOON as I was done with my breakfast, I went ahead to Baker Building for my morning classes. It's still a bit early, but the students had already flooded the paths leading to the circular intersection. I was silently walking on my own when I saw two familiar faces on the front steps of the building. One girl had her pink hair in ponytail while the other girl had almost waist-length black hair.

Harriet and Wilhelmina?

Those two seemed to be getting close every day. They're my classmates in second year. Coincidentally, they're also my teammates. It's strange to see four students from four different Houses working together. But everyone's getting used to it, I guess? This wasn't the case until two weeks ago. The university officials wanted to promote unity and camaraderie among students so they thought of grouping us together.

I personally think it's a stupid move because competition would still reign supreme, given the environment that the university had cultivated us in. Until the top brass realizes that it's a bad idea, I had no choice but to work with these two girls... and a boy who just appeared in front of them.

Let me play along this camaraderie game.

"Kahit si Mina, agree na dapat maging mabait ka sa 'kin," said the blonde haired Adlerian, rubbing his arm after he was hit by the girl before him.

Aiden Alterra was naturally friendly so he wasn't that difficult to get along. In our team aptly but horribly named WHAM—based on the initials of our names and our Houses—he's the one I could easily use for whatever purposes I had in mind. I asked him to get close to Harriet, and he obliged. Why would he follow a Moriartian's request? Let's just say that I had something on him, and he didn't want that to be leaked. His objective was to know her weakness, just in case the Holmesian gets in my way of winning the Quadetective Tournament.

But alas, my grip over him loosened, following the theft of our blackmailing paraphernalias in the Manor.

"Mabuti nga hindi niya isinusulat ang 'hahaha' sa Morse code," said the pink-haired Holmesian. From this distance, I couldn't say if she was blushing or she ate something at breakfast that made her face red.

Harriet Harrison is my class rival. I have long classified her as a potential threat. She has the brains and the brawn. She's a complete package, if I'd be generous of descriptions. I must admit, I enjoyed playing with her as she tried to beat me and my House in the rankings. Last semester, she failed. Now she's desperate to dethrone us. All I could say was good luck to her.

"Y-You two look..." the black-haired Watsonian didn't finish what she was saying. She just did a gesture that made Harriet turn redder.

Wilhelmina Williams is not much of a threat, but she's formidable either as an ally or an enemy. She's good at analyzing situations that it sometimes bothers me. Should I expect less from someone who belonged to House Watson? Analysis is their expertise. If she could only speak and act like everyone else, I'd consider her a potential threat, on par with Harriet.

"We both know what Mina's trying to imply. And I agree with her—"

"Mina, don't ever think for a second that this Adlerian and I will ever be—"

"Do we have an emergency meeting? Why are you three gathered here?" I asked, making the three turn to me. I looked at the flustered Holmesian. "Your face is red like a tomato. Are you feeling well?"

"I didn't know you care about how I'm doing. May something ba sa breakfast na i-s-in-erve sa Manor n'yo?"

"I'm concerned that you might have an excuse just in case I beat you in class today. You might claim the results are unfair because you're not at your one hundred percent."

She made a face at me. It's also my kind of fun to tease her sometimes. It made the competition less boring.

Anyway, I thought they're discussing something of importance, but it didn't seem that way. "If there's none, I'll excuse myself and go ahead."

I went on my way to the entrance of Baker Building. My alliance with them was only in effect during official activities. Outside class, I could choose to part ways and act on my own. And I wasn't fond of the idea of putting the four of us together in one team. At the end of the day, we're still contenders for the rankings. We're still enemies.

"Excuse me? By any chance, are you three and that boy over there members of Team WHAM?"

My feet came to a halt as I heard that question. My eyes widened for a second. That voice... I couldn't be mistaken.

"Yes, we are. May kailangan ka ba sa amin?"

"Sabi ko na nga ba, kayo 'yon! I heard a great deal about the four of you."

"Ah, sorry! Forgive my manners. My name's Arturius Moreno, a Moriartian alumnus. Pleased to meet the three of you."

I slowly turned around to see what's going on. The three of them shook hands with a man who had a short ponytail and wore the same deep red blazer as me. Why the hell was he wearing a student's uniform?

Harriet turned to me with a curious look in her face. She must have finally figured out who that person was and how he's connected to me.

That's my brother Arturius. The living legend of House Moriarty.

"Ano'ng ginagawa mo rito?" I asked him. For someone who just saw his brother, my reaction must have been unexpected. Shouldn't I be glad that he's here? Well, I didn't expect him to show up anyway.

"Ganyan mo ba ako babatiin? Ang tagal nating hindi nagkita, ah?" Arturius wrapped his arm around my neck and messed with my hair. He's embarrassing me in front of the three. "Oh, by the way, I'm his brother."

Harriet's mouth gaped, Wilhelmina's eyes widened, and Aiden's jaw dropped as soon as they processed that information. They repeatedly shifted their gazes from me to my brother.

"Siya pala 'yon!" Aiden pointed at me. "Siya 'yong nabanggit ni Roan noong isang araw!"

"Talaga ba? Bakit parang hindi naman?" Harriet raised a brow. "Magkamukha nga kayo, pero magkaiba ang aura. Siya, medyo warm habang ikaw, sobrang cold."

I didn't have time to debate her and prove that we're indeed brothers. "You haven't answered my question," I told the man beside me and tried to remove his arm on my shoulders, but he pulled me closer to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was summoned here for the Quadetective Tournament," my brother answered. "As the former champion, I will be consulted on the challenges that this year's candidates will face. Excited na ba kayo sa mga pakulo ng university at kung sino ang mananalo?"

"Uhm... Kinda."

"Why are you wearing our uniform?" I asked, still trying to free myself from his grasp. Harriet was giggling at how futile my effort was.

"I missed the university so much, I wanted to feel like a student again! Wala naman siguro akong nilabag na University o House rules, 'no? I'm forever a member of House Moriarty so there's nothing wrong with me wearing this blazer. I was actually surprised that my uniform stills fits!"

I stared at his eyes that had red and yellow colors. His left eye was damaged during one of his missions, so they had to replace it with an artificial one. I wasn't sure why it didn't have the same color as his right eye.

"Sana 'di pinapasakit ni Morrie ang ulo n'yo." My brother finally let go of me. I fixed my collar and smoothened my blazer. "He is as hard and cold as a stone, but he's a good man. Nagtataka lang ako kung bakit hindi niya kayo nakukuwento sa akin. You're his friends, aren't you?"

"We're not technically friends," Harriet spoke with contempt. That's an answer I already expected from her. We agreed to a truce back on the island, but that didn't mean we're already friends. "Ngayon lang kami naging, sabihin na nating, close. We're more of colleagues than friends."

"I think friends na kami. Tama ba, Morrie?" Aiden asked, waggling his brows at me. Whatever he thought we might have, he got it all wrong. He's just a pawn for me. He didn't meet the standard to claim himself as my friend.

"I see." My brother nodded. "Kahit noong time ko rito, hindi basta-basta nagkakasundo ang mga Holmesian at Moriartian. The competition was too rough."

"I remember that very well."

A small object swiftly flew past my three teammates, going to the direction of my brother. Without budging, he raised his left hand and caught whatever was flying toward him. It was a ball.

"You haven't lost your touch, Arturius."

"Roanoke," my brother muttered as he gazed on a man wearing brown inverness cape. "Is that how you say you're pleased to see me again?"

This time, a Holmesian alumnus came forward, his cloak sweeping the dusty steps. Roanoke Roswell introduced himself to us two weeks ago as an agent of L.O.K.I. He was in charge of investigating the attempt on the chancellor's life which we, Team WHAM, successfully thwarted at the night of Sherrinford Soiree. A black cat was trailing behind him.

Based on how their conversation started, they must have known each other. Was there a reunion of alumni today? Why were they popping up left and right?

"What a cute cat!" My brother knelt to pet the feline creature beside his fellow alumnus. The latter hissed and bared its fangs. "Ang tapang, ah! Manang-mana sa amo!"

"Bastet hates Moriartians," Roanoke explained, looking down on his cat. "Matagal ka na ring nawala sa radar ko. What have you been doing in the past months? Hopefully it wasn't something illegal."

My brother stood and threw the ball back at him. "Men of my profession are busy. Kaya nga hindi ko masyadong nako-contact kahit ang sarili kong kapatid."

"And what exactly is your profession?"

"If I tell, I'd have to kill you," my brother threatened with a serious face and a serious voice. Then he laughed. "Just kidding! I'm a special agent of the bureau. Doing undercover missions and all that jazz."

"Are you undercover right now?" Roanoke asked.

But my brother only smiled at him. He faced my classmates and jerked his thumb toward the other alumnus. "Kilala n'yo na siguro ang lalaking 'to? He was my staunchest rival back in the day. He also ran for the student regency and competed in the Quadetective Tournament. Both of which were won by yours truly."

"Glory days of House Moriarty," Roanoke scoffed. "I wonder if your House can keep the crown in that tournament?"

"Of course!" My brother glanced at me, smiling as wide as he could. "Whoever the representative of our House will be, I'm sure that victory is at hand! Kami pa rin ang magiging defending champion sa bandang huli. 'Di ba, Morrie?"

I nodded. He sounded like he knew that I was already chosen as our House's champion. He must be in contact with some officers of the Council.

"I guess it's time! Sorry if I've stalled you," my brother said, looking up at the clocktower. "Napasarap ang usapan natin. Hindi pa naman kayo male-late, 'di ba? Bibisita muna ako sa Manor. I'm curious how my beloved House is doing."

He winked at me and bade us farewell before walking down the front steps of Baker Building. He went to the direction of Moriarty Manor. He wouldn't get lost. He'd roamed this campus for years during this time.

"He hasn't changed a bit," Roanoke spoke when my brother was out of our earshot. "He's still the same carefree but dangerous fool that he always is. Malayong-malayo ka sa kanya, Morrie. I hope you keep it that way."

At this rate, I was becoming like my brother. I was following the path that he took.

"We'll be talking again very soon, Team WHAM," Roanoke told the four of us. "For now, enjoy your classes. But don't get too comfortable."

Harriet, Wilhelmina, Aiden and I looked at each other. We knew what he meant by that ominous warning. Danger was still out there.

♠ ♠ ♠ ♠

Here's an illustration of the Moreno brothers, drawn by Chiire a few years ago! (Note that the color of Arturius' eyes are different here from what's written in the previous two chapters.)

If you've enjoyed this update, let me know what you think by tweeting with the hashtag #QEDUniversity!