They stared at Yuri for what seemed like an eternity—the Founder and the former Mafia Queen, calm and hooded, facing the stern, suspicious gaze of T. Myrcella.
Yuri finally broke the charged silence, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"What?" she asked, tilting her head innocently.
"Oh wow," T. Myrcella said, her tone heavy with sarcasm, her arms crossed tight against her chest. "The Queen herself is actually hiding from the public just to engage in casual conversations with teenagers and educators. Not very suspicious, isn't it?"
Yuri bristled immediately, the calm façade dropping. "Hah? Do you take me for a loner? Just because I isolate myself to avoid paparazzi doesn't mean I'm a sad girl! Who do you think you are to be sarcastic around me, huhhh??"
Founder Yuri and Teacher Myrcella immediately locked eyes, settling into an intense glaring contest, a battle of wills between two formidable, authoritative figures.
Wyne and Margaret watched the sudden, electric animosity with a mixture of confusion and fascination.
"When did these two get along?" Wyne whispered to Margaret, a small, excited grin on her face. "Not going to lie, but their atmosphere together just fits perfectly. They're both so high-strung."
"...Maybe because T. Myrcella had to deal with her?" Margaret suggested quietly, nodding toward the feuding pair. "Like when she said about agreeing with the terms and services of the hotel earlier, perhaps she had to negotiate with the Founder."
"Hm, that makes sense," Wyne conceded, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't blame T. Myrcella for being so annoyed about her though, since Miss Yuri is unapologetic when it comes to making random, egotistical claims."
Wyne settled in to enjoy the spectacle, but Yuri suddenly broke off her staring contest with T. Myrcella and leaned toward Wyne, her face alight with excitement and high expectation.
Wyne instantly startled, leaning backward.
"Tell me," Yuri demanded, her voice dropping to an urgent conspiratorial whisper. "You three are the ones who played that one trio adventure game in the arcade, right?"
"Uh, yeah…" Wyne managed, taken aback by the shift in focus.
"Great, so what do you think about the game? Is it great? I took inspiration of it from a book!" Yuri pressed, bouncing slightly on her toes.
"Uhh—" Wyne began, trying to form a diplomatic answer.
"Okay, okay. I get it. But before you say that it's trash, I'll have you know—I made and scripted that game all by myself, brick by brick!" Yuri declared proudly, puffing out her chest beneath the white hoodie.
Of course, a negative answer would mean a ticket to hell.
Wyne turned to Margaret with a smirk that clearly communicated, "See what I mean?"
T. Myrcella, meanwhile, had quickly pulled out her phone and was swiftly searching for something on the Internet.
With a decisive tap, she brought the screen directly to Yuri's face, forcing the Founder to look at it.
"Stop lying," T. Myrcella snapped, pointing at the phone screen. "That game was clearly inspired by a concept art and limited edition book that was published by a guy called TOMP back in 2014. Seems like you plagiarised it."
Yuri glanced at the image and immediately waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, you mean the handsome guy with red hair? Eh, let's just say he sold the game rights to me. So it's technically mine now! No such thing as plagiarism."
"That doesn't prove anything at all!" T. Myrcella retorted, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Want me to flick your forehead like I did with this brat?"
"Oh, I wanna see you try, small-time educator!" Yuri challenged, stepping closer.
"What did you say about me?!" T. Myrcella shouted, the hallway tension spiking violently.
While the two big authorities were arguing fiercely, just inches from each other's faces, Trizha suddenly stopped snoring.
Her calm, sleepy expression was replaced with a mask of fierce determination and palpable anger.
Her eyes remained closed, but the small muscles around them were twitching.
A gust of unseen energy made the fine hairs around her head stand up and fly briefly in the air, and her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white.
The caffeine bomb had detonated.
And then, in a terrifying burst of speed, Trizha dashed forth toward Yuri, her teeth gritting audibly.
Before anyone could react, the still-sleeping student delivered a hard, powerful punch directly to Yuri's guts.
A small shockwave of expelled air and energy rippled around her, momentarily startling and shaking nearly everyone nearby.
Yuri, however, did not flinch or move from the blow. She simply looked down at Trizha with an utterly unreadable expression.
"Trizha…?!" Margaret cried out, horrified.
"Wha—what the heck are you doing?!" Wyne yelled, staggering back.
"Trizha, you idiot! That's the founder of the hotel!" T. Myrcella shouted, her voice laced with outrage and panic. "Are you trying to get yourself expelled?!"
Trizha stood there for a stunned second, her hand pressed against Yuri's midsection, before slowly removing her fist.
Then, she immediately grabbed her punching hand with the other, sinking to her knees and squirming in sudden, sharp pain.
"Ow…!! My knuckles hurt…!" Trizha whimpered, the surge of pure instinct giving way to physical agony.
Yuri let out a short, proud laugh. "Heh, nice punch, kid. Too bad I have a metal plate underneath my clothes in case of an unexpected assassination!"
Yuri said proudly, tapping her stomach. A loud thud akin to metal hitting metal resonated through the hallway.
"Hahaha!"
Trizha looked up at Yuri, shaking off the last vestiges of the dream-rage. She pointed a confused finger at the Founder's white hair.
"Hey! It's that scary 'guy' with white hair! Oh wait, that was a dream…" she mumbled, disoriented.
Yuri then suddenly gasped.
"Yeah, I may have white hair, BUT I'M NOT A GUY YOU DUMBASS!" Yuri roared, offended by the misidentification.
T. Myrcella quickly regained her composure. She walked up to Trizha and knelt down in front of her, holding both of Trizha's shoulders and looking at her with genuine upset.
"What were you thinking? You just punched someone!" T. Myrcella admonished sternly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was in a dream!" Trizha pleaded, trying to explain the unexplainable. "And then I was in a war zone, and I felt like I was up against this… this scary guy with white hair? I don't remember, I just reacted!"
"Never mind that, gosh," T. Myrcella groaned, rubbing her temples. "Just go and enter the aquarium with the others already! Before I expel you myself!"
"Ye-yes ma'am!" Trizha replied instantly, the caffeine having fully jolted her into fearful obedience.
Trizha quickly stood up and, joining Wyne and Margaret, hurried away to join the rest of the students disappearing into the main aquarium entrance.
Wyne quickly caught up to her, whispering, "Why did you even do that? Were you sleepwalking?"
"I don't know," Trizha repeated, shaking her head vigorously.
"All I know is that I was in a dream where I was in a war zone thingy, and this one guy with white… or black hair? Nevermind, i forgot all of it now."
"Huh, weird dream you got there," Wyne concluded, entirely missing the significance of the memory.
As the trio walked off, Yuri, on the other hand, kept her eyes fixed on Trizha's retreating back, a look of deep intrigue replacing her indignation.
"Hey. What's that brat's name?" Yuri suddenly asked.
T. Myrcella, standing beside Yuri, was left surprised and turned to her, confused.
"You're invested?"
"What else?"
"She's not a fighter, she's an idiot." T. Myrcella responded, concerned.
"I know, but i highly doubt it." Yuri said, becoming thoughtful as she rubbed her chin. "That punch just now…"
Yuri thought, gently touching the hard metal plate hidden beneath her clothes.
"She went all out with it. If that was just from a dream, what kind of dream made her body react with that much force and lethal intent?"
And with that, she went silent all of the sudden. T. Myrcella stood there, confused of what this Mafia Queen had in thought.
Until, suddenly, Yuri turned around and left.
"Oh well, what it is, they better give me a good review of MY game!"
Downfall. It was that kind of punch that Yuri felt as she received—that punch… was meant to bring her an immediate downfall.
But since it was just a dream, she chooses to ignore it, despite knowing full well that Trizha has a sort of potential to be such a powerful fighter like she was.
However, she knows better than to strip off a child's freedom.