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Her eyes landed on Leon's imposing form standing protectively in front of her. Never before has his back looked so reassuring before. The energy drained from her all at once and she sank down, curling her knees to her chest, still in shock over what happened. Everything was too fast, too sudden. Did he just...?

Leon's eyes flickered over to her briefly in concern before they hardened in anger and turned back to the white-haired male. "What the f*ck do you think you're doing?" He snarled, seizing Kieran up by his collar.

"I don't think," Kieran purred, unfazed despite the red seeping through the bandages of his reopened wound. "I do—"

Leon's fist whipped around his head and into the other male's face, making his head snap to the side. He released his grip on him, letting him fall to the ground and then he was on him, his punches relentless as he drove on after the other into Kieran's gut, limbs, and face. Kieran didn't even bother to block his attacks, choosing to take it all with an unhinged grin plastered across his face.

"You can hit me all you want," Kieran coughed as another blow found its way into his abdomen. "But it won't do a f*cking thing to me."

"I'm not a f*cking sadist," Leon growled. "I rather you f*cking die."

The white-haired male smiled a bloody smile with his lips stained with blood, making them even redder. "Does dying hurt?"

"It hurts like f*ck, you f*cking a**hole. Actually, you don't f*cking deserve to die. I should beat you up and hang you off the f*cking cliff to feed the vultures instead."

"You're already beating me up. Can't you try to be a little more creative?"

Leon's lips pulled back into a disgusted grimace as he pulled himself to his feet. "You're f*cking sick, you know that?"

Kieran lied on the ground, his limbs splayed out around him as if he was being crucified. He grinned even though it looked like it pained him to do so. "Thanks for the compliment, Leo-chan~"

"F*ck you. You're lucky you don't feel sh*t or I'd do worse to you. Now get the f*ck out of here before I tear your insides out through your mouth."

"Ooh, kinky—"

"Get the f*ck out, Fujikawa!" His anger got the best of him and he seized the other male by his back collar and threw him towards the window. (Y/n) watched with wide-eyed horror as the impact broke the glass into a million shards and Kieran fell to the floor, laughing.

"Physics doesn't work that way," he smirked wildly. "You're not going to be able to throw me outside like that—"

"Go f*ck yourself, you bloody f*ck!" Leon picked up a chair and threw it at him. Then a particularly large book and later a vase.

Kieran shrieked, scrambling back to avoid the projectiles. "You're messing up my library! Stop it, Leo-chan!"

"F*ck off first!"

Kieran steadied himself against the bookshelf. His head must be spinning after the nasty uppercut Leon had dealt to his jaw. How he managed to stay steadily upright, (Y/n) had to admit she was impressed. He wiped the blood that escaped his lips with his thumb. The smile dropped from his face and a dark look replaced it.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said in that same chilling voice he'd used on her before. "I suggest you leave us instead, Leo."

Leon lowered the stool in his hands, confusion written across his face. Soon anger burned that all away. "You don't tell me what to do, a**hole. I'm not leaving (Y/n) with someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Kieran barked out a cold laugh. "I'm not the one who flies into violent rages here. Aren't you the more dangerous one? Who knows when you'll snap and your fists will turn her way—"

"Say another word and I'll rip your mouth off," Leon growled threateningly. "I would never hurt her, not like you. I'd rather f*cking kill myself than let that happen."

"Then do it."

The black-haired male frowned. "What?"

Kieran smiled a close-eyed smile that held nothing but threats and dark promises. "Kill yourself. Why don't you do it?"

Things weren't going to be very pretty judging from the looks on their faces and the quickly dropping temperature in the room. (Y/n) pulled herself out of her frozen state and tugged at the back of Leon's shirt. That did the trick; his glare softened as he looked at her curiously.

"Let's just go," she said. "Please, Leon?"

He clenched his jaw, clearly torn between ripping Kieran apart some more and complying with the (h/c)-haired girl's wishes. The latter soon won and his anger flowed out of him with his sigh. "Alright. Can you stand?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing much happened." She got to her feet and dusted herself off, painfully aware of the second set of eyes burning into her skull. She subconsciously shifted away and closer to the tall male, as if she was trying to hide in his shadow.

Anger towards Kieran tinged Leon's worried look at the action but he kept it back. It was a wave of anger at both Kieran's actions and words, at the male's audacity to lay his hands on her and his words that hit too close to home. Violent rages, fits of uncontrollable anger, explosive fury. Jaehyun wasn't the only person prone to those.

"Come on." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively and drew her closer to him, hiding her from Kieran's sight. The white-haired male caught his glare and grinned back at him before his smile turned sad.

"(Y/n)..." he tried to say. "I didn't—"

"She doesn't want to hear any of it," Leon snapped, cutting him off. "Save your excuses for someone who f*cking cares."

And then they were gone, leaving Kieran alone again with his inner demons.

There was too much danger in this house, Leon knew, his anxiety growing with each step they took. Too many people were capable of harm and murder. It wasn't a place suitable for someone as innocent as she was.

He made up his mind and grabbed her wrist. "Stay away from him from now on," he said in a low growl as they changed directions. "Him and Jaehyun. They're too dangerous."

"Wait—where are we going?" His hand felt like a clamp around her wrist. Or maybe handcuffs, cuffs she couldn't take off no matter how hard she tried. "Wait, you're going too fast! Can you slow down please?" It was true; she had to practically run to keep up with his long legs. But he didn't seem to hear her as he took her back to the second floor and straight to her room.

He ushered her inside and closed the door before she could run back out. "Stay in there from now on," he said urgently. She heard the clinking of metal and the quiet click of something locking. "They won't be able to get in here. You'll be safe."

He did not just lock my door from the outside, did he?! She tried the doorknob. It only proved her suspicions true.

He'd locked her in.

That might've been a good thing had (Y/n) not had plans to sneak down to the basement and find Reese. "This isn't funny, z—Leon!" She yelled through the wood. "Thank you for helping me, but, uh, this is too much! I'll be fine from now on, honest!"

If he heard her, he chose to ignore her. "Don't worry about anything. I'll get rid of everything you hate...I won't let you dirty your hands."

"My hands are already dirty! I didn't wash my hands!" It was possible to reason with Tristan and even Jaehyun but Leon? She didn't expect him to be this deaf to reason. "Wait, seriously! Unlock this before you go! I don't need 'protecting' or whatever—heck, I'm not that great of a person as you think!"

"You are a good person," he stated confidently as he rested his forehead against the wood. The anxiety and overflowing fear for the girl that had been growing inside him all these days finally started to die now. The silver gleam of the lock gave him some comfort. "I know you are."

"Not really, considering the fact I've killed someone before!"

His reply was immediate. "Then they probably deserve it."

Is this guy for real? He's got to be kidding me. "No, they didn't. They didn't have the best character but that doesn't excuse my actions—"

"Shh," she heard him whisper. "You're tired. Go to sleep, (Y/n)."

If he knew her so well as he claimed, he should know she hated following directions. "Make me. You're not my dad."

There was a pause as he didn't say anything for a few moments. "You're right," he said finally. "I'm not your dad. Parents could never care for you the way I do. I always have your best interests in heart, (Y/n), so don't worry about anything."

"Leave it to me...I'll get rid of everything you hate."

TEMPUS:DORM ━━━━━༻ ❀ ༺━━━━━ ηιgнt

Working in the nighttime wasn't very enjoyable but it had to be done. Tristan tapped his fingers impatiently against the table as he waited for the files on his screen to load. It was taking a while, and totally not because he accidentally pressed a key that made the whole process restart; this was why he and electronics never got along.

Even more unenjoyable was the fact that Jaehyun was lying on the couch right next to him. The boy's vermillion orbs stared up at the little yellow bird perched on his palm. It had flown through the window unsuspectingly.

"Are you going to keep it?" Tristan broke the silence. His steady drumming against the table slowed. "The dog might eat it."

"That won't happen," Jaehyun chirped, running a finger over the canary's wing and marveling in the silky soft texture of its feathers. A happy smile settled on his lips as the bird didn't fly away. "I'll take good care of you."

Moonlight spilled across his flaxen locks, cascading off the tables and couches where the two sat, one a demon trapped in an angel's body and the other a perfect machine with a human's soul. The night air was filled with the yearning of the moon for the sun, the symphony of a songbird and the leaves, and a hint of sweet, pain-filled blood. The sky was a mismatched quilt of blacks and greys hastily stitched together with the occasional streak of red that tunneled around pinpoints of quartz and gold. They reflected the light and joy of the world that are now too distant to be reached.

"How is your painting coming along?" Tristan asked, remembering the blank easel with nothing but a few red lines. It has been like that for years now. "I've received another commission for you. It's from the former viscount of—"

"Turn it down," Jaehyun's smile fell away and his tone turned cold. "I already said I'm not painting anything for those old fools anymore"—his smile reappeared as soon as it disappeared, bright and affectionate—"I'm only painting for (Y/n), and no one else."

Tristan's blank mask faltered at the mention of her name. It shouldn't surprise him the blond was so enamored by her but it did. "I see..." he returned his attention to his laptop. It was halfway there. He looked up out the window and saw the stars glaring down at him from where the gray and black clouds parted. He thought of all the lives he'd ruined and the hearts he'd trampled on. The sin and dread of it all could not penetrate the tall walls he's built, he counseled himself.

A soft, almost childlike humming reached his ears. It was Jaehyun. He was humming to a rhyme Tristan knew by heart as he played with the little bird.

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down~"

The bird tweeted in response to his humming and flapped its wings. It flew out of his hand and landed on his head. Jaehyun giggled at the action. "No, silly, you'll fall off!"

A new popup flashed onto his screen. The files were ready. Tristan tuned out the boy's giggling and returned his attention to his task at hand; looking deeper into Reese Grayson's family. Something about the file he'd gotten from the archives was weird. And when he tried to look further into it, everything surrounding the redhead's childhood was vague. Just like (Y/n). But Tristan was sure Reese hadn't been a victim of the Bellua Project, a project that took countless children with shady backgrounds and tested on them.

All those children had one thing in common: no one would ever go looking for them. Reese had a home. He had a family. That meant there was no way he had any connection to that project which was soon shut down by none other than Jaehyun during the 24th Game.

"What poor things," Tristan remembered the blond saying as the two stepped into the laboratory where the experiments were being carried out. His guards had already disposed of all the scientists who knew of the project, so now it was just the two of them and the children. "Do you think they can be saved, Tristan?"

The young Tristan turned a cold eye to the dull-eyed children. There was no sign of life in their eyes despite them still breathing. "Can anyone truly be saved?"

Jaehyun laughed, an off-key, cheerful sound. "Well, okay then. People break so easily, don't they? Especially their minds. Oh! I have a new idea! I should turn this into a painting~"

Tristan watched him skip off emotionlessly. "Stop, Kim. This was your wish from the headmaster. What do you want to do with them?"

The boy turned back, his smile as wide as ever. "Oh, them? Umm, I dunno. Maybe..." He scratched his head in thought, his brow furrowed in concentration. "They don't look like they can play with me anytime soon so they're useless. I know!"

His face lit up and he clapped his hands together. "How about we play a game? We can get Kieran's tiger and see how many people she can eat in ten minutes!"

"If that's what you want..."

Tristan massaged his forehead at the memory and shook it away. What if (Y/n) had been there? He didn't want to imagine what would've happened if things were different and they lived in an alternate timeline, one where the (h/c)-haired girl was experimented on just a few years ago instead of a decade ago.

Living in a world without her...he could no longer imagine such a world.

I'd rather destroy everything than live in a place where she no longer exists, he laughed bitterly. His drumming returned, his perfect nails tapping repeatedly against the side of the laptop. He grew annoyed. His body felt like electric sparks were running under his veins, zapping him here and there and no amount of scratching would make them leave. Annoyance at Jaehyun, being able to so freely express his devotion to the (h/c)-haired girl while Tristan still felt some reservations despite his bold confession.

Sinful Tristan, guilty Tristan. He was a stained canvas on the surface and underneath where Jaehyun could hide his imperfections underneath his perfected mask of innocence. If Tristan ever decided to fight him, he mused, it would not be pleasant. They'd fight hard and brutally, and paint all of Fortuna in blood. It was a wonder the four of them weren't at each other's throats all the time with them all being under the same roof.

The same couldn't be said of Leon and Kieran, however. The white-haired male had somehow managed to irk Leon and the two engaged in yet another scuffle. Tristan could imagine how that turned out.

"Take a key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up," Jaehyun was humming as he fed the bird a small piece of fruit. "Take the key and lock her up, my fair lady..." The male heard him giggle as the creature tweeted a tune to finish his song. "Good girl, you deserve a reward!"

Tristan frowned but didn't tell the boy to be quiet. He pulled the laptop off the table and onto his lap. It wasn't exactly the kind of information he wanted the blond to accidentally see. He took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief before slipping the pair back on.

The first part was all things he already knew. Reese Grayson, son of vice-headmaster Hunter Grayson and brother to Carter Grayson, an acclaimed diplomat despite being fresh out of university. His parents had divorced during his childhood and his father had won custody of their children. Tristan had done a thorough check on the mother's background just in case. Where Reese's profile was strangely vague, his mother's was the complete opposite. Tristan was able to get everything he needed to the point he could safely declare the redhead's mother had no hand in any of her children's affairs.

Either way, he decided to contact her just in case. He'd asked her about her kids under the pretense of being Reese's friend without making it too obvious what his motives were.

Her answer was odd, to say the least.

"Reese?" A woman said over the phone. There was a moment of silence before her friendly tone turned cold. "I thought you brats grew tired of making these vulgar calls. Good day."

And then she hung up.

Her tone suggested she thought she was speaking to a kid who thought it would be funny to prank call someone. But what exactly about his call made it sound like one? Tristan's never made a prank call in his life. He wouldn't know.

The files he pulled onto his laptop were from his father's direct collection, the ones he'd never leave in the archives for any of his staff members to find. Files that included the incident two centuries ago and the death list that was made for every Game. Files that also happened to include any family secrets his staff wanted to conceal.

Hunter Grayson was an amiable man full of life. He wasn't someone one would think had any dirty secrets he wanted to hide. But everyone had secrets and Tristan certainly excelled at uncovering them.

And sure enough, there was a hit on the surname "Grayson." Reese Grayson, currently 16 years old, the male began to read. Siblings: 2. Carter Grayson, 27, alumni of Cambridge and Fortuna Institute.

The second sibling's name was blacked out. Another brother? Tristan frowned at the screen and tapped a few keys as if that would somehow reveal the name. He even tried turning up the screen's brightness—it took a few tries, he turned up the volume by accident a few times and startled Jaehyun—but nothing worked. He was no tech geek. He'd have to ask (Y/n) someday.

He made a mental note to do so. It was a good excuse to go and see her again anyway. The rest of the file could be read, however. ���, deceased at the age of 7. Cause of death: unknown. ��� went missing one Sunday in Manchester, England, and he's yet to be found. The case turned cold after two years due to the lack of evidence and he was proclaimed dead by police five years later.

(A/N: IDK how UK laws work. I think you need 10-20 years in the US though)

A missing child...? Tristan scrolled down but there was no more. Confusion struck him like a chord, sharp and jarring. I've never heard of this before. Is this that important to cover up?

Something about it all was weird. If what the file said was true, then that meant Reese had been lying to him. But the question was, why? What about the incident was so important that Hunter chose to erase it and Reese was playing dumb? Or did Reese truly not know about it and Hunter was hiding it from the rest of his family?

Even though it seemed more logical to be the latter option, a part of him disagreed. Reese Grayson wasn't a stupid person. If something like this happened, then he could very well be a part of it. Could his father hide his brother's death from him for years without him finding out? Tristan doubted the redhead was that oblivious.

He was, after all, the Maker. A fact he's even kept hidden from his own best friend, (Y/n) White.

His thoughts brought a borderline sadistic grin onto his face. If I told my dear her best friend has been lying to her and is one of the Faces she hates so much...what would her expression be?

The idea of seeing betrayal and heartbreak on her face filled him with incomparable euphoria.

"Ah," Jaehyun suddenly said. Tristan slid his gaze over to the boy questioningly but said nothing. The boy was sitting up now, his head bent over something he was cradling in his hands. When he looked up, his expression was one of disappointment. "It broke again..."

He opened his hands slightly to give the blue-haired male a glimpse of something yellow in his hands. It was the bird. Its head was twisted grotesquely around its neck and its wings, its once beautiful marigold wings were bent in impossible angles. Feathers floated off its little body in a drizzle of daffodil petals and settled onto Jaehyun's lap.

He let the corpse fall silently through his hands and onto the carpeted floor. "Things break so easily, don't they? Minds and bodies..."

The bird's dull black orbs winked up at them jeeringly. A dark promise of death, just for them.

TEMPUS:DORM ━━━━━༻ ❀ ༺━━━━━ ℓαtєя

This is so not fun, (Y/n) thought as she sprawled across her bed, staring at nothing in particular. I got locked in. And here I thought I was a "guest." Baloney. A whole load of baloney. I even called it.

The best thing to do in this situation was obviously not to summon all her willpower and determination to break through the balcony and get out. It was obviously to sleep. Why waste my energy in trying to get out when I can go with the flow and wait it out? She yawned openly and plopped her face into the pillows. Sleep...sorry for neglecting you these days. I couldn't exactly sleep soundly with them on my back. I only have zebra to thank for being able to rest now...

And rest she did until her laptop, which she's left on, pinged with a notification bell. Nooo, she groaned internally and out loud. What is it now?

(Y/n) rolled over and begrudgingly dragged herself over to the laptop like a walrus. It was a new message from June; she and the other girl had been messaging back and forth lately, after all.

Well, fine, the (h/c)-haired girl sighed. She clicked on the notification with her forehead. Guess I'll see what she has.

~ ❀ ~

tracer404: Are you awake?

me: unfortunately, yes

tracer404: Oh, great. I found that the bars on your friend's door as you said actually opens with a password. I guess they really didn't want him breaking out. I can turn off the cameras and work the elevator for you whenever you're ready.

me: im kinda stuck in my room right now so im definitely far from ready

me: unless you want me to parkour off the balcony in the middle of the night and possibly break something, sure im all for it

tracer404: Stuck? Do you mean they locked you up?

me: for a lack of a better term, yes

tracer404: There's something wrong with them. Why treat you like a guest and then suddenly change their minds?

me: i wonder about that too, you and me both

tracer404: You can try getting out in the morning. It's too dangerous to do it right now.

me: that's what i was thinking

me: but the thing is leon said he was going to do something and im not sure what

me: should i wait for him to do his thing first before leaving? i dont want to be caught

tracer404: Whatever it is, hope it causes a huge commotion. Then you can take advantage of that and sneak down to the basement.

tracer404: Keep me updated if anything happens, okay?

me: okay okay

~ ❀ ~

At the same time they finished their conversation and (Y/n) closed the window, a new window popped onto her screen. It was a loading screen, and it was 100% completed. She clicked on it immediately, already knowing what it was.

She'd run a scan on June's account to trace her phone number that should be linked to it. (Y/n) didn't want to not trust the other girl but in this kind of world, it was kind of hard to maintain blind faith in someone, you know?

Fortunately or perhaps it was unfortunately, the number that came up was not one she recognized.

07337 34729

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A/N: What do you think June's real identity is? Or is she who she says she is? Keep in mind her supposed real name is Yeo-Jeong.