Aerorua

Author's POV

When Alexander and Xavier entered the house, Xavier ignored Alexander and went upstairs. Alexander didn't lag behind and quickly followed Xavier.

"Hey! Xavier… are you really going to Arcane High?", Alexander carefully asked him when he saw him pause.

Xavier's face darkened, when he thought of the person behind him. 'All these wouldn't be happening if he had never mentioned it'

'Sigh… but I was the one who asked', Xavier thought in defeat. This was a basic example of shooting yourself in the foot.

Alexander nervously stood behind Xavier, and wondered if he had done something wrong, he couldn't see Xavier's expression because Xavier had his back turned to him. But he knew that Xavier was angry about how things turned out.

"Xavier-", Alexander called out to Xavier again, he was planning on apologizing but Xavier cut him off.

"Let's go register for the school online, the school term should have already begun. As for the schooling, I already said I'll go, and I'm not taking my word back", Xavier turned around to look at Alexander.

"You're really coming to school with me?", Alexander was feeling guilty, he knew Xavier and also knew what Xavier was up to.

To think he had once said he would help him, only to become the person who was holding him back.

Xavier gazed at the guilty Alexander and felt somewhat uncomfortable, with a sigh he said in a less strict tone, "It's okay, it doesn't matter anymore, now does it? I might as well go now and avoid further complications, the sooner the better, right?"

'Plus she wanted me to go there for some reason…', Xavier's aura turned cold as he turned around to go upstairs.

Alexander stared at Xavier blankly before nodding his head and following Xavier who had continued moving upstairs.

***

The boys had arrived at Xavier's room and were currently sitting in front of a computer looking up Arcane High.

After reading through the information they had found for a while, Xavier left the computer and went to sit on his bed with his laptop.

He had told Alexander to call him if he found anything useful. Then he continued working on his laptop.

Alexander glanced at Xavier once more, he still felt guilty but when he thought about other things, he felt like he had made the right decision, 'At least he won't go running off alone'.

Then he turned to face the computer and continued reading on Arcane High.

The room was quiet and somewhat serene, there was only the sound of tapping on keys, as each person was immersed in their own thoughts and work.

Not wanting to disturb Xavier,. Alexander sat in front of the computer for a long time, whilst staring at the homepage of Arcane High's site.

At the top was a banner, which featured the the scholarship program. Just one tap and it would take them to where they could register.

"Have you found it?", Xavier's lazy voice resonated loudly in the quiet room.

And Alexander panicked before replying him honestly, "Yes I have, do you want to see it?"

"Yeah", Xavier stood up as he spoke, he was about to drop the laptop on the bed but instinctively moved it to the bedstand beside him.

Alexander noticed his weird actions but didn't give much thought to it.

He showed it to Xavier and after reading the conditions and requirements, he agreed to sign up for the scholarship program.

"Are you gonna register here?", Alexander asked as Xavier was about to fill in his name.

"Yeah?", Xavier continued to type in his information, while Alexander continued speaking.

"What about me? Why don't you register on your laptop?", Alexander pointed to himself whilst speaking.

"You're registering at my place?", Xavier was still typing as he spoke.

"Where else? Come on, go use your laptop!", Alexander groaned and gestured towards Xavier's laptop on the bedstand.

"Too late, I've already begun the test", Xavier relaxed voice made Alexander turn to the screen. Xavier had indeed begun the test, so that meant Alexander had to redo everything again somewhere else.

"Come on! I was the one who did everything!", Alexander was not going to let this go, he couldn't let Xavier keep taking advantage of him.

"Just copy the link and use my laptop", Xavier leisurely scrolled through the questions and occasionally clicked on the options.

They were all multiple choice questions, and it might seem easy and non-cheat proof, but it was quite the opposite.

The theoretical questions given were complex and tricky, while the calculative aspect were long and time consuming, the options that were given were problematic in themselves, as they were all closely related to eachother.

And if one decided to get someone to help them do the test, the camera which had turned on the moment he begun his registration, would make it difficult for them to enter the school.

There were a total of six subjects with thirty questions each, and the total time given was, three hours forty-five minutes.

That was why Xavier couldn't leave the computer even if he wanted to. Unlike others who might not have noticed the camera, it attracted his attention the moment it started recording, and that somewhat made him uncomfortable.

Glancing at the camera again, 'How did they manage to get the camera to start recording? And why does this tech seem so familiar?', he thought with a frown and tried to recall where he had seen this kind of technology before.

But Alexander's aggrieved and shocked voice interrupted his train of thoughts, "Really? Your laptop? The one you use for work? I can use it to register for my-"

"Yeah! You can take it!", Xavier cut him off in annoyance. He was on to something but immediately Alexander spoke up, he forgot!

The proud Xavier wouldn't accept it and tried to remember what he had been thinking about, but Alexander would not let him be.

"I don't know what's up with you, but I'm already taking your laptop…", Alexander spoke slowly while standing up to pick the laptop from the bedstand.

Xavier didn't respond as he had already refocused on the test. He decided not to bother anymore, after all, he was going to the place where all these things originally came from, and if there was anything familiar or fishy, he'd find it there.

Alexander sat on the sofa in the room. As he turned the laptop on, different thoughts went through his head but he took a deep breath and decided to calm down.

'Focus, let's focus…'

The laptop finally turned on but there was a password, "Xavier what's the password?", Alexander asked somewhat hesitant.

There was a huge chance he'd have to stand up to give him the laptop but…

"328823", Xavier replied absentmindedly.

'328823? What kind of password is that?!', Alexander was shocked that someone like Xavier would use a password like that.

"Why that password? It's very repetitive and easy to hack into?", Alexander asked curiously.

There was a long silence after Alexander asked that question, but Alexander knew Xavier had heard him because he had stopped the test. "I like those numbers."

'Because he likes the numbers? Isn't that the one thing you shouldn't use for passwords? The things you like? Huh? why is he telling me all these?', Alexander's mind was probably more active than Xavier who was doing a test. He typed the password into the laptop, and watched it unlock.

He clicked on the internet browser and went towards Xavier to get the link, the room was silent as neither party spoke up, and that silence bothered Alexander, or maybe it was what he was thinking about that bothered him more.

"Hey Xavier", Alexander quietly called out.

"Yeah?", and Xavier replied almost immediately.

"Why did you tell me your password and all those other things?", Alexander asked in a quiet voice, and Xavier's reply made him feel at ease.

"I don't know. You asked so I said it, and I don't think there's any harm you can cause with the password.", The nonchalance in Xavier's voice made Alexander relax, as he asked his second question.

"And what if I do use it to cause you harm?"

"Then that would be great, Aerorua hasn't been much fun", Xavier grinned wildly to himself, he wasn't at all indifferent or refined as he always looked, instead this abnormal part of him made him look more free and… normal.

Unfortunately for Alexander, he was behind Xavier and had not seen that smile.

"Are you still looking for that thing?", Alexander asked after a long pause.

"Yeah… I think he has something to do with it, because the information agency's activity has been low since he discovered them.", Xavier had quieted down again and continued to do his test.

He wasn't specific because it wasn't very appropriate for him to say things like that into the camera, plus Alexander knew what he was talking about.

Alexander's hands subconsciously curled up into a fist, his eyes were gloomy and his gaze was dull. "Are they leaving Aerorua?", He asked with anticipation in his voice.

"I'm not sure. Even though we've been working together for a while, they don't tell me everything. I think the owner has trust issues…", Xavier stopped to think then he continued, "But it's more likely they leave Aerorua, after all it's more profitable for them. With that two-faced peacock oppressing them everywhere, they might just leave because their location doesn't matter anymore."

"If they leave Aerorua, how would you find what you are looking for?"

"I won't. I don't think Aerorua has any leads I can follow. I only stuck around so long because I was curious to see how that guy would do. And I'm glad to know I didn't waste my time.", Xavier replied indifferently, and that sounded like a threat to Alexander.

'I'm tired…', Alexander set the laptop down and used his hands to cover his face.

He suddenly had no idea why he came all the way out here. The person he was looking for might no longer exist, or maybe it was just an illusion of his. And the person he was currently with, made him feel like reality was an illusion that might disappear at any moment.

He was melancholic and didn't feel the urge to do anything, but then he felt a buzz from his side.

He wanted to ignore it, but then he remembered it wasn't his laptop. Hence, he stood up and checked it out.