Chapter 89: Alexis Wants Me to Confess

"But Alexis, if you like him, why not just tell him?"

Mindy watched Rowan's retreating figure disappear down the stairwell, then turned to Alexis with genuine puzzlement.

"Who said anything about liking him? Don't put words in my mouth, Mindy."

Alexis, who had been standing with her arms folded watching him leave, went rigid.

She recovered quickly, smoothing her expression with practiced ease, a faint flush the only thing she couldn't quite suppress.

"He's someone I intend to beat in a rematch someday. And someone who might have information that leads me to my brother. That's all."

"Just a friend? Really? That's all?" Jasmine said from nearby, her tone doing everything her words weren't.

"Obviously," Alexis said, with precisely calibrated composure.

Then she pivoted immediately.

"Anyway, Professor Sartyr asked me to take care of something back at the dorm. We should head back."

She was not going to lose this particular battle. Confessing first was not on the table.

According to the romantic strategy theory she'd picked up from her thoroughly unreliable brother, whoever spoke first in this kind of unspoken duel lost unconditionally.

That was the rule. So however this played out, she was going to find a way to make Rowan say it first.

Besides, it might all be entirely one-sided on her part, and that thought alone was enough to make her want to disappear.

More importantly, her brother was still missing. She wasn't in any position to be thinking about this right now.

Finding him came first. Everything else could wait.

If Rowan had somehow overheard any of that internal monologue, he would have had exactly one response.

So Alexis wants to play a waiting game? The princess waiting for the confession, is she?

He hadn't heard a word of it, of course.

...

Back at Slifer Red, he ran into Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley just as they were heading out for dinner, and joined them.

He had picked up a deluxe convenience store bento from Ms. Dorothy's shop on the way back, and spent a pleasant few minutes eating it directly in front of the other three with visible satisfaction while they stared at him with deeply aggrieved expressions.

Afterward, Rowan leaned back with a toothpick, let his food settle, and then waved a casual goodbye to Jaden, Professor Banner, and the others who had started up some combination of card-drawing and ghost story trading at the nearby table.

He scooped up the Kuriboh and headed back to his room.

"Rowan, the inter-school match against North Academy is tomorrow morning. Give it everything you've got!"

Professor Banner called after him with a cheerful wave as he reached the door.

"We'll be there to cheer you on, no question!" Jaden and the others added, waving him off with matching grins.

"Something about the way Professor Banner said that..." Rowan murmured to himself on the walk back, rubbing his chin with a slightly odd expression.

"It feels like he's planning something."

"Kuri kuri!"

The round Kuriboh, floating at his shoulder, bobbed in immediate agreement.

"You picked up on something too?"

Rowan raised an eyebrow.

If the Kuriboh, who had a sharper sense for these things than most, was also reacting, then it wasn't just his imagination.

That said, he was fairly confident whatever Banner was scheming had nothing to do with tomorrow's match against North Academy specifically.

It would kick in sometime after, most likely. He filed the thought away and left it there.

Whatever it was, when the time came: let Jaden handle the monsters, and Syrus and Chumley handle the rest.

...

Back in his room, Rowan spent a while getting familiar with the deck he'd redeemed from the system that afternoon.

Then he looked around at the four bare walls, the bed, and the complete absence of anything else.

"This is probably one of the last nights I'll be sleeping in here," he said to no one in particular, smiling faintly.

The reason was simple. The luxury cabin he'd commissioned the Chazz Construction crew to build was nearly finished.

Just the final furnishings and interior arrangement left. After he was done with Chazz tomorrow, he could swing by and do the inspection.

Perfect timing.

He found himself genuinely curious what expression Chazz would make when he found out.

That thought carried him pleasantly into sleep.

...

The next morning.

Chancellor Sheppard, Professor Crowler, and several faculty members arrived early at the island's sole dock, a small welcoming party of students assembled alongside them, waiting for the North Academy delegation to arrive.

Among them were Kaiser Zane, Alexis, Bastion, and a handful of the academy's better-ranked students.

"He didn't come, did he."

Alexis scanned the dock, didn't find the face she was looking for, and pressed a hand lightly to her forehead with a quiet sigh that suggested she had expected exactly this.

Jasmine and Mindy exchanged a glance. Nearby, Kaiser Zane and Bastion caught the remark too, and both made identical expressions, a brief twitch at the corner of the mouth.

Honestly. Very on-brand.

"Professor Banner," Chancellor Sheppard said, after a moment of looking around with mild confusion.

"Did you happen to remind Rowan to come down this morning? To welcome the North Academy guests?"

"Ah, well... Rowan is still having breakfast with Jaden and the others."

Professor Banner laughed and scratched the back of his head in a way that explained nothing.

"He mentioned he stayed up late adjusting his deck and got up a little later than usual."

Nobody at the dock believed a single word of that.

Rowan's light had been off earlier than anyone else's the previous night.

...