At the end of New Year's Eve, students have the day off and then go back to school.

The whole class hung out all day, whether eating snacks at this market, or going to the park to take a photo, or visiting each other's workplaces (at school).

By evening, they were exhausted and wanted to absent, but they couldn't.

The next morning of back to school, Sunny woke both Kiyo and Ryota up and folded the blankets for them both, because it was his turn.

"Time flies so fast, the holiday is over." - Kiyo walked out of the room.

"Yeah, I bet there's a test in a few weeks."

"Are you that sure?"

"I don't know, but maybe it's true."

They'd have to finish breakfast anyway and go to school right away.

When he got to the schoolyard, Kiyo said he would go to the classroom later, Sunny went ahead.

After that, Kiyo went to the mechanical class, the door had been unlocked ever since.

He found the blueprint he forgot on top of the closet, when he pulled it out, he suddenly tripped and hit the wall, and all of a sudden, another path opened up from the wall.

"What is this...?" - Kiyo stood up.

When he walked in there, the first thing that caught his eye, made him unable to believe, not able to get why the school had such a thing.

It was a gun.

The room was filled with military weapons, including those dating back to the Kikyo Dynasty.

Kiyo approached a gun placed on the table, picked it up to see, and as expected, it was a real gun.

Another scary thing is that everything on display in this room is the real thing. Take a look at the sword, very sharp, as if it could stab him at any moment.

I knew it. There's clearly something wrong with this school, from the cover for the assassins to this warehouse!

Ikusaba School is public after all, obviously, it was built by the State. But why would they let those assassins run rampant? This school... isn't it for the survival of the country's talents?

Do other people in my class notice this?..

....

Or should I switch schools?

Before he could answer that question himself, the bell rang. It's time to go back to the class.

Kiyo quickly got out of the place and pushed back the wall, grabbed the blueprint, and ran to class.

***

On that day, there was an Extracurricular activity class, students were free to do things related to their talents, or hang out with friends on campus.

Kanryo was just hanging out with those students from in the beside class, and he noticed that he had to go to the flower garden.

But it's boring to work alone all the time, there's only Genjitsu in class, so he runs out:

"Genjitsu~"

He looked up.

"What?"

"Are you free?"

"Me? I just finished a report on an insect and submitted it, so I'm free now."

"Ah, that's great! I'm in the mood to work, but it's boring to do it all by myself. Or, you go to the garden with me to cut flowers and sell them, so many orders, I can't handle them all... "

"Hmm, is that so. I used to sell insect specimens for extra income, so it's common to get a lot of orders. Okay, I'll go with you."

"Does Genjitsu agree? Let's go then!" - Kanryo pulled Genjitsu's hand.

His hands are a bit dry, possibly from being exposed to a lot of pruning, but in return, it's strangely warm. Fairly white skin.. Genjitsu thought.

And so on until they come to the flower garden. In addition to planting other flowers, the garden has not changed much compared to a few months ago.

The entomologist put his hand down and said:

"Are the bees okay here?"

"They're all good! But I'm still afraid of bees.."

"Sigh, maybe I have to teach you how to not be afraid of insects. Come on, let's get to work." - Genjitsu put on his gloves.

Kanryo did the same, grabbed the scissors, and squatted down:

"Okay! But their stems have sharp thorns, be careful not to cut your hand. Don't cut the thorns, the flowers will be damaged."

There, they fell silent and concentrated on cutting them. Genjitsu was a little flustered since he hadn't done this in a long time.

"It's early spring, it's fine to cut the bush roses, but only 1/3." - Kanryo seemed to read Genjitsu's will.

Ten minutes had passed, and they had cut quite a bit. Realizing that this amount was enough to sell, the gardener stood up and said cheerfully:

"Okay, that's it! There are no pests or diseases, the blooms are beautiful and big, that's enough to sell."

"Yeah, I stop too." - Genjitsu stood up and picked up the flowers he had just cut. "By the way, does someone like you.. ever get bored doing these jobs?"

"Bored.." - Kanryo pondered for a while and then said:

"Frankly, I'm the type that gets bored easily, doing things that are repetitive, and overly detailed makes me stressed out easily. But gardening and flower arranging are fun, aren't they? Being in touch with nature, being free to express my creativity and aesthetics on small flowers like this.. Besides, I have plenty of things to entertain myself safely, but I'm not very neat either..."

Genjitsu didn't miss a single sentence, though he didn't show any emotion, he felt a bit of admiration and saw that both he and Kanryo had one thing in common: the passion for work, devotion to it, and love for nature.

Genjitsu gripped the branch tightly, his voice softening.

"You love nature as much as I do..."

"Is that so? Then tell me about your profession!" - Kanryo's eyes lit up.

"It's just research. I have to go out looking for insects, and then do research on all sorts of things: environment, disease, reproduction, numbers of each species, and more. It's very long."

"That's cool... Some insects are good for plants, maybe I should learn to overcome my fear of them!"

"You should. Wait, why does my hand hurt?"

"Huh?"

Kanryo looked closer and his face changed color.

"Oh my god! The spike has been poking your finger for a while now, it's bleeding!"

Kanryo picked up Genjitsu's branch and told him to take off his gloves.

"It's dangerous!" - Kanryo panicked.

"I don't have much faith in your ability of curing, so... You take me to Kaori's place." Genjitsu grimaced.

"But I can-"

"Hurry!" - Genjitsu ordered.

"Yes, yes!" - Kanryo immediately took his friend to the infirmary.

Ignoring the knocking part, he opened the door directly:

"Kaori!"

Kaori was startled.

"Kanryo and Genjitsu? What's so urgent??"

"He's injured his finger. Can you give Genjitsu first aid?"

"Um, okay!" - Kaori dropped her timid look, and instead, she called Genjitsu in and saved him, with a confident, serious, and focused face.

As I expected, when it comes to curing, Kaori becomes more confident..
Kanryo thought to himself.

After wiping off the blood and disinfecting it, she bandaged it gently.

"It's done.. How do you feel?"

"Still hurts a bit, but it's fine."

"I wish I could make it painless, but I'm glad you're fine!" - Kaori sobbed with emotion.

"Not sure you can. But hey, don't cry, I'm grateful."

Kaori looked up.

"Grateful.. of me?"

"Don't you want to?"

"I just need you and everyone to be healthy, nothing more...."

Genjitsu rummaged through his pocket, looking for something to return the favor, and discovered a lemon candy wrapped in silver bag.

He graciously handed it to Kaori and said:

"I gave you this lemon candy as a return. Don't worry, it's still new."

"For me..?"

Genjitsu then proved it by placing it on Kaori's hand.

"Time's almost up, we should go to class too." - You turn away.

"Yeah.."

So the three of them went to class together.

***

Kiyo also asked Junko, if she was aware there was something wrong with their country.

As a writer and journalist, of course, Junko feels the same, she also wants to reflect on it, but can't because the law does not allow it, and she can go to jail if she dares to publish information that is against by the law that Cosmic Vietnam considers it fabricated.

"About that killer thing... why are you suddenly asking?"

Kiyo avoids talking about who he used to be:

"Well... I saw it on the news. It was common."

"Yea, I see that too."

"At that point, I'm also worried, if future generations become their assassination targets, there will be no manpower for the country." - Kiyo sighed.

"If the censorship laws were loosened up a bit, I might be able to get my message across..."

Kiyo tried to think of who could help him and Junko pass it on to everyone when he suddenly remembered:

"That's right! Nam! Isn't he a graphic designer?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea too!" - Junko agrees.

"But how to not be censored..."

The two of them sat thinking for a while, then Junko said this:

"There's a dark web on the internet, where you can post anything without fear of being noticed by the authorities, well, except for lewd content..."

"I've never been in there.. But are there many users?"

"Pretty much. It's fine to post it, but there's one thing.."

Junko stopped.

"What's wrong?" - Kiyo asked surprised.

"It's about Nam. He often lacks sleep. It is estimated that Nam can only sleep for 5 hours."

"That's so little?! Then going to school is tiring!" - Kiyo was a bit shocked.

"How about this, we'll go to his house, ask about his health and everything, and help him balance his lifestyle, okay?"

Kiyo thought for a moment and then said:

"Yeah, okay. Eating and sleeping like that won't be able to keep up with his job."

From then on, the two agreed to help Nam adjust his lifestyle so that he could improve his health, even though they were not doctors.

Kiyo came to Nam's door and knocked three times:

"Is Nam at home?"

It took Nam three minutes to reply.

"Who is that..? Oh, is that Kiyo and Junko?"

As Junko had predicted, Nam's black hair was still messy, his skin was pale, his eyes were still dark, and he was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and gray pants; All of them gave off a very exhausting look.

Kiyo looked at the whole appearance, didn't know what to say but asked Nam:

"Do you ever rest?"

"Actually... very rarely."

"You know that if you look at the computer a lot, your eyes will be nearsighted."

"Here, I'm nearsighted. But light." - Nam pointed to the contact lenses he was wearing to testify.

"Then it can be reduced, but if it becomes worse, we have no choice." - Kiyo sighed.

"Isn't Sunny like me?"

"No, he won't be using the laptop for long."

"Um, okay. So...are you two going to the house?"

Then they went in. Nam's room is not very neat, the blanket is not folded, the table is full of books, pens, and drawing paper. His computer is off.

"Oh.." - Junko was a little pale.

"I've arranged a bit..." - Nam said.

Kiyo didn't pay much attention to Nam's desk, because so did his desk.

"And what are you doing here?"

"Well... but hey, first I have to ask you two questions." - Junko said.

"What questions?"

"First, have you ever noticed something is not right with our country's policies? Second, both Kiyo and I wanted you to help us with anti-assassin propaganda, but you looked so tired..."

Nam listened carefully and was silent for a moment.

Then he spoke up:

"I didn't notice it when I first started my career. But later on, I realized that I also drew a few pictures and posted them on the dark web."

"Oh, really? I saw some pictures, very similar to your art style, but they don't have watermarks.."

"Yeah, it's really mine. In the comments about them, there are all sides: One side is against assassins and the government, one side is for both, the other side is supportive of the government but against murder. ..."

Kiyo sighed.

"They support it? Have they lost their minds?"

"Actually very few, mostly the third party I just talked about... There were comments from both sides that were cursing me to the face, calling me rebellious to the country, and demanding that all posts be taken down immediately, if not, they're going to hire someone to kill me... they threaten me like that."

When he got there, Nam showed his fear and anxiety. He didn't know what to do either, worse still, he lived alone.

"For someone who lives alone in this dormitory, it's very dangerous to be attacked like that." - Kiyo has some sympathy for him.

Junko heard all of that and then came up with an idea:

"I have an idea: would you like to come over to my house? It sounds weird, but it's better than living in fear in this apartment."

"Over to your house? But isn't Angie there? Besides, I don't want to bother you..."

"Angie has moved to another place, still around in this dormitory. Hey, as for the bedroom.. the bedroom has two beds and two desks, just bring the computer over."

"Is that so.."

"It's okay, I'm strong, maybe not as strong as Kiyo."

How did she know?

Nam needs a few seconds to decide. Anyway, he agrees:

"Okay, I'll pack up and talk to the landlord."

"You're this weak, are you okay?"

"Yes-" - Nam coughed.

"See! Well, let me and Kiyo help you."

In the end, both Junko and Kiyo help Nam move his belongings to Junko's place, placing the computer on the table next to her. Then they talk to the landlords of both parties and that's it.

"Oh, thank you two! I don't know how I should repay you..."

"There's no need to be so gracious. Now then.." - Kiyo turned to look at the bed. "You haven't slept enough again, have you? Now go to sleep, you'll be tired for school tomorrow."

"Yeah..." - Nam coughed again. "But I have to take medicine too."

Junko opened the cabinet and brought him a cough medicine.

"Consume to get well. If it doesn't help, tell me, and I'll take you to the hospital." - She said in a slightly worried voice.

"I'll be back." - Kiyo greeted the two and left.

Nam drank a little and sat for a while, then took off his contact lenses and went to sleep.

It's rare that he slept very well today.

Junko looked at him and thought:

Nam looks really thin, his face is also quite nice with black hair, but still carries heavy fatigue. Maybe from now on, I have to give him the most suitable diet so that he can work..

Junko put her hand on the sleeping boy's arm for a long time, then got up to do housework.