Volu 7 Chapter 7: Kenneth
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The 15th day of the second month.
It was lunchti at the cafeteria. The weather was clear .
“We have the photo we need, but I’m kinda iffy on using one with Seron on it. ”
“It is no matter! Just give it to SC Kenneth!”
“Calm down, gmica. ”
“Indeed. You have so sauce on your face. ”
Everyone but Seron was sitting at the sa table .
The table was at a corner of the cafeteria. Because it was so far from the counter and close to the walls, it was poorly heated. That kept other students away from the vicinity .
A single black-and-white photograph lay in the middle of the table, surrounded by empty plates on platters .
The photo was 25 centiters by 30 centiters in size. It depicted Seron and Bridget standing in a classroom .
Though Bridget’s golden hair covered their faces, from the way they stood it was clear that they were kissing. Seron’s face was almost completely concealed. Only soone who knew him in person would recognize him from the photo .
But the newspaper club, naturally, could tell who he was. Nick and Natalia were shocked when they arrived at the table (having been told by Jenny over the telephone the previous night to et up at lunch) .
“It is unforgivable!”
But their shock was overshadowed by g’s continued outrage, giving way to calm .
“Well, in a way this might be a good thing,” Natalia said, having finished two servings of food, “we got our job done quick. The guy being Seron might make it look like we goaded SC Bridget into this, but what SC Kenneth doesn’t know can’t hurt him. ”
“Indeed. I suppose we have completed SC Kenneth’s request, then,” Nick said nonchalantly, “that was easier than I had expected. ”
Larry was silent the whole ti .
“It is unbelievable! SC Bridget, who is doing this even though she has a fiancé! And Seron, who is kissing happily without running away!” g cried, holding the edge of the table in a vise-like grip .
“Oh?” Natalia raised a playful eyebrow. “Getting angry at SC Bridget I can agree with, but why’re you so angry at Seron?”
“Pardon? What is it?”
“Even if Seron has a crush on you, you’ve never really talked with him about it. So Seron’s free to think you turned him down, and he’s allowed to kiss or date or marry whoever he wants. Right?”
gmica could not retort. Instead, she picked up her platter. “I have my next class now. Excuse first!”
“Co to the office after class, okay?” Said Jenny, “we’re gonna have a strategy eting for tomorrow. ”
“I understand… Please excuse . ”
Larry hesitated for a second, but he decided to speak .
“Seron’s coming too. ”
“I understand. But I am not angry. Please excuse . ”
The others watched as g walked away with puffy cheeks .
“Seriously…” Larry sighed .
“Your lunch not going down, Larry?”
“You’re the only one who’s always got food on her mind, Lia. ”
“So what’s wrong?”
“Today’s eting’s gonna be tense. ”
“Oh, that’s what’s bothering you? Don’t worry, you’re probably right,” Natalia said nonchalantly .
“Finally, a true confrontation,” Nick said with a smiled and a nod, “I’m looking froward to—er, I an, I am quite worried. ”
“You don’t have to bother acting nice, Nick,” Larry sighed. “Is this really gonna work out for the best, Seron?” He wondered quietly .
* * *
“How many more tis do you intend to skip practice, Natalia?”
Imdiately after school, Natalia had been caught at her locker by Lena Portman, who was now a sixth-year and still the president of the orchestra club .
“I will drag you to the music room on a leash if I have to. It’s such a relief that you’re not a woodwind or a brass. ”
“Sorry, SC Portman, but I don’t think I can make it today. ”
“And why is that? Just try and convince if you can. ”
“Sure. Thing is—”
“Yes?”
“The newspaper club’s holding an important eting today to determine gmica’s fate. ”
“…”
“I have to be there to calm her down. ”
“…”
“Otherwise she’ll lose her mind. Might grow to ten tis her size and go on a bloody rampage. She’ll destroy the campus, the Capital District—I’m sure the Confederation Army’ll bring in their tank brigade to take her down in the end, but no one wants that. ”
“…”
“Which is why I’ll be ditching today. ”
* * *
The mbers gathered one by one at the office .
As usual, Larry was the first to arrive. It was essentially a given as his last class of the day was closest to the office .
“Good afternoon. ” “Hey Larry. ”
Nick and Jenny were next .
“Hi guys!”
Natalia was next. As usual, she had brought snacks—a box of large donuts and her so-called ‘purifying chocolates’ .
And as usual, Larry got to work brewing tea .
“I am here… Good afternoon, everyone,” g said, stepping inside with a complicated look .
Several minutes later .
“Sorry I’m late. ”
Seron entered the office. It had been a long ti since the six mbers were gathered together .
Seron sat on the sofa, but g—sitting across from him—made a point of looking away .
“There, there, have a donut. Or so chocolate. ”
Natalia tried to push a piece of chocolate into g’s mouth, but g leaned away in a show of refusal, allowing the chocolate to go to Natalia instead .
“All right,” Jenny began, “now that we finally have everyone together, let’s get down to business. Ready?”
“Yeah!” “No objections here. ”
Amidst the enthusiastic responses, however, Seron and g remained silent. Like Roxche and Sou Be-Il locked in a cold war over the Lutoni again, they sat quietly across the table. Jenny looked at them both .
“Today, we’ll be discussing the two requests that SC Kenneth and SC Bridget have given us. I explained the request from SC Bridget to gmica yesterday, too. ”
“Yes, I listened to the explanation,” g said cooly, “it was a very big surprise, but I understand the reason it was secret from . ”
Then—
“But that does not an I can forgive SC Bridget’s cheating! This and that are very different problems!”
“Indeed. We have yet to confirm the allegations of SC Kenneth’s verbal abuse,” Nick said with a nod .
Natalia stopped mid-donut. “We’ll get our answer tomorrow if we’re lucky. Sothing about SC Bridget tells this won’t be too hard for us,” she said, reaching for more chocolate. Seron stared .
“Want so?”
“No thank you. ”
Jenny continued the conversation “I asked Mr. Kurtz and it looks like we’ll have the recorder at the office by tomorrow morning. We’ll set up the cables at lunchti. It won’t be as hard as before. ”
Everyone nodded .
Thanks to the recent bout of warr weather, the snow on the grounds had lted to the point where people could cross without difficulty. It would be much easier to set up the cables than it was with Stella’s case, when the club had to bury the cables all the way to the tree .
“So we’re going ahead with the plan. After school tomorrow, we’ll have SC Bridget call out SC Kenneth. Then we record their conversation and see if he really is abusing her. If her accusations turn out to be true, then we have our evidence. ”
The others nodded again .
g seed very displeased, but she said nothing .
“We have two possibilities,” Jenny said, holding up a finger. “First, SC Kenneth is a gentleman who is not abusing SC Bridget. In other words, SC Bridget is lying. In that case—”
“It is unforgivable!”
“Easy there, gmica. Keep going, chief. ”
“Right. In that case, it’s simple. Hand this photo to SC Kenneth and explain everything we found out. SC Kenneth can break off the engagent and live his own life. As for SC Bridget, well, she’ll have to own up to what she’s done but she’ll be free too, so it’s not all bad. This possibility will solve everything. ”
Everyone but Seron nodded. g gave an especially pronounced nod .
“The problem is the second possibility,” Jenny said, holding up another finger, “if SC Kenneth heaps verbal abuse on SC Bridget when they’re alone, just like she said. In other words, they’re both tornting each other. We’re gonna have to take one side or the other. ”
“Of course it is SC Kenneth! She is cheating like so, so he can be angry to her!” g argued, but Nick had a rebuttal .
“But gmica, we still have no idea about the extent of his verbal abuse. For all we know, tomorrow we may hear profanities and insults that make us cringe. What would you do then?”
“Then…” g quieted down, and fell into thought. “I do not know…”
“Or maybe we should just expose it all to both families,” Jenny suggested. No one responded .
After a ti, Natalia finally broke the silence .
“Well, no need to rush into anything. Have so donuts. ”
Seron reached for the tin of chocolate instead. “May I?”
“Sure, sure. ”
Once he had permission, he picked up a piece of chocolate and popped it into his mouth .
Just as Seron finished the piece, Larry spoke .
“What’s your take on this?”
All eyes fell on Seron .
“I can’t tell you,” Seron confessed .
Larry raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”
“What’d you an?” Asked Natalia .
“You’re sounding real funny, Seron,” said Jenny .
Nick simply smiled .
“What do you an, Seron?!” g cried. “This is a newspaper club activity. You must tell your opinions!”
Seron remained silent even in the midst of g’s angry argunts .
“We are all working hard to solve this problem. So you must say clearly what your thoughts are too, Seron!”
Seron replied,
“This ti, I’m afraid I can’t agree with that. ”
Again, he was being honest almost to the point of foolishness .
“That is not right!” g exclaid .
Next to Seron, Larry scratched his head. There was a look of defeat on his face .
g and Seron’s stubborn argunt continued for so ti .
“You are disgraceful, Seron! You are very smart, yes, but you can tell us what you are thinking, no?”
“Not this ti, I can’t. ”
“What is the reason?”
“I can’t say that, either. ”
“Then when can you say it?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t have enough information. ”
“On whose side do you wish to stand, Seron? SC Bridget? Or SC Kenneth?”
“I can’t say yet. ”
“But from your kiss yesterday, are you not leaned to SC Bridget?”
“That’s not true. ”
“I cannot believe! And about what did you speak with her yesterday?”
“I can’t say yet. ”
“You are leaned to SC Bridget, then! Because you kissed?”
g was beginning to take her frustrations in the wrong direction. Natalia cast Jenny a look just as she was putting a piece of chocolate into her mouth .
“I wish to break this engagent for SC Kenneth’s happiness!” g declared. Sothing was clearly wrong with her argunt. “Of course there is the suspicion that SC Kenneth is a verbal abuser, but put this aside, and I am clearly on SC Kenneth’s side. ”
Seron listened silently .
“To say honestly, SC Kenneth’s verbal abuse suspicions will be removed tomorrow, I think! It is a thought and not a conclusion, and it is just a feeling! But SC Kenneth is the innocent!”
Though Kenneth was not on trial and there was no real evidence yet, g was being an excellent defense lawyer. Tears welled in her eyes and her voice ca out in half-sobs .
“Well, hopefully you’re right. ” “We do not yet have concrete evidence. ” “Yeah. ”
Natalia, Nick, and Jenny each threw out a comnt. Larry wisely opted to remain silent .
“On whose side are you on, Seron? Say it clearly!”
‘On yours,’ Larry thought, but he did not say so. Seron’s expression remained inscrutable .
“A person who cannot say it clearly can look like a person with no opinions! It cannot be helped!”
Only then did he look slightly crestfallen .
Larry cast Seron a glance. He could imagine his desperation .
But Seron stubbornly kept silent .
Several seconds later,
“If I had to say—” Seron finally spoke, as though against his will, “I’m also probably on SC Kenneth’s side. ”
“What? Pardon?” g asked. The others seed just as surprised as she was. “Please wait, what did you just say?”
“If I had to say—if I really had to pick one or the other, I’m on SC Kenneth’s side. ” Seron repeated himself .
g could not say anything. Jenny spoke instead .
“Wow. So you’ve been thinking that way from the start?”
“Been cooking up a theory behind our backs? Creepy,” Natalia said .
“I cannot say I would call it ‘creepy’, but I do think it is very much like Seron to be this way,” Nick remarked .
“That’s a relief!” Cried Larry. “You didn’t want to say anything conclusive until you had evidence, eh? You’re always so cautious about everything. You wanted to wait till you could be 100% sure. ”
Seron nodded .
“Whoa, Larry’s being useful for once!” Natalia cheered, taking a donut in each hand. “Here’s your reward, boys. ” Leaning forward, she stuffed one into Larry’s mouth and the other into Seron’s .
“Mmph. ” “Mm. ”
“Cheese-flavored with cheese filling. It’s good. Creative. Moved to tears. Now enjoy it!”
The boys were forced to chew before they could speak again .
“S-Seron is on SC Kenneth’s side? I do not believe it!” g cried, rising from her seat. “But Seron kissed!”
Seron seed to want to say sothing to that, but he had not finished the donut .
“And you kissed twice!”
Seron paused .
The others stared at g .
Larry, who finished his donut first, asked the question on their minds .
“Twice?”
“Yes! Twice!”
“Huh? He kissed her once yesterday after school, we know that. But when else?”
“On the 8th day! At the central stairs! SC Kenneth said to us when he ca to request, he saw sothing sad!”
“Co to think of it…” “I rember that. ” “Indeed. He did ntion sothing to that effect. ”
Jenny, Natalia, and Nick seed to rember what Kenneth had ntioned. Larry turned to Seron in shock .
“That was you too?!”
Seron chewed as fast as he possibly could so he could finally swallow the donut and respond .
Then,
“Everyone!” He cried in an unusually loud voice. “SC Kenneth said that? Really?”
“He did!” “Indeed he did. ” g and Nick replied. The others nodded .
“gmica. Where did you see us from?”
This ti, the question was directed solely at g. She was taken aback for a mont at Seron’s sharp gaze, but she quickly recovered .
“At the top of the central stairs! I was in the halls at the ti, you see. I coincidentally saw your back in the new building and followed to talk with the two of us alone, but…I saw you happily kiss SC Bridget at the landing and went ho then. ”
“I see…”
Seron’s gaze on g grew even sharper. But even when g moved away his gaze remained fixed to the spot .
“Was there anyone else there?”
“Pardon? No… I was the only one at the stairs. ”
g’s tone returned to normal, spooked by Seron’s sudden show of emotion .
“The landing I t SC Bridget at isn’t visible from downstairs,” Seron said .
“Yeah. ” Larry nodded .
“And you’re saying SC Kenneth saw us? From where?”
“The grounds, I think. You know how the landing’s totally visible, what with the big glass wall. Heck, you can see the entire staircase top to bottom,” Natalia pointed out. Everyone else nodded in understanding .
And as for Seron—
“I see…”
He nodded in even deeper understanding .
Then he said nothing .
“Oh? That it for your defense, Seron?” Natalia quipped, but Seron still did not respond. Jenny took over in his stead .
“Anyway, I’m surprised she kissed you twice. I’m sure the first ti she got you by surprise too—”
—g was visibly angry, but she did not interrupt Jenny—
“But more importantly, about tomorrow,” Jenny changed the subject, holding her notepad. She went over their plans .
They would have Bridget call Kenneth to the big oak tree behind the building, which was clearly visible from the office window. The eting ti would be one hour after classes ended .
They would have Bridget bring up the topic of the arranged marriage, which was sure to bother Kenneth .
The newspaper club would listen to the conversation and record it, and even take photographs in case Kenneth decided to resort to physical violence .
After that, it was up to the club to decide what to do with the evidence .
“Is everyone clear?” Asked Jenny .
“Sure. ” “Yep. ” “Excellent plan. ” “I am clear. ”
Everyone but Seron responded .
“And what about you?” Jenny asked to the barely-present Seron Maxwell .
“…”
“Nat, stuff a donut in his mouth. ”
“Sure. Which flavor?”
“Doesn’t matter. ”
Larry gently elbowed Seron .
“Huh?”
“Sorry to bother you, man, but Jenfie’s asking you a question. ”
“She is?”
“Yes. About tomorrow’s plan. We’re setting up microphones and recording the conversation. Sound good?”
“Oh. Er…yeah, sure,” Seron finally replied. Jenny sighed .
“So what’ll it be?” Asked Natalia. “Chocolate or black tea?”
* * *
That evening, at the Strauski residence .
g and her brothers were eating on their own as their parents were both out .
On the table in the large dining room of the luxury apartnt was a Roxchean-style al prepared by the housekeeper .
The al included vegetable salad, apple juice, and chicken-and-macaroni gratin with sliced onions and a heaping helping of cheese .
It was g’s job to move the gratin into the plate and bake it in the oven .
“More cheese, Big Sis! Y’gotta add more!” “Yeah!”
Kurt and Johan begged their sister .
“Oh, all right. ”
In response, g dumped a veritable mountain of grated cheese onto the dish. As putting it in the oven would inevitably result in a cheese avalanche, she had to move the gratin to a larger dish .
“May peace be upon the royal family, the people, and the land of the setting sun,” the siblings prayed in Bezelese before digging in .
“GRATIN!”
“GRATIN!”
The boys were not quite young enough to stuff themselves full of the piping-hot gratin in their excitent—they made sure to blow on their food before taking a bite .
“It’s sooooooo good!” “It’s good! I love cheese!”
The boys cheered as they cooled off their food just enough to not burn themselves, shoving the scrumptiously browned cheese into their mouths .
g, on the other hand, simply stared at her gratin and the cheese for so ti .
“Your food’s gonna get cold, Big Sis,” Johan pointed out .
“Hmph!”
g snorted and stabbed a piece of chicken through the cheese. And she began to eat .
She was not even trying to hide her anger at the cheese—or perhaps sothing else. Kurt noticed .
“Are you gonna overeat again and get sick, Big Sis? You stuffed yourself yesterday too,” he said in Roxchean .
“No,” g replied in Bezelese. She had gorged on food at her birthday party the previous day .
“That’s good. Hope you don’t hafta go back to the digestive dicine again today. That would suck. ”
“Okay, okay. I’ll eat slowly,” g replied, slowing down to a normal eating pace .
“I guess being in secondary school is rough. It’s good to be young. ”
“Kurt, you’re only in first year. Don’t act like you know everything. ”
Brother and sister conversed in different languages over the dinner table. Johan, anwhile, paid them no attention as he downed his gratin .
“I’m a secondary school kid too, Big Sis. ”
“It’s only going to get harder for you from here on out. Stuff happens in school that’ll make your stomach hurt. ”
“Really. ”
“For example,” g said, putting down her fork, “I have this friend. ”
“What’s she like?”
“She says there’s this guy who likes her. ”
“It’s good to be young. ”
“But the guy just can’t work up the courage to ask her out. ”
“That’s stupid of him. If I were him I’d just go up to her and say ‘I love you’!” Kurt mused .
“I love you!” Johan parroted his brother, still wrangling his gratin .
“Anyway, that’s what he’s like. But one day soone found out that he likes my friend, and—”
“I see. Other people got fed up with this guy being all wishy-washy and told the girl for him. Must’ve made them feel better. ”
“Wh-why do you say that?”
“Obviously, cause it’s frustrating to watch. Both the guy who can’t confess and the girl who doesn’t notice. ”
“…”
“Life is short. You gotta get out there and get the girl or fail in a blaze of glory, basically. ”
“A ‘blaze of…’?”
“Oh, it ans you gotta try as hard as you can and go down fighting,” Kurt replied, mixing in Bezelese to simplify the explanation. Then he shoveled gratin into his mouth .
“But it’s too much of a risk to take if failure ans dying,” g pointed out .
“Maybe,” Kurt replied,” but it’s better than just dragging things out forever. And besides, love isn’t like a war. Even if you lose you don’t die or anything. You can just get back on your feet and move on. Waste less ti. Am I wrong?”
g had been argued into submission by a 12-year-old. She put lukewarm gratin into her mouth .
For so ti the al continued in silence .
But g spoke once again .
“About that girl. ”
“Huh? That friend you were talking about?”
“Yeah. Apparently the guy didn’t actually confess properly to her even after he got found out. ”
“He’s such an idiot. ”
“Yeah. I thought that was the end of that, but…”
“There’s more?”
“Apparently the girl doesn’t know why, but she keeps feeling frustrated, she gets angry when she looks at him, and keeps acting cold to him. She doesn’t know herself why she feels like that, which is frustrating her even more,” g said firmly, and very quickly .
Kurt stopped mid-salad .
“That’s it?”
“What do you—”
“That’s totally simple, though. You wanna know why the girl’s so angry?”
“Y-yeah, that’s why she consulted in the first place!”
“Then tell her as soon as you see her tomorrow,” Kurt said, putting down his fork and reaching for the apple juice. He sounded very bored. “She’s madly in love with the guy. So she’s waiting for him to ask her out, although she doesn’t even realize it. ”
“…”
“You okay, Big Sis?”
g stood .
“I-I have to go to the bathroom. ”
“C’mon, we’re eating here!” Kurt complained as g took off .
“We’re eating here,” Johan parroted his brother .
* * *
* * *
The 16th day of the second month.
On the day of the plan, heavy snow once again enveloped the Capital District .
Though there was almost no wind, snow piled up endlessly on the roads that had only just begun to dry .
It was lunchti .
“I guess he couldn’t possibly see us from here, so there isn’t much to worry about. ”
“The weather report says the snow’s going to ease up in the afternoon. ”
“I hope it does. ”
Larry, Seron, and Jenny were preparing the recording equipnt .
Snow fell in clumps from the branches of the massive oak tree on the grounds behind the building .
“I’m surprised it’s managed to grow this big through so many winters,” Larry remarked, hiding a microphone and rembering how he had once climbed the tree. This ti, the club was hiding two microphones in snowdrifts and one between the branches .
They covered the microphones with white cloth and scattered snow on top to conceal them .
“We have to dust off the snow once before we start using them. Could you do that, Larry? It has to be straight after class,” said Jenny .
“Sure thing,” Larry replied with a smile .
Their coats covered in snow, Jenny, Seron, and Larry buried the microphone cables in snow all the way back to the office. It was not difficult—all they had to do was step on the length of the cables so that snow would cover them. The snow falling later on would cover the cables completely .
The cables led directly to the newspaper club through an open window .
Jenny and Larry shook off the snow from their clothes and connected the cables to the recorder .
The recording device was a machine the size of a small suitcase with two reels sticking out of it like arms. Jenny’s bodyguards had received permission from the school to bring it onto campus in the morning .
The desks against the wall had been cleared completely to make room for the recorder .
“Wow. I’d kill for one of these babies,” Larry said .
“It’s my uncle’s. You break it, you buy it. ”
“I don’t think my allowance is gonna cover this. ”
“Then you can pay once you’ve gotten ahead in life. ”
“Ah, so you think I’m gonna get ahead? Thanks. ”
“Correction. Work off your debt working for free at one of our factories,” Jenny said, and promptly checked the recorder. “All right. Give it a try. ”
“Right. ”
Larry turned a flashlight on and off to signal Seron, who was still outside .
Though Larry was fluent in Morse code, Seron was not. So they decided on several signs to use ahead of ti .
Because of the heavy snowfall it was hard to make out Seron in the distance .
Seron’s voice was carried all the way through the cables and ca out clearly from the speakers .
The recording test was a success as well. Larry signaled at Seron for him to return .
Once Seron was in the office, Larry brewed tea. Then the three club mbers had sandwiches from the cafeteria as a late lunch .
“Good work, guys,” said Jenny, “and Seron Maxwell?”
Seron caught her glare mid-bite. “Hm?”
Seron caught her glare mid-bite. “Hm?”
“You better spill your guts before the others get here. ”
“What do you an, Jenny?”
“Seron. What are you planning?”
* * *
After school .
The weather forecast was proven correct as the snow let up, slowing to a mild flurry .
Larry took off the mont class ended to check the microphones. First he dusted off the snow piled on the cloths, then covered them again .
He even brought a broom with him, which he used to hide his tracks completely .
When Larry returned to the office he found Jenny and Seron checking the recorder again .
“I let SC Bridget know about the plan,” said Jenny, “and she said that SC Kenneth agreed to et here today. ”
“Great!” Larry cheered .
Seron nodded silently .
“So we’re going ahead with the plan as scheduled. I’m leaving photography to you this ti, Larry. ”
“Just leave it to ! It’s an honor to get to use this baby,” Larry said, casting a glance at the sturdy tripod by the window and the telephoto lens and single-lens reflex cara mounted on it .
The other club mbers arrived earlier than usual as well .
“Today’s the day! Here—nothing like macarons for an eavesdropping session,” Natalia said, holding up a shopping bag stuffed with sweets .
Then ca Nick. “It’s good to see the weather has improved. I hope the mystery will be solved once and for all today,” he remarked with his usual smile, hinting that there was a mystery to be solved .
“Today the truth will co to the light!” g declared as she entered, trying very hard to not make eye contact with Seron. “I believe that my intuition is not wrong!”
Though preparations were complete, there was still another half an hour to go before Bridget and Kenneth were scheduled to arrive .
“Let’s eat!”
So they had no choice but to follow Natalia’s suggestion. The newspaper club sat around on the sofas and relaxed .
“This is taking the wind out of my sails,” Larry said, sitting alone by the window and keeping an eye on the oak tree with a pair of sunglasses and binoculars. The oak tree simply stood alone in a world of white .
The hands of the clock continued to tick and tock, and the macarons disappeared into mouths at a rapid pace until it was five minutes before the designated ti .
“I’m going to the bathroom,” Seron said, getting up .
“Hurry back or you’ll miss the conversation,” said Larry .
“It’s all right. We’re recording everything anyway,” Seron replied, grabbing his coat from the wall hanger .
Then he turned and called the na of the girl he loved, to whom he had not said a single word all day .
“gmica. ”
“Y-yes!” g replied, looking up .
“Do you believe in SC Kenneth?”
For several seconds g looked into Seron’s grey eyes, unable to answer .
Seron waited without averting his gaze .
Eventually g gave her reply .
“I do! Because he does not look to be a bad person!”
“I see. I think so too. ”
The others thought they saw a hint of a smile on Seron’s lips .
The door opened. Then it closed .
Once Seron had taken his coat and left—
“Let’s get into position. I hate rushing at the last minute,” Jenny said, heading to the recorder .
“Sure. ”
The others moved to the window as well. Placing a rug on the floor by the window, they squatted or knelt and wiped the glass and adjusted the lace curtain for a better view .
Finally, everyone picked up binoculars from the desk and checked their lenses. Larry checked the oak tree once more through the cara viewfinder .
The hands on the clock continued to move until it was one minute to the scheduled ti .
“You think they’ll get here on ti?” Natalia wondered, casting glances out the window .
“Yeah. ” “I am certain they will. ” Jenny and Nick replied simultaneously .
“Really? Why?”
Jenny let Nick explain .
“Sc Kenneth seems almost serious to a fault. He will arrive exactly on ti. As for SC Bridget, however, I wouldn’t put it past her to arrive late. ”
“Right,” Natalia said with a nod, reaching for a macaron on the desk—
“There! SC Kenneth, from the left,” Larry hissed. Everyone picked up their binoculars .
“Mhm?” Natalia picked up her macaron anyway and put it in her mouth .
Jenny put a hand on the record button, but did not press it .
Kenneth appeared in the scene beyond the binoculars, crossing the snowy grounds from the left and approaching the oak tree. There was a hint of anxiety on his handso face .
“SC Bridget’s not here yet,” Larry said, shaking his binoculars left and right .
The others looked around for her as well, but Kenneth was the only person in sight .
When he reached the oak tree, Kenneth checked his watch. The minute hand on the office wall arrived at the designated ti at that very mont .
“Talk about accurate!” Natalia exclaid .
“It is rude, being late after calling out soone oneself,” g snapped to soone who was not within earshot, puffing up her cheeks .
“By the way, it seems Seron is taking quite a while in the bathroom,” Nick noted. The others finally rembered Seron’s absence .
“Maybe he’s got a stomachache?” Larry said, covering for his friend, “we’re practically done anyway, so let him off easy. ”
Five minutes passed in bored silence .
“How much longer?!” Natalia complained .
The club mbers waited in the office, and Kenneth waited by the oak tree in the cold .
Not once did Kenneth look back down at his watch. He stood upright, his breath rising in puffs, as he quietly waited for Bridget to arrive .
“Hey, there she is!” Larry cried, discovering their second target. “That’s gotta be SC Bridget. Jenny!”
“Right. ”
Jenny began the recording. The reels began to turn with a click .
And sound flowed from the speakers .
The sound of footsteps crunching into the snow grew at a slow crescendo .
Beyond the binoculars Bridget walked towards the tree, wearing an expensive coat and carrying her bag .
“She’s here!” Natalia mumbled, excited. She was holding a macaron in one hand .
“This will be interesting. Let us keep our ears on their conversation,” said Nick .
g glared into her binoculars .
The footsteps suddenly ca to a stop .
In the distance, Bridget stopped about three ters from Kenneth .
The first thing to co out of the speakers was a simple greeting .
Bridget’s voice carried across clearly. The tape recorded everything .
And as g, Natalia, Larry, Jenny, and Nick listened, Kenneth’s voice erged from the speakers for the first ti .
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