Chapter 172 - 172: A Streak Of Light

"How did you know I'm with my brother?"

[...]

[...]

[What… do you mean?] Even through the speakers, Julius's confused tone reached Hannah's ear. His breaths, however, seemed completely normal.

"How do you know that I am currently with my brother right now?" Hannah repeated her question; her voice, slightly turning cold.

[Aren't the two of you always together? I heard Bulwark allowed your class to go outside, so I just assumed you were together.]

"..."

"..."

"...Right," Hannah then let out a small but deep sigh as she slightly nodded. She's been aloof to everyone lately due to everything that's been happening to and around her. Her father's affair, all the secrets– and now Prophet's assassination. She didn't know who to trust anymore.

But Julius has been there to comfort her; not asking anything in return. So at least this... it has to be true.

"We're still doing something, I'll call you back later," Hannah once again sighed.

[...Okay. Please be careful, okay? I… love you.]

"I– What the fuck are you saying!? B… Bye!" Hannah's head almost instinctively pulled away from her phone, before she quickly cut off the call with her slightly trembling fingers.

"W… what's with that?" She then breathed out loudly; her face, slightly turning red as she turned around.

"Kya!" As soon as she did so, however, Tomoe's face almost caused her to jump back in fright as she stood in front of her without any sound.

"H… how long have you been there?" Hannah asked. She then slightly tilted her head to the side, only to see Gary and the others were also… subtly hiding across the wall; Gary not so much, however, as he seemed to be making sure that Hannah could see and hear his sighs of disappointment and disapproval.

"What… are you guys doing here?"

"We were eavesdropping on your conversation, sister."

"...What?"

"Was that Julius?" And before Hannah could even ask why they were doing so, Tomoe's somewhat quiet and monotonous voice whispered in her ears, "He knew you were with Master Riley?"

"Y… yeah," Hannah stuttered as she was still trying to calm herself down from what Julius said to her,

"It's… nothing, just a misunderstanding on my part," she then waved her hand with a chuckle as she walked away, "Let's go, we still have a lot of things to discuss."

But before Hannah could even take 3 steps, Tomoe's already small eyes started to squint as she said, "I think Julius is suspicious, Hannah."

"...What?" Hannah blinked a couple of times in confusion.

"I think he has something to do with whatever is happening right now– to the clones."

"Sorry, but…" Silvie then stepped out from the plant she was hiding behind; taking a small glance towards the clones, who were already fast asleep on the floor without a care in the world, 

"...But what does Hannah's new boyfriend have to do with them? It's that Julius guy, right?"

"Nothing!" Hannah breathed out as she lightly shrugged her shoulders.

"They own the company that made the Academy's phones," Tomoe, however, answered Silvie's questions without bar, "MEGAN was also most likely developed by them."

"...MEGAN?" Silvie furrowed her eyebrows, "Is… it possible that they're controlling MEGAN?"

The phone that Aerith was using was the same model as the ones being used in the Academy. And more likely than not, the one that's been calling herself the mother of the clones… is also MEGAN.

"I knew that guy was sus af!"

The sound of Gary clicking his tongue almost echoed throughout the entire suite; his steps too, were loud enough to wake the sleeping clones,

"T… tell me the two of you haven't seggs yet!" He then said as he pointed straight at Hannah's face.

"...Seggs?" Silvie asked.

"You know!" Gary then answered by moving his hands in a very… obscene manner.

"That's enough, guys. What's gotten into all of you!?" Hannah stomped her foot on the floor to get everyone's attention, "Julius… Julius treats me well!"

"Wait, are we talking about the Julius Reuben?" Daniel, who was disinterested at the start, now joined in on the conversation, "The heir to Reuben tech? Telecom giant? SpaceR, Microhard, and all that!?"

"...You're dating the rich guy?" Bella also joined in; her eyes blinking several times as her voice held a certain amazement in it, "Talk about a royal match."

"...What if he approached you because he needed something from you?" Gary nodded several times as he continued to approach Hannah, "...What if he's the one who killed Prophet?"

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous," Hannah's eyes started to twitch, "What the heck are you guys even saying? Let's not talk about this and focus on what's important."

"I mean, how long have you been with the guy, 2 weeks?" Gary added, "Then all this shit happened, kinda sus, not gonna lie."

"Y–"

And before Hannah could even say a word, a small but very noticeable crack whispered into their ears. They all turn around to see what made the noise, only to see specks of dust falling from Silvie's hand; little bits of glass and metal, dropping to the floor as Silvie's hand crushed… her own phone.

"...Silv?"

"I… agree with Tomoe and Gary," Silvie then said; her eyes having a hard time looking at Hannah, "Something… feels off here."

Riley was still quietly watching as the scene unfolds in front of him; his eyebrows, slightly dropping as he watched as her sister's subtle stutters began to grow worse.

"W… what?" Hannah chuckled, "Are… are you guys crazy?"

And as if to answer her question, Gary also crushed his phone. Tomoe also tried to do the same thing… but found that her grip wasn't strong enough to even fold the phone in half. And so, she handed her phone to Gary, who crushed it with his hand without any hesitation.

Hannah's breaths started to fluctuate, as even Bella did the same; her phone shattering into pieces as it floated in the air.

"What the fuck!?" And the same thing happened to Daniel's phone, "W… why did you also destroy mine!?"

"We might be getting bugged right now, that ain't cool," Bella sighed as she patted Daniel's shoulder several times in comfort.

"This… this is crazy, guys," Hannah's voice then became quiet as she was suddenly surrounded by people who seemed to have already made the decision that Julius is a bad guy,

"...Riley?" Hannah then turned her head towards Riley; her eyes, as if begging him not to do the same.

"I do not really care if we are getting bugged right now, sister," Riley muttered as he showed his phone to his sister. MEGAN seemed to already know that he was Darkday, so there really was no point in him hiding away from it; besides, he was starting to like the fact that he could watch Italian Mafia Reborn from it, Full HD in 8k resolution.

"..."

"..."

Hannah, even with her brother somewhat still supporting her, turned completely silent as her eyes dropped to the floor. Silvie was about to open her mouth, but before she could do so, Hannah suddenly took in a deep breath… before grabbing and slamming Riley's phone to the ground. She then proceeded to step on it; splitting it in half and slightly cracking the floor.

And without even saying a word, she also grabbed her own phone tight; gritting her teeth as her hands began to tremble in an attempt to split it in half.

"The phone is made of–"

And before Bella could finish her words, the sound of Hannah's phone cracking open whispered into her ears. Hannah then threw both pieces on the ground, proceeding to trample on it several times as hard as she could.

"H… Hannah, stop," Silvie stuttered as she slowly tried to approach Hannah. But before she could get near here, Hannah's breaths echoed throughout the entire suite; her steps, finally calming down as she seemed to have collected herself.

"Enough," she then muttered, "I can't let my personal feelings in the way. We're a group, it would be selfish to insist that nothing is wrong."

And although her voice contained some sort of conviction in it, the trembling words that were coming out of her mouth made it obvious that she was still shaken about what just happened.

"Are you hurt, sister?"

"Hm?" Hannah then let out a small but deep breath as she looked at her brother.

"Are you hurt because of Julius Reuben?" Riley repeated his question. And although his voice was completely calm, Tomoe noticed that his hand was slightly opened; trembling, as if gripping some sort of invisible sphere.

"That… no," Hannah breathed out as she shook her head, "I'll just talk to him after this is done, I'm sure there's an explanation to all of this."

"Okay," Riley nodded, "Please tell me if he starts to hurt you, sister. I will change the path for now."

"Ha? Change the what?" Hannah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Riley, however, did not answer her; instead, his trembling hand started to relax.

"..."

"..."

"...You'll be the first to know, Riley," and after a few moments of silence, Hannah once again shook her head, placing her hand on Riley's cheek as she did so, "You don't have to worry about me, okay? I'm your big sister."

"That is impossible, sister," Riley then whispered as he gently placed his hand on top of Hannah's, "I will always care and worry about you."

"Yeah? You'll be my boyfriend instead?"

"If that is what you wish, sister."

"Pft."

"..."

"..."

Gary's eyes started to move across the room, trying to see what the reaction of the others was.

"Ince–"

"Wah, what's that!? It's so shiny!"

And before he could say what he wanted to say, a high-pitched but slightly hoarse voice scratched in the air– one of the young clones was currently sticking her palms on the window, her eyes, seemingly reflecting a yellow streak.

"That's…" Silvie quickly rushed to see what it was, only for her eyes to reflect the streak as well,

"....A falling star?"