Test of Courage

The headmaster of Gakkou didn't really got away scot-free either, luckily Gakkou wasn't going to be closed down, but he was going to lose his position and getting replaced by a better, younger, (thinner), person, that fits the bill of the job better.

He was going to get replaced from Gakkou, alongside many other incompetent teachers that didn't fulfill their job educating the next generation well. Sadly, good staff isn't easy to find and the school was heavily understaffed as the result of the premature termination of the contracts of the teachers.

Resulting in the temporary closure of Gakkou academy for a couple of weeks. To nobody's surprise, all of the students were excited as they could be. All but the QMC. Why?

Akane was going to change schools.

"Aka! Why are you changing schools! This whole ordeal is over! The jerks are gone, we'll get a new director and we your friends are here! There is no reason to leave."

Akane just flicked Akita's forehead, the girl was still this pure to this day.

"It's not because of them I am leaving, I am leaving because the crowd that wants to talk with me because I am idol is getting denser and denser! I even have the feeling that some people in the crowds are students that go to other schools! Please tell me that my gut feeling is wrong."

Yuiko shook her head to say Akane the truth, before laying her hand on her shoulder.

"I am sorry to say this Aka, but your gut feeling is absolutely right. I saw it right in front of me, behind the school building. Students lend their spare uniform to their friends, just to give them a change of meeting the famous idol Seigi Akane!"

"Well, did you do anything to stop them, Yui?"

"I tried KanKan, but do you know how uncomfortable it is approaching these creeps? There is just that menacing aura around them that makes me uncomfortable."

The members of the QMC nodded at that statement, it really was uncomfortable to approach a crowd of fanatic fans if you aren't one of them.

"What should we do? Leaving Aka like this would leave a bitter aftertaste..."

"Isn't it obvious, Touko?"

Touko just shrugged her shoulders, she wasn't in the end to play the guessing game, honestly, she was never in the mood for something like that.

"We will have to hold a party for Aka! Isn't that the only logical option for one of our friends leaving Gakkou? Oh, I already have a great idea, we can do so much, we can..."

From there on Yuiko started to ramble about her party plans, nobody really wanted to stop her, simply because she looked like she had so much fun, this was until she started to set off without everyone's consent.

"There is so much to do! There is so much to prepare! I am going home now to prepare the needed stuff. Bye!"

She took off prematurely again.

"Dammit! Not again! Yuiko, you need everyone's consent from the QMC before we do one of your big plans! Remember? Dammit, she is already too far away, I'll have to chase her if I still want to stop her. I am sorry guys, I'll have to run after Yui, see you anytime soon!"

"Aki wishes you luck! Aki hopes that you catch your girlfriend before it's too late!"

Touko just nodded at Akita's statement.

"Take care KanKan! Don't overexert yourself, we can still change things through per phone, don't forget that!"

Kanna waved back at her three friends, trying to signalize that she was able to hear everything they said. Now the three friends were left alone by their club president and her girlfriend.

"Want to eat ice cream?"

"Aki agrees!"

"We won't buy your expensive vanilla Häagen Dazs though, right vice?"

There was just a little glint in Akas eyes. They were going to spend money on Häagen Dazs, luckily Akane decided to rile in her addiction and they only spend money for one tub of ice cream.

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"Welcome to the QMCs-Test of Courage, presented by me! The club president of the club, I hope you are all prepared!"

Currently Akane, the QMC, her idol group members and Majeta were in a graveyard. They all didn't know how, but somehow Yuiko managed to convince each of them to come to the graveyard. They were all a bit impressed by her skills in persuasion.

"Care to tell us why we are here? I mean after all, we still will see Akane regularly, her changing schools be damned."

Kameko raised her hand and voiced her opinion on this. She was right after all.

"Yeah, and I am kind of her sponsor and all, I'll still see her often enough after this."

"So, will I, because your damn company managed to get a partnership with ours, as well as everyone here. Aka isn't going to move her residential location after all, we still will be able to meet her easily, it's just. Listen, she is going to change schools and this isn't a minor thing, even for a perfect girl as her, yeah, she will be easily going through the process, but this doesn't change the fact that her learn environment might drastically change. So why not send her off in a grand way! You know, to make the memories of her school change a fun one!"

Everyone was impressed by the little speech Yuiko held, she just sometimes had these leadership moments.

"Uhm, how do we decide the pairs?"

This time Hoshi raised her hand to voice her opinion. She was still the shy girl Akane met on that day.

"Easy, I have straws here that I each cut into different lengths in pairs! We pull and let fate decide!"

"So, the classical way of choosing then. Then I am going to start, I wish you luck for pulling the same straw as me."

So Akane pulled first, she pulled a rather short straw.

After her declaration one after another pulled their straws.

The pairs were as followed:

Kameko and Hoshi

Akita and Yuiko

Kanna and Touko

Majeta and Akane

"Huh, it's kind of landed in pairs that we all are already comfortable with. I would have suspected something if KanKan and Yui and Aki and Touko got together, but it seems fate didn't play out that way, huh?"

(Guys, I am not kidding you, I used this wheel website here, https://wheelofnames.com, to decide the pairing and it landed exactly in that order, I have the slight feeling that the website is trickable? ~Author-san)

"Anyways, you haven't told us what the Test of Courage actually is, care to explain the detail pres.?"

"Of course, Aka! As you all see, all of us are currently in the local graveyard of this town! You don't have to worry! I already got the permission of the grave keeper to be here. Anyways, back to the point! I have maps for all of us here, as you can see, we have various checkpoints through the creepy forest that surrounds the graveyard, leading up to the property of the creepy mansion up on the hill, that for some reasons nobody wants to buy! We have to go to the checkpoints I build, stamp our maps with the stamps I set up on the checkpoints and as you can see, meet up back here at the end. Understood!"

"""""""Hai!"""""""

"Then let's go!"

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Majeta was glad, she was glad that nobody noticed how she was practically already shaking out of her boots, but she barely managed to suppress it so nobody notices. The advantages of a proud heir to a company, trained in politics.

Don't misunderstand, she wasn't scared of the superstitious tales and images ghosts had. She was scared that somebody crazy could use these rumors to commit crimes in brought daylight. Well, not broad daylight, but it's obvious what she meant with it.

It was obvious too that the investigations would be obviously carried out in all seriousness, but with the state the police were in and heroes rarely having interests about disappearance cases it was obvious that someone could get away with it. Well, as long as they change location for that.

And if she thought about it, would the police even investigate is such a creepy place like this?

"Hey, Maj, everything all right?"

"Whoa, Akane, too close! Too close! And what was with that Maj right now, I don't remember us having agreed to give each other nicknames!"

"Don't be such a killjoy, aren't we already close enough for that stuff? I'll stop if you don't like it, but you still haven't answered my question. Are you all right?"

Majeta had to think about Akanes words for a few seconds, she didn't want to create the misunderstanding that the heir of the Königskrone company could be possibly superstitious after all.

"Don't worry, I am doing well as I can be in this atmosphere! I was just lost in thoughts."

"Well, you indeed were, which is kind of impressive, considering that you can hold three line of thoughts easily without messing up."

Majeta sweat dropped at Akanes words. Could the girl read thoughts? Could, could she listen to three separate line of rapid thoughts at the same time?

"Don't look so surprised! You know who I am! Anyways, your first line of thought was basically useless rambling and complaining, about why you are here, that you have better things to do, how the hell Yuiko managed to coax you into here, etc. You know what you thought."

Majeta was a bit embarrassed hearing this. It was as if she admitted that one of her three trade routes that could be used for better things was used for useless personal things instead. Something that greatly unnerved her for the fact that Akane could see onto her so accurately, but what currently unnerved her more was the fact that Akane could possibly know what is going on in the other two lines.

"The second line was filled with thoughts about how scared you currently are. There isn't much I can say or help you with this issue, after all this is a real scenario that could happen today if things go very south, but I can promise you on my name that I am going to try to get everyone out of here if that happens. Can't have people important to me get hurt when I am present!"

Hearing this calmed Majeta down a considerable amount, but she didn't know why. Akane was just a young girl, like everyone here is to be honest. She even had it the worst among everyone here, blind and quirkless, of course Majeta knew first-hand how Akane is, but she doubted that she could do much. She was a crippled young girl after all, despite everything.

But there was this feeling that she could trust this girl on her word, no matter what. So, she decided to not doubt it and just nodded.

Suddenly she got kabedond to a tree by Akane. This surprised her greatly and startled her a bit, she didn't really know what was going on. This wasn't an action she expected from Akane. Ever.

"You've been a bad girl, Majeta."

Akane tilted her heads upwards, so she would look her directly in the face. Majeta started to blush intensely at the sight, Akane in her high ponytail look was just so handsome for whatever reason.

"You are an intelligent girl, Majeta. After all, being the heir to a company requires brains, which you obviously have. So as that, I expect that you know that your actions have consequences. So, do you know why you have been such a bad girl?"

Majeta gulped and shook her head. She first thought that they definitely should be way too young for this kind of stuff, then that both of them were geniuses and basically as a result of that, had to mature a bit prematurely. And lastly, she was just a blushing mess that couldn't keep her third line of thought stable.

"I said that I am working with you for your company as a one-time thing and that you owe a dept afterwards. Well, we cleared that, but you are still having business thoughts with me and I just can't think of something that you could give me to continue working with you..."

"...well, nothing but your body. I think of taking my payment in advance."

Was how Majeta ended Akanes sentence in her mind. Luckily (for me), she was disappointed in that regard and was instead met with a 'shh' from Akane and her pointing back at her. She looked behind herself and could see, but mostly hear an arguing Kameko and Hoshi.

"You know what, I feel happy right now. How about this, I am going to work with you one more time if you help me scare all this night!"

Her opinion wasn't important in this choice, Akane would go ahead with her plan. If she wanted or not. But Majeta couldn't help, but be disappointed in this moment. She suddenly shrunk back at that line of thought. What was she just thinking just now?

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Back down in the graveyard:

Most of the group was back at the starting point, desperately gasping for air. Akane gave them the scare of their life. Suddenly the group heard a loud bone shivering scream, coming from the direction of the forest.

It was Akita running for her life, followed by a Touko that tried to calm her down, followed by an Akane that was covered with a bedsheet. That was the most uncreative way Akane tried to scare someone here tonight.

"Aki, just calm down! It's just Aka under a ... bedsheet."

She wasn't under the bedsheet.

"WOAH! How the hell did she manage to make this float like this!"

"Is that so important, pres.?"

"WOAH! Where did you suddenly come from?"

Akane just snickered and held up her index finger in front of her mouth, as if she just said 'it's a trade secret'.

"Who cares, let's just go back to my home, prepare the sleepover and some long and relaxing baths. Some of you guys really need that after the scare I gave you."

Yuiko just pulled her skirt down, along with Kameko. The had rather embarrassing stains on their underwear.

""""""AKANE!""""""