Shu's POV

"You know, what I'm going to say next is going to sound super weird. But even though you were just a 2D, non-existent character to me, I somehow developed feelings for you. I don't know how, I don't know why and I don't know when, I just know that it happened.

"And I'm not complaining about it. I think falling in love with you is the best thing that ever happened to me. No, actually the best thing was finding out that you are real. That I could actually have a love story with you. And maybe this was the universe's way of correcting an error. So I'm not going to waste it.

"I really like you Shu."

Despite the exhaustion at this late hour, I stay awake, (y/n) words swirling in my head as I smile subconsciously. 

The smile drops when I remember my lack of response. Was I really that shocked that I couldn't speak at all? And not only that. Did I really deny her when she asked me if I watched IREL?

I toss in my bed, turning to the other side. 

For someone known as genius, that was extraordinarily dumb. 

The universe provided me with a chance to meet her, its way of fixing its error. And now I'm just wasting it. 

Restlessness taking over, I make my decision. And now I just wait until morning comes.

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Morning has arrived, bringing along the sun and hymns sung by birds and pale colors in the new-born sky. Mother and Father have already left the hotel to attend a press conference, so no one bids me goodbye as I leave to stand in front of the hotel.

And as expected, (y/n) shows up, casually walking to the bus stop a street away from here. The wind playfully tousles her hair and her skin glows under the fresh sunlight. I get too caught up staring at her that I nearly forget my main purpose for waiting in front of the hotel.

"(y/n)!" I call, waving my arm. She glances over before her cheeks turn pink slightly. I gesture for her to come her and she does, gracefully crossing the road.

"Hey Shu," she says somewhat shyly. "Have you made up your mind?"

"Yeah," I nod. "This is my answer."

I quickly but gently pull her wrist until our lips touch.

It's our second time kissing and I can't help but notice how soft our kisses are. Teenagers our age usually have intense make-outs that leads to hook-ups, yet the kisses shared between (y/n) and I are just tender and passionate.

And I think it's beautiful.

After a few moments we break apart and her cheeks are dusted pink, pinker than before and mirroring mine. I interrupt the silence, "I lied yesterday. I did watch you on IREL. And, as crazy and coincidental as it seems, I fell in love with you too. Which is why I came here to Earth. Not to discover a new planet, not for the money and not for the fame.

"But for you. I really, really like you (y/n). And I'm not going to be a coward about my feelings anymore."

"Shu, you're anything but a coward," (y/n) reaches forward and bashfully squeezes my hand in hers. Tears fall down her face as well as mine. "You traveled in a whole different dimension. For me, of all people."

 She laughs lightly before brightly smiling.

And I think I fall in love even more.

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Your POV

The world seems particularly beautiful today.

Perhaps it's because I'm in a good mood. I did have my favorite breakfast, scones with butter and strawberry jam, today. Blair released a new song and it's going spectacularly well. I'm having a good hair day, the strands obeying me as I wish.

No.

It's not any of those things.

My mind drifts off to those few minutes with Shu in the early morning and I internally squeal with delight. 

However, the good mood instantly disappears when I zone out, and realize that I've finally arrived at school, by the lockers to start a whole new day of hell.

Despite the massive drama yesterday, nobody is talking about it that much. Maybe it's because the biggest secret has been managed to be contained by Ashley. Miraculously, hardly anybody knows about Ashley's parents. 

And the dream with Shu is officially over when Chanel Darlington shuts her locker before walking to mine, elegantly carrying the textbooks we need for the first few lessons.

"Hey (y/n)," she greets, not even attempting a smile. I don't blame her. Considering her family's current predicament, she probably stayed up all night and used an extra layer of foundation to cover that up. 

"Oh hi," I try to smile reassuringly, standing up on my tip-toes to reach the math textbook.

We stand in awkward silence for a moment, me organizing myself for the day and Chanel flicking through some pages in boredom.

"Let's go to Petunia," she says suddenly. "Today. After school. Just us two."

"Uh, okay," I reply, half-suspicious of the random demand. "I can't stay for too long though, otherwise my parents will get worried."

"It's fine," she shrugs before returning to reading. Chanel's eyes are flying across all the structured sentences, but I doubt that she's taking anything in.

"Are you okay?" I slowly ask. She nods without glancing up. "Is there any particular reason why you want to go to Petunia today?"

Chanel loudly slams the textbook shut, but when she gazes at me her eyes are cool and calm. "No. We just haven't had a shopping trip together in so long."

I recall the disasters the last shopping trip led to.

Gee, I wonder why, Chanel. 

---------------------------

It's the last lesson of the day, and with it being a revision for an extremely boring test on electrical circuits of all things, I can't help but unfocus from the laptop screen in front of me for a minute.

Only a handful in the class are actually studying. Having an aged, unexperienced with technology and glasses dependent physics teacher has lead to this problem occurring frequently. At this point, I'm not even surprised.

I wouldn't even have to look around to tell you that Hannah, Mikayla and that group are starting a new anime, a couple others are watching Netflix or YouTube, the Elites and Chanel worrying about their snap score and the rest of my friends doing a BuzzFeed quiz party. 

There's only one thing that set this time apart from the other lessons we've had. As punishment from yesterday, Ashley is seated away from everyone else, right in front of the teachers desk where even the physics teacher would know if she's not doing work. 

So she's actually doing work, breezing through the revision questions and occasionally rereading chapters in the textbook. 

Her closest friends that were with her at Amare don't have to be isolated like that. Instead, they only have to serve a few hours of community service along with Ashley after school hours. 

To be honest, that is a surprisingly light punishment, considering that not only did Ashley skip school, but also caused a scene in our brother school.

Though, I suspect she's having a harder time at home.

The bell rings and Ashley, like everybody else, jumps straight up. 

Dismissal and afternoon admin comes and leaves, and the students begin dispersing to leave the school grounds. I can't help but notice that as Chanel and I get off the bus for Petunia Mall, Ashley (who rarely goes to the mall) and Harper are walking in the same direction. Their hair is down and brushed, false lashes applied and highlighter used on their cheekbones.

Then I notice that they aren't the only ones. Caprice Alderidge has a gaggle of boys clustered around her, her and her best friend looking so glammed up I wouldn't be surprised if they had just stepped out on a runway.

A boy I recognize as the one Chanel wanted to go to the social with (Hayden, I think his name is) and Jack are wearing new Rolexes that I'm sure haven't even been released to the general public yet. Two boys dressed in Venuste uniforms also look as posh and attractive as the rest, an air of superiority around them. 

I turn to Chanel to scoff at how they're all dressed up for a mere hangout when I realize she's done the same things as Caprice and Ashley.

No way are they all here for a simple hangout. 

Frowning, I glance back to see the four groups (minus Caprice's excess of guy friends) of each private school of Divitae Streets meet up in the middle of the mall, smiling at one another before heading into a patisserie.

The highest ranking Elites of their respective school, also known as the Supreme Four (the Walmart version of the Beyblade one, obviously). The four plus their closest friends make up the Elite Eight.  

Although I was told Layla and I were Chanel's closest friends at the beginning of the year, I wonder why we were never part of the Elite Eight. Obviously, Chanel had already replaced us with either Ashley or Harper or maybe even both. 

Before I can say anything, Chanel quickly link arms with me and leads me towards the very same restaurant. "You know what? I feel like dessert for afternoon today."

I raise an eyebrow at her but she ignores this, walking until we're seated two tables away and within hearing range from the Elite Eight. 

With the exception of Ashley and Harper, I notice that nobody seems like they knew about Ashley's parents. Though, the opposite is true for Ashley's love life.

"So, Ash, heard you got dumped," Caprice's friend casually says, bringing out a small mirror out of her purse and applying winged eyeliner. She puts it away, staring at Ashley with her eyes, magnified by the eyeliner. 

Jack, on the other side of the table, awkwardly looks away. It must be really awkward for him and Ashley.

"And?" Ashley replies coolly, but the tips of her ears burn bright red. 

"What's your point, Sana?" Harper presses. 

Caprice's friend, Sana, laughs way too mirthlessly for it to be a proper one. "We can't have a Supreme Four member being someone who got dumped."

"Well then, Jack shouldn't have dumped me in the first place," Ashley throws him a dirty look. 

"I agree with that one," Hayden, Jack's friend, muses. "Why would you dump Ash for somebody who isn't even an Elite anymore?"

I realize that they're talking about me and I distract myself by ordering an iced coffee and Chanel a chocolate croissant. 

"I never said I dumped Ash for (y/n)," Jack scoffs. "I dumped Ash for myself."

"That's stupid," Ashley angrily says. "The best thing for you is to date me!"

"No way would I continue to date somebody with a personality as shit as yours!"

Ashley and Harper's jaw drop. The Supreme Four member of Venuste (I think his name is Abioye) interjects, "Woah, Jack. I know you two got out of a rough relationship, but drop it. We're not here to create arguments."

"Abioye is right," Sana says loftily, flicking her wavy dark hair behind her. "If you want to discuss your relationship, discuss it in private. Your yelling will damage your family's reputation, not to mention it's giving me a major migraine."

"I don't give a damn about your migraine!" Ashley exclaims loudly, standing up. 

"We can discuss our relationship whenever we want to!" Jack joins in.

"Both of you, sit down and be quiet," Caprice speaks up for the first time. She's surprisingly quiet for an Elite, but nobody argues with her and instead obeys her words. Maybe she's just so powerful that she doesn't need to yell to get her point across. Her dark eyes evaluate each person at the table carefully. "I agree with Abioye and Sana. We are gathered today to talk about the (y/n) situation."

At this point, Chanel and I don't even bother to hide the fact that we're eavesdropping from each other. She shoots me a look.

"Why must all conversations revolve around her?" Jack mutters.

I know, right?

"Because your ex," the other Venuste guy with a golden watch gestures towards Ashley. "Has beef with her. And the rest of us can't stand to see our friend be treated this way, so we're going to teach (y/n) a lesson."

"That's bullshit," Chanel whispers to me quietly. "We all know they just want an excuse to humiliate someone."

I can only nod in agreement.

"So, here's a rundown of the plan Caprice and I worked on," Abioye says proudly. "Pretty much everyone (y/n) is close to travels on the Divitae Bus. You know who else travels on that bus?"

"Us," Sana smiles maniacally.

"Exactly," Abioye grins handsomely. "We just need to eavesdrop and find out all of their secrets and then publicly expose them at the social."

"Perfect," Caprice smirks slyly.

It scares me.

It scares me how nonchalant all of them, even Jack, are with the plan. To smile after saying you're going to expose somebody's deepest secret to hundreds of people is psychotic.

To eavesdrop on somebody's conversation is also psychotic. And then I realize that that's what I'm doing right now. I realize that I'm just as bad and as rotten as all those Elites are.

And it sickens me.

Leaving an unfinished iced coffee and a wad of cash on the table, I leave the patisserie. Chanel follows me until we're both seated on a bench in the middle of the open mall.

"They're disgusting," Chanel closely inspects her nails. "To have a plan like that is just disgusting."

We're silent for a while, listening to vague conversations and passersby and rapidly swirling thoughts. Then I ask quietly, "You knew they were having a big discussion today, didn't you?"

When she remains silent, I continue. "You didn't want to hang out with me, you just wanted somebody to accompany you as you eavesdropped on their plan."

"Okay, yeah, you caught me," Chanel admits, staring directly at me. "I heard whispers about this hangout for the Elite Eight going on as well as that plan. I thought you might need to hear about it. And I was right. Luckily, it seems as though they just started their plan, so they haven't started gathering secrets yet. But we need to prepare for the social night."

"But what can we do?" I ask loudly, frustration getting to me. "Lower ourselves to their level and have revenge? Tell the teachers or our parents and have them ask about those secrets? Just not go to the social and have our parents find out we skipped an important school event? Have all of us suspiciously get sick and miss it? We're just normal teenagers."

"So are they," Chanel points out.

This makes me angry. "No, they're not! They're crazy, that's what they are. Crazy for drama. Crazy to re-establish over and over again that they're superior. Jeez! This is just school!"

"This isn't 'just' school," Chanel whispers, her green eyes bright with fury. I am reminded that she was once one of them. "You don't get it. Your parents don't expect much from you because one of their children has already succeeded. But everyone else seated at that table are yet to succeed.

"We are told prestigious schools are a gateway to glory," Chanel's eyes dull. "Not only a place for us to get education, but a place for us to test out our business skills. To strategize and plan to win favor over commoners and prove our superiority."

a/n this is kinda sounding like kakegurui now lol

"And then," Chanel looks up to the sky, a bright shade of azure interrupted by occasional white puffs of cotton candy. Tears slide and drop from her eyes as she cries. It is my first time seeing Chanel cry. It is my first time seeing her unleash all those bottled up emotions. It is my first time seeing her break free of the fortress she herself created.

"You realize how inferior you are."

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this took longer than usual but longer chapter hehe

also idk what that ending was, just wanted to give some more background information about the elites (been watching to many shows about the lives of the rich lol)

also next chapter will take longer than usual as i'm going on camp in a place that has no reception for a whole week :(

word count: 2738