"You mean... after you were knocked out cold with a single blow?" Alex asked, not quite able to suppress his smirk.

"Yes," I growled, my patience already straining.

Alex was in a strangely good mood today, which was honestly annoying the crap out of me.

With the headache slowly beginning to fade, more room was being made for my blood pressure to rise.

"You're lucky you're not dead Maddison." Vain murmured, and the teasing mood disappeared from the room. He looked at Alex, his red eyes haunted.

"Alex showed up a moment before you were hit and realised what Jack was about to do. He managed to catch you before..."

He fell silent, and I stared at my hands numbly.

If I had hit the ground... I couldn't wrap my head around the thought.

"As if him showing up now wasn't bad enough," Alex said, his mix-matched eyes meeting mine seriously. "Jack has gotten better at his tricks."

A chill went through me at the reminder of Jack's.... unique talent.

"He hit me in front of a crowd of people..." I whispered.

"And not a single person saw it." Alex finished.

We all sat in silence, contemplating this new development until my Supervisor raised his hand in question.

"Um, I've seemed to have missed something..."

I stared at him, just remembering that my Supervisor from the Shrink Program was in the freaking room.

Crap.

"Ah..." I stuttered, not knowing how I was supposed to explain this until Alex spoke for me.

"Have you ever heard of Misdirection?" He asked the tiny man sitting on the bed next to me. The Supervisor nodded, sitting back.

I glanced anxiously up Alex. "Wait, I'm not sure telling Mr Supervisor about all this is the best..."

"It's okay, Maddison," Vain spoke, surprising me. "We can trust him. He may not be on our side, but he'll at least listen seriously and be fair."

I stared at Vain, wondering where this sudden trust came from. Did he know something about the Supervisor that I didn't?

"Besides, this all looks bad enough as it is without us lying to him. " Vain muttered.

Ah... So the real reason reveals itself.

"Sir, this school isn't as ordinary as it seems." Vain began to explain, and I could do nothing more than listen. "Some of the students here have a unique talent in a certain... Field."

"Fighting," Alex muttered bluntly. "Don't sugar coat it."

My Supervisor glanced at me, quickly connecting the dots.

" You are involved in this? "

I blanched, avoiding his gaze to glare at the giants above.

Alex hesitated, sending a quick glance to Vain.

If the people behind this school found out that we had spoken about this to an outsider...

Whatever he saw in Vain's face encouraged him to go on.

"Student with strong natural talents in combat are scouted and offered an all-expenses-paid scholarship to this school." Alex continued where Vain left off. "They compete against one another in a game called King of the Hill. It is completely up to them whether or not they participate or not."

He sent me a brief glance. "Though most get dragged into it regardless."

"And this boy... Jack?" The Supervisor questioned. "What is his part in this?"

Alex sat back with a sigh.

"Jack, Maddison and I are all scholarship students." He admitted. "In the King of the Hill, Maddison and I are cardholders. Jack is the previous holder of Maddison's card, until two years ago when Maddison beat him in a formal challenge, making her the new Jack."

He sent a grim look out the window.

"Now Jack's come back to retake his place on the Hill."

"So... That is the reason why this boy attacked Maddison?"

"Yes and no," Alex said, glowering at the Sunshine and trees outside. "Jack didn't try to take her card, so even though he kicked her ass, she is still the Jack of the hill."

"This attack was just for fun," Vain muttered.

We sat in silence as the older man processed the new information, staring down at the school brochure he had set down on the bed.

"So this school just lets their students attack one another... and get away with it?" The Supervisor asked, calm but in no way nonchalant.

"There are Rules," Alex explained, raising an eyebrow at the adult man's lack of surprise. "Attacking people in front of non-players is generally frowned upon."

"Isn't that what happened, though?" The Supervisor met Alex gaze carefully. "And as far as I know, the only one who got in trouble was Vain for punching him."

I straightened up at this new information, but Vain dodged my questions by quickly continuing.

"If it had been anyone else, they wouldn't have gotten away with it. Jack is different."

"Are you saying... He used Misdirection?" The Supervisor asked, sounding unconvinced.

"There is a reason why Jack was a cardholder in the first place," Alex muttered. "And that is because he is a genius."

"A violinist...?"

"No, at body language. He can lie and manipulate with his every movement. He uses Misdirection to fight, and that is how he got away with attacking Maddison today."

Alex sat up straight, holding up his hands. "He has an... obsession... with magic tricks. He'll do something flamboyant with this hand, then use his eyes, his voice, his very posture to bring all attention to this hand. Drawing everyone's eyes away from the hand that is performing the trick." And hey, presto! One knocked out Maddison.

"He can do this so naturally, flawlessly, that he is impossible to read. This is why no one in that crowd today saw Jack hit Maddison."

That... Sly... Nasty...

"... So he got away with it. " I sighed, burying my face in my hands."Cause no one even noticed."

Not that I wanted to involve outsiders in this mess... But it would have been nice if someone noticed my near-death experience...

"I would have been a stain on the concrete right now if Alex hadn't shown up... and Vain punched Jack, getting himself in trouble instead?"

"That pretty much sums it up." Alex agreed, grimacing back down at me. "Maziric here got off with just a warning... but now the entire school is talking about it."

I bet.

Hell, If I didn't know any better, and had seen the normally solitary Vain hit the transfer student... After said student had gotten all close-up and personal...

A small satisfied smile tugged at my lips...

I'd think twice about trying to invade Vain's personal space myself...

No. Bad Maddison. Vain frightening off possible suitors is not a reason to smile.

As his friend, you should be sad that he will be forever alone... Comfort him maybe...

At. Least. Stop. Smiling. Dammit.