Rika stood in front of Rena and Shiro, her hair tied in a ponytail as she wore a white shirt and black jeans.
Sweat dripped down her body, mostly because she had been searching for them for a long time.
"Do you know—know what? Give me a second." Rika said holding up her finger towards Rena and Shiro
"Okay" Rika said as she finally caught her breath
"Do you know how long it took me to find this place?"
Rena and Shiro exchanged glances before Rena erupted in laughter
"I didn't know you were looking for me, Sleeping Beauty."
"Sleeping beauty?" Rika asked as her face was red in embarrassment
"Have you finally woken up from your deep slumber?" Rena said with a mischievous look on her face
"Can you please not call me that?" Rika asked in a firm tone while Shiro did his best to suppress his laughter but ultimately failed in the end
"Hey, this is not funny"
As the three continued their banter, Yue watched from the corner of the room with a gentle smile on her face.
After some time, the air around the room became tense, it was obvious the time of laughter had ended as Rika spoke in a gentle but weighty tone
"Now that things are quiet…"
"I need to talk to you alone goddess"
"Why don't you say what you want to say in my presence, Hero Rika?"
"If you say so"
Rika took a few deep breaths while Rena and Shiro watched on gently
"You were right, the class was being held back by me. I trapped them in this codependency that they had to depend on me in order for me to feel important"
"By doing that, I prevented them from growing as individuals and even made them too complacent to understand how tough things truly are."
"By my act, it drove Arthur to madness and depression, Yuta...."
Rika bit her lip hard.
"You don't have to pressure yourself" Rena said
"Oh, stop your bullshit, you two faced me" Young Rena said in the corner clearly enjoying the spectacle
"Yuta to his death"
"Honestly, I planned to step down and Muichiro came to my rescue before I broke. He helped realize my purpose"
"And what is that?" Rena asked with an indifferent face
"My purpose is to push my class to greatness. It is not by shielding them like kids but making grow as individuals capable of carrying light into tomorrow"
"I will not run away but work towards becoming a better leader like you"
After hearing Rika declaration, silence enveloped the whole room
Yue did not try to make a hint of noise in order not to have eyes thrown on her.
"Is that so?" Shiro said breaking the silence
"Yeah, got a problem with that" Rika said glaring at Shiro
"No, it is just you have changed in some way"
"While, thank you"
'Rika left the slump quickly. I guess it has something to do with Muichiro'
"Aren't you glad, one of your pieces is once again active" Young Rena said in Rena ears
Honestly, Rena was irritated, she had accommodated this child long enough that she felt like killing her on the spot, unfortunately; it was a battle in her mind not in the physical which sent a quiet rage boiling through her.
'I will deal with this situation once I am free'
Despite that, a soft grin swept across Rena face.
"I am proud that you have found your footing Rika because we have a lot to discuss"
"What can we be talking about?" Rika asked
"This"
The table which Shiro and Rena had played their chess match was cleared. Rena touched the table with her finger and a blue holographic plane appeared
"What are we looking at?" Shiro asked calmly
"An interexchange school you guys would be enrolling at"
"The name is Luminary, it is the biggest academy and they are great at training heroes like you guys"
"You would be enrolling in the next month and will be traveling there"
Silence enveloped the whole room. Shiro stared at Rika wondering what she was going to say
"Let's go" Rika said quietly as gentle smiles came on Rena and Shiro
Meanwhile
Lying on the roof gazing at the sky gently with a smile on his face, someone ran toward him, calling his name and waking him from his nap.
"Yuta, Yuta" Rin said with a smile on his face
"Oh, you disturb my sleep all the time"
"Not my fault you are a slouch" Rin fired back
"What is it, I rather not banter with you"
"Oh, okay. We will be going to the Academy that we talked about" Rin said
"…."
'Another troubling situation at my door step'