January 26th. Friday, 9:36 AM.
The second years were seated in the main hall. Usually we'd be seeing the first years here, but today was the second year's day.
"Feels weird being the ones sitting here", Richard said, leaning back in his chair and glancing around the hall.
"I know, right?" Chloe replied, twisting slightly in her seat. "I don't know where I'm going to start looking. What do you think?".
"It won't be that hard", Micheal said with a smile.
Leon noticed it immediately, Micheal had a different type of smile on his face. "You're excited about something else, aren't you?" he asked.
Chloe looked between them, "Something else? What do you mean?".
"Oh, you weren't there yesterday", Leon said, remembering.
"You didn't hear about the bet?" Richard joined in, sounding surprised.
"What bet?" Chloe asked, turning her head left and right, confused.
Richard leaned slightly forward. "You know that first year with that scar on his nose, Malakai. He made a bet saying no one would find his device", he said, smirking.
Chloe's eyebrows lifted, "And?".
"If someone finds his device", Richard continued. "He will become Micheal's bitch", he said with a grin. "And if it doesn't get found, Micheal will become his bitch".
Chloe paused to process what she heard. "Why would he make a bet like that?" she asked, still confused.
"Things took a wrong turn yesterday", Leon said. "It got really heated".
"Why?" Chloe asked, leaning forward to look at Leon now.
"It's a long story".
"Oookay", Chloe said slowly. "It's probably a guy thing or something", she mumbled. She turned to Micheal, "So are you just going to be looking for his device?".
"I'll try", Micheal replied casually. "It won't be that hard to find a device, but only trying to find his one will be hard".
"You don't even have to find his one", Leon pointed out. "Someone else will probably find it".
"True", Micheal replied. "Finding Malakai's one will be nice though", he added with a little smirk.
"What will you make him do when you win?" Richard asked, curious.
Micheal smirked, "Anything I want", he shrugged. "I don't have anything planned yet, but having him there is handy".
"Aren't you a little too confident?" Chloe asked. "There is a chance no one will find it".
"The chances of that are so low", Richard said quickly. "Remember what happened to us? Only seven pairs got 1000 points, and then only four of those pairs got 2000 points. Last year, you two got points from this challenge, but me and Leon didn't".
"You didn't have to remind me", Leon said, shaking his head with a smile. "It's true though. It shouldn't be hard to find devices because we know all the spots".
"Don't you think he could be one of those pairs whose device isn't found?" Chloe asked, reminding them that it was a possibility.
"He's in 1-C, not in 1-A", Richard said, clearly not respecting Malakai. "And it didn't sound like his partner was in a higher class because he hid it".
"You say that, but Micheal was in 1-B last year", Chloe said, pointing at Micheal.
"You're talking about Micheal here, that's different", Richard said, waving his hand away.
Chloe rolled her eyes and turnt to Micheal, "I know you're confident, but if you lose this bet, isn't that really bad?".
"The worst", Micheal said, exhaling slowly. "If I lose, I genuinely don't know what'll happen".
"This bet doesn't sound friendly at all", Chloe said, now even more confused. "Weren't you friends with him?".
"Not anymore", Leon said quietly.
Chloe frowned. She had no idea what was going on. The whole thing seemed weird to her. Too much context was missing.
The low murmur of conversations suddenly dipped. A couple of heads turnt to the aisle.
A figure walked down the aisle, causing everyone to decrease their volume. By the time he reached the front, everyone was silent.
He stepped up onto the stage and stood behind the podium.
"Good morning, second years", Mr White announced.
His voice echoed around the hall.
"I hope you're all doing well this morning", he continued. "I'm sure you all know what's going on.... It's the sixth challenge", he smiled.
His smile was contagious because other people started to grin too.
"Last year, you were in a different position. You were hiding the devices, but this year, you are the ones looking for them. I'm sure this feels a little strange for some of you", Mr White said.
The energy of everyone suddenly lifted a little. Hearing those words weirdly made them excited.
"This challenge is simple, so there isn't much I have to explain", he said.
"The first years have hidden their devices, so there are seventy-five capsules to look out for. That means only seventy-five of you will be able to get 1000 points. At ten o'clock, you will be let out, and you will be able to search the academy for two hours. If you find a device, you have to bring it to the main office. Any capsules found after the time limit will not count. That's all the rules, if I'm not missing anything", he paused. "Any questions?".
The second years also had an email explaining the rules if needed. This little assembly was just to make sure all the second years were in one place, and to answer any questions they had.
"After we've found a device, can we check whose it is?!" someone shouted out.
"Yes, you can", Mr White answered. "But make sure you do not remove the photo inside. That photo is the device's ID. If you bring a device to the main office and the photo isn't inside, you will be disqualified".
All the second years were raring to go. A lot of them were more pumped up than others. The majority of second years knew about the bet, so they all wanted to find a specific first year's device.
"Any other questions?" Mr White asked over the murmurs.
After a couple of seconds, nothing was said out loud.
"If not, you have a bit of time before the challenge starts. You can relax and chill for the time being".
"I'm excited now", Richard said, grinning and rubbing his hands.
"Same", Leon said, smirking.
"I didn't think this challenge would be that fun", Micheal said. "But it's becoming one of the best challenges we've had this year".
11:41 AM
"Micheal, have you found it yet?" Leon called, jogging towards him.
"No", Micheal said before Leon reached him, shaking his head as he speed-walked down the corridor.
Leon glanced at Micheal's hands, "At least you've got a device".
"It's not the right one though", Micheal muttered.
Leon pulled out his phone, "No one in the group chat has found it either", he said, seeing no new notifications. "I feel lucky I've got a device. A lot of people haven't even found one".
Micheal exhaled and looked down at his watch, "It's nearly time. We might just need to go to the main office now".
"But that means you'll lose the bet", Leon worriedly said, frowning.
"Maybe", Micheal said, not having his usual calm look. "I've gotta hope someone else has found it".
As Micheal paced down the corridor, he felt his phone vibrate. He quickly pulled out his phone and saw an incoming call. He answered it immediately.
"Hello?".
"Micheal! I think I found it!".