𝐉𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 // 𝐒𝐏𝐘 𝐱 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘

Chapter 13

"K-212... K-213... K-212..." The family of four gaze gloomily at the board where their number should have been.

Kei suppressed the urge to say I told you so... she didn't think it'd be very well received and given that there was a tiny part of her a little bit disappointed too...

"It isn't there..." Loid echoed everyone's thoughts.

...

"Today's the day!" A woman cheerily speaks, her clipboard clutched tightly to her chest. They are in a dimly lit room of machinery; dozens and dozens of screens taking up one wall as people wander about, each attending to different sections of the massive control area. It was the headquarters of WISE, the Westalis Intelligence Agency focused on maintaining relationships with Ostania in the East.

"Hmm? What day is that?" Another voice drawled out, spinning around idly in their chair, a hat shadowing their features

The woman with the clipboard exclaimed, "You don't remember?! Eden Academy is posting the list of accepted students at 1200 hours!"

"Ah, that thing agent Twilight's been working on?" That same voice continued disinterestedly, now seemingly examining their nails.

"Peace between the East and West may hinge on the success of Operation Strix! How can you not be paying more attention to this?" The blonde haired woman scolded lightly, a frown slipping over their previously cheery attitude.

"Twilight's on it. There's nothing that man can't pull off." The other figure countered blandly, as if stating a mere fact. They continued tonelessly. "I've no doubt he'll soon be telling us, 'the sakura flowers bloom.'"

"What does that mean?" The clueless woman questioned, her face so ridiculously naive.

There was a moment of withdrawn silence, then, "It's a secret code from the orient. It means 'got accepted to the school.'"

... doom...

All the while, the family in question stared at the board, horror written clearly over their faces.

Rejected? Loid paled dramatically, wobbling precariously.

Rejected? Anya shuddered.

Rejected? Yor seemed terribly close to fainting...

...

.... processing...

...

..

Oh. Rejected. Kei gave her family members a concerned glance. She wondered briefly if she should prepare to call an ambulance or something.

She looked up. Only to jump back, startled. Huh?

In that single, flash of a moment in which she had blinked, Master Henderson had somehow appeared in front of her eyes. She blinked some more. Then rubbed her eyes again.

Kei elbowed Anya. The girl came alive at that, her eyes widening at the sight of Henderson. She gasped. Too loudly. "It's pointy man!"

That caught Loid's attention. The spy tilted his head, puzzled. "Master Henderson...?"

The latter only stared impassively at the four. There was a rustle of paper, and he then promptly handed them a sheet. It looked like a chart of some sort, names listed in some kind of order.

"Kei... Anya... Forger?" Loid bemusedly read aloud. He then looked up. "What is this?"

Henderson shook his head. "Look at the top of the page. It's your daughters. This... is the waiting list." And strictly confidential.