Right after Hyunda gave me that specific call and subsequently feeling the transient despair of witnessing my two attempts of calls not connecting to Hyunda, I called Yulia, who immediately picked up."

"Um, hi."

"Hi. I'm done. And I want to meet up with you as soon as possible. Is that fine?"

"Oh wow, that's surprising..."

"Is it? I just want to see my girlfriend but if you are busy then we can meet up another time."

"No, no! I'm not busy, at all! Let's meet up! Do you have a place in mind?"

I already knew that Yulia wouldn't refuse that, but the bigger problem lies in finding Arkalee.

Damn it, Hyunda. You didn't exactly explain the situation with much detail either... How am I supposed to find Arkalee? You said physically too, right?

"Actually --- Scratch that. We need to do something first, Yulia."

"We do?"

"Yes. We have to find Arkalee and speak to her about something."

I wasn't very specific about this since I want to see Yulia's reaction to this nonsensical proposal first.

Will she be fine with it or will she immediately deny my offer?

"Oh... Well, I'm... fine with that. Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about something. So, can we meet up first and then proceed to search for her?"

What?

Why is Yulia fine with this? Actually, that's not something I should complain about.

"Sure. The usual cafeteria?"

"Oki! See ya, love!"

"Yeah, see ya there, love....."

Holy awkward. How do people do this? I could barely spell that. What the fuck? Why is it so damn awkward...

So strange...

Cafeteria.

We both arrived coincidentally at the same time and sat down on one of the tables and immediately started a conversation. Noticeably, I went first.

"Sorry for taking so long. Kawahara really drags on and on..."

This is true. No debate here.

And seeing the way Yulia would react to this would only further confirm it.

"Ugh, I knew it was him...! So despicable, that vile trash. Kawahara and Hyunda are top tier trash cans."

"I see that your hatred for both hasn't calmed down, Yulia."

"Well, it's just not happening. They are the biggest pieces of crap in all existence, so yeah."

Putting her complaints aside, I suppose it's time I get to the topic.

After I sipped my coffee that I had ordered, I briefly talked to Yulia about what I initially wanted to first address.

"Hey, do you want to meet up with Arkalee?"

"Ahhh!! Ah! About that! You see, I wanted to mention something but I forgot on my way here! Weird question but have you ever saw 'How I Met Your Mother'?"

It really is a weird question, but more so, an unpredictable one because I never thought that I would hear that question coming from Yulia.

"Yes, I have. After all, it's still better than watching a way past its prime comedy show that used to have fairly interesting yellow characters..."

What a shame.

I once loved that show.

But now it's just too bad to be called a show.

"Oh, great! You've watched it! Sooo, I've been thinking, and do you remember that the show had a common gag called 'Intervention'?"

"Yeah."

"What do you think about the idea of using it in reality?"

"What do you mean, Yulia? Are you implying that you want to use it on someone? Does someone need an intervention?"

"Yes! Yes, that's it! And the person I have in mind is no other than Arkalee! We will hold an intervention for her, you, and me!"

I think I see where Yulia is going with this.

"For what purpose exactly?"

"Er, it's really simple... I want to use every possible argument that will make her stay away from Hyunda. She's obsessed with him on an unhealthy level... And here is the worst part... You know how they supposedly had a talk and Hyunda apologized for how rudely he has been treating her!?"

I didn't know about this yet nonetheless, I firmly nodded as I allowed Yulia to proceed with her angry rant.

"But, I don't buy it! She's, so, so obsessed with him that I bet he went out of his way to lie to her about it and I also think that he made her tell that lie on purpose to fool me! However, however... This is a good chance, hehehe."

Suddenly, Yulia started to laugh in a very mischievous way while attempting to hide her face with all of her palms...

"A good chance for what exactly...?"

"Oh. Duh, we are going to make her aware of just how trash Hyunda is. And for that, I need your help!"

What does Yulia have against Hyunda exactly... She never went into full depth about it.

"I see. So, what's the plan here?"

"Okay, okay. I need you to help me in bringing down her illusion that Hyunda is like her lifeline!"

Yulia's speaking words that I can't fully process because we are talking about Arkalee. Arkalee, the person who broke into our dorm because she couldn't stand being away from Hyunda.

The person who I am a thousand percent sure sent those filthy simps after me just because I am that troublesome for her, even though I actually shouldn't be.

Yeah, that's right. I do want to meet Arkalee and have a nice talk with the bitch. Fucking bitch thinks she can just send those limp-dick simps after me and get away with that shit.

"So the aim is to break her illusion. I understand. However, isn't Arkalee like way too absorbed...? It's getting creepy at this point."

"I know right!? You know what, I'm gonna give her a call so we can meet up with her!"

As Hyunda suggested, or rather, implied, if I did make the suggestion to Yulia for her to call Arkalee, then the case would be...

"That's weird. She's not picking up."

"Yulia, we should search for her. Physically. Do you know how to reach out to her if we can't contact her?"

It would seriously help if Hyunda just told me where he is because then, I would be able to determine where she might be because her whereabouts can coincidentally be the same as Hyunda.

Jesus Christ, obsessed girls are fucking scary. How does Hyunda maintain his posture knowing that he maintains the very culmination of obsession along his side?

Respect though.

"Arkalee could only be around the school perimeter, so... That's kinda hard... If---"

"Wait, wait."

I just realized something.

And upon realizing that certain specific thing, I immediately took ahold of my phone and started to make a call.

"Wh-What is it?"

"Just wait, I think I know where Arkalee might be. Well, maybe I will know..."

"...What?"

As I issued my call to him, it became crystal clear to me that I didn't know where Ryoken would be yet all this time, in order to progressively stalk him, a certain individual would always know his location.

His methods remain unknown yet they have been on point far too much, thus it would be a no brainer to rely on him at this point.

At last, after a great ten seconds, he picked up.

"Ho? What is it? Changed your mind about my proposal?"

For obvious reasons, I won't mention Kawahara's name, otherwise, Yulia will go on a rampage and snatch my phone away like last time.

"...No. You can do anything, right?"

Yulia looked pretty perplexed at my words, as she probably wondered who I was speaking to over the phone.

"Virtually speaking, yes. I even talked to ghosts once. They are not that spooky, they are pretty chill in fact."

"Okay, great to know. So, since you can do anything, you can like, for example, let's say, tell me where Arkalee is right now?"

"Sure, I can do that."

My mind almost instantly questioned how Kawahara was actually able to do something like this. Like, how?

Just how is he spying on every single one of these people?! That doesn't make any sense.

"Dan, I must say, I thought of you as someone more independent. Yet now here you are making this request. What happened in these split 10 minutes?"

Considering how Kawahara is able to deduct so much just based on a few words alone, I dare not say a single thing about this.

"Look, you know where she is, right? Could you tell me?"

"And why do you need to know her location?"

I hate the fact that he's not flat out denying me but instead, he's attempting to exploit my reasons to he can conduct a particular analysis on my behavior.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Every damn time I speak to Kawahara I feel like I'm being analyzed. What is this!?

"Reasons."

"Reasons? So it's more than one reason? Or did you just say 'reasons' without thinking? Which is it?"

"Look, man, do you know or not?"

"This is so odd of you. You should know that you are in no position to negotiate yet here you are like a drunk gambler attempting to extract information out of me."

"Yeah, well, you technically are too..."

Although I know that Kawahara is probably the type of person who knows a little bit too much out of everything, he is making this hard as he attempts to exploit every single thing by dictating the flow of the conversation.

Meanwhile, Yulia keeps on looking in my direction with extreme skepticism in her face.

I should end this conversation soon then.

"Dan, is that your best bargain? You know that I don't mind giving you her location. I can give you her location in less than five minutes. However, you are not making this worthwhile. The strangest part is; I'm willing to just tell you her location if you tell me WHY you are doing this. Just a few words, that's all."

Honestly, I have thought about just lying to Kawahara and tell him a random reason but my intuition tells me that unless I tell him the truth, he will not budge.

However, I won't tell him the truth nor will I force a lie.

"What? Are you that incapable?"

"What did you just say?"

As expected, upon hearing my taunt, Kawahara's voice tone began to gradually shape itself into a far angrier and sterner tone.

"Nothing, really. I just thought that since you said you could do anything that you could reach reasonable reasoning by yourself without my help. But, it appears that I thought wrong."

"No, that's not the case, Dan. It's just easier to have clues to work around the case. I don't actually need you to tell me. But, as it stands, it's a trade. And without a trade, a deal can't happen. Under normal circumstances."

Meanwhile, as this conversation was going down, Yulia couldn't help herself and finally, spoke awkwardly.

".....Um, who are you talking to...? The conversation seems really interesting..."

If I told Yulia who I was speaking to, there is no way in hell that she would maintain that eager cute curious face of hers right now.

Nevertheless, I opted to ignore her and continued.

"Normal circumstances?"

"Yes, Dan. I'm not a demon when it comes to these cases. If you don't want to tell me then that's fine. I don't mind telling you about her location. However, you should know something."

"And that is?"

"By telling me the reason, I would simply connect all the clues and form all possible analyses and create reasonings to ultimately decipher the truth yet by not telling me, I will make sure that I will get to know the reason as to why you are doing this. What you are hiding; I will know. That's the price you will pay for not telling me the truth. Even so, what do you say? Keep your stubbornness up or be reasonable and give me the piece of information that I want? Your move; your choice."

...Wait.

Even if I don't tell him then he will just conduct himself harder in this, apparently, but, won't he just do that anyway?

Isn't this like a paradox? No matter what choice I take here, Kawahara will investigate the background of my actions regardless.

...

"You just went silent. You must've realized then. Negotiating with me is virtually impossible as I am at the top of psychological arguments. It was a dumb game from you, Dan. Wait 5 minutes, I'll text you her whereabouts by then. Good game."

Leaving those sour confident words behind, Kawahara ended the call.

....

Good game? Really bruh.

"Umm..."

It took me a brief second to come back to reality as I noticed Yulia almost at the brick of my face looking at me in the middle of the daze with eyes of undying curiosity.

"Sorry, that took me a while. In five minutes, we can start moving though."

Swiftly creating distance, Yulia retreated her posture back and spoke in return.

"Can I ask who you were speaking to? I'm dying to know."

Are you though?

Let's see if you really are.

"Kawahara."

"Ugh, what!? Kawahara, out of all people?! How can you even talk to him that composed?! Are you immune to his stupidity?!"

After that conversation, I wouldn't go anywhere as far as labeling Kawahara as stupid. Instead, I just strictly keep on believing that he makes those around him feel more and more stupid than they realize.

Myself included, apparently.

"Huh? But waaaaaaaiiiittt, are you HONESTLY telling me that the person who knows about Arkalee's whereabouts is no other than Kawahara?! Explain that, please..."

"Um, I don't actually know how he does that. But, if you are willing to believe me, he is most likely right. There is little to no point in doubting him."

"Okay... Well, we will find out sooner or later, but... What the hell... What sort of psychopath is he?! Does he keep a track of everyone's locations!? Myself included?! Yours too!? Oh god, are we being spied on?! Is our privacy being stripped away from us?!"

She's freaking out way too much. Where's the chill pill when you need it.

Jokes aside, I had to calm her down.

"Yulia, relax. I can understand your worries, but he's really not that much of a psychopath. Well... I don't really know about that..."

I've been focusing my thoughts about Hyunda's character, but then there is Kawahara, who also transmits a dangerous vibe to him.

The only difference is that Kawahara lets everyone around him know what he is capable of while still being able to demonstrate even further his abilities throughout any argument. Hyunda, on the other hand, does the exact opposite.

He lets the audience believe that he is capable of nothing. In other words, I'm an exception here because I know that he is capable of. I just don't know how much exactly.

"See?! See!? This is why you shouldn't trust guys like Hyunda and Kawahara! They are so freaking scary! You have no clue what they are thinking about... But, but... Let's not give them too much credit..."

"Well, if you say so. Anyway, there is an idea that has occurred to me while this talk was mildly happening. Are you interested in hearing it?"

"Sure! What is it about?!"

"It's about Arkalee. So, I think that telling Arkalee that Hyunda is the wrong person will not work. It hasn't worked previously to you, right?"

"Yes..."

Words alone don't work in these specific scenarios. There is a need for greater intervention.

"So, how about we not rely on the strategy of attempting to let her go of Hyunda and instead introduce her to someone who ACTUALLY loves her?"

"Oh! I see, I see! Daniel, that's a really good idea! But, um, who do you have in mind?"

"Funny you ask..."

Since Yulia was curious enough to know about my idea, I quickly switched places and went to her side, instead of being front to front to her.

Then, I additionally, by placing my two hands on her shoulders, redirected her vision to the public water fountain that lied outside of the cafeteria, and thus, Yulia could look upon the student, who relentlessly drank water without stopping.

"See Tatsu over there? I'm pretty positive that he likes Arkalee. They have even been together as a pair throughout the whole year, until the last exam, that is. Are our chances grim of betting on him?"

"Hmm... I think it's worth the shot. But, how are we going to convince him?"

"Leave that to me. Also, let's go and talk to him. I received a message from Kawahara and her location is now know."

Thus, we left the cafeteria and although Tatsu was already on his way out of the public water fountain, I performed a quick shout of his name, which he recognized immediately, as he turned around and looked at me and Yulia.

"What do you want?"

This is not how you greet someone, but Tatsu, with skepticism and doubt all over his face, greeted me personally and not Yulia, assumably.

Onwards though, I started to develop the lie.

"Oh, hey, Tatsu. Man, you gonna greet me like that? Cold as hell."

"If you have nothing to say, then I will ignore you."

"No, I do have something to say. It's about Arkalee."

"...What? Did something happen to her?"

Oh, you fucking simp. Your queen is mentioned and your mind suddenly goes into this caring mindset. Pathetic.

But, regardless of having these spiteful thoughts, I'll conduct myself nicely, as it's essential that Tatsu gets ahold of the picture that I want him to have.

"Yeah, unfortunately, she's going through depression. She just broke up with Hyunda."

"They were in a relationship.....?"

Suddenly, I almost unconsciously pulled out a hysterical laugh unknowingly yet my will was strong enough to not let loose of it just like that.

In other words, given that this is too funny for me, I need to end this quickly before I accidentally decide to roll on the floor and laugh at this simp's attitude. It's so fucking hilarious how he just went from being stone-cold to this caring guy in a matter of seconds.

Peak comedy.

"Yeah, they were. Also --- I was wrong about something. It wasn't Arkalee that broke up with Hyunda. Hyunda broke up with her. The guy is just awful. Isn't that right, Yulia?"

"Yup! Hyunda's terrible and he treated Arkalee badly! She deserved better..."

While I'm glad Yulia gave me the necessary back-up, unlike me, she definitely wasn't pulling out a lie, but rather, pulling out the punches against Hyunda.

"Where is Arkalee?"

"So you want to meet her, Tatsu?"

I mean, you just asked that question clearly. I do understand that I'm being Captain Obvious right now, but I just need to make sure that the simp has made up his mind.

Quick, your princess is suffering from depression and without your absolutely necessary presence, she might just fade into oblivion due to her dark obscure thoughts of sadness!

"Yes. I need to talk to her. So, answer me this. Where is she?"

"Simmer down, man. We are going to meet her. Come along. She's not far."

"Thanks, Daniel. I appreciate it. You did a great job of telling me this valuable information."

Oh no.

Don't actually treat me with respect. Not when I literally just lied to you.

Otherwise, I'll actually lose it.

In the end, as we three went to the supposed location, Yulia leaned on my left ear and whispered something to me.

"I was going to say that lying is something that you shouldn't do, but it worked out pretty well! Tatsu actually cares for Arkalee, unlike Hyunda, so I'm super duper excited to see how this is going to play out!"

Yulia's excitement is something that I just can't comprehend myself.

No, don't get me wrong. I can actually comprehend why she's feeling the way that she's feeling but from my perspective, this is all meaningless and fruitless.

If Arkalee actually manages to stay under my sight until 7 pm successfully, then I will throw a party at myself for achieving such an impossible inhumane task in the first place.

Not wanting to feel like I didn't care for what she had just said, I whispered something back as well.

"See, this is what I was aiming for. If Tatsu demonstrates a more caring attitude towards Arkalee than Hyunda, then I'm sure that Arkalee will feel loved."

No, I strongly doubt this. I don't know what Hyunda did to her, but I just have this sensation that everything that I am doing when it comes to trying to warp Arkalee away from Hyunda will just grandly fail.

However, I am doing this to supposedly stall for time and drag Arkalee on and on until Hyunda is finished with his business.

Speaking of which, I wonder what he is doing right now...

"Um, Tatsu, you know, Arkalee might still not be over Hyunda, so you should really, really insist a lot with her! Her fragile feelings do deserve to be rewarded!"

Yulia's making a huge deal out of Arkalee's feelings and while I do agree that they are indeed fragile, this importance that she gives Arkalee is pretty flattering.

"I got it... By the way, do any of you know the details? Since... when have they been in a relationship...?"

"...."

Yulia and I didn't answer back because we didn't actually know the details of his questions.

Nevertheless, Tatsu, submerging into a swift depression and feeling helpless over the lie that I told him, quickly griefed about the thought of already having his crush taken away from him. 

He couldn't lie about his intentions, as he kept on looking down within each step.

As for the location itself, we had finally arrived at it. 

At the top of the mall, stood a viewpoint that had a supreme standpoint that served the purpose of being able to gaze upon the whole school's body from here.

That's right, as we speak, this is the ultimate north position of the school and from here, or rather, through the fixated binoculars, nothing is unperceivable to you, as long as you use them.

And certainly, a certain girl was using them quite furiously as she couldn't stop muttering to herself the same three words over and over.

"Where is he, where is he, where is he, where is he, where is he, where is he, where is he..."

By all means, this was not a clear demonstration of depression. That itself was clear to anyone who would come here and just witnessed Arkalee ramble on and on about Hyunda's whereabouts while obsessively attempting to track down his location by using all the available binoculars and telescopes.

Additionally, she was also trying to reach out to him by calling him through her phone and texting him yet to no success.

Hyunda. How the hell do you expect me to keep a monster like this busy?

"Arkalee..."

Reluctantly, Yulia was the first one to approach Arkalee, who was not even aware that we were actually here, most likely.

Following Yulia's movements, I subsequently stepped up as well, along with Tatsu, who looked in anguish from the look on his face.

Approaching the viewpoint's edge, Arkalee finally noticed all three of us.

"Oh... Oh.... Oh. You guys are here. Okay. I need your help. Could you please help me? It's really, really urgent, but like, really urgent. I'm really losing my mind here so like, um, help me out, okay?"

Arkalee tried her best to perform a smile and even going as far as spinning around while clasping her hands with a happy attitude, but to me, and from the way that she spoke, she looked exactly like a drug addict that hadn't gotten a taste of her medicine in a very long time.

"Arkalee, what's wrong?"

Worried, Tatsu asked Arkalee that question with brim confidence, as his previous anguish was completely gone now.

"Tatsu... You are here!! You're here! Perfect, perfect! I need you!"

"Oh... You... do?"

And now, she firmly grasped Tatsu's hands with her own hands and adjoined them, just to play with his emotions.

"Yes! Yes, I do! Can you do me a favor?! It's really, really important! Ah, but I already said that, so you SHOULD already know that, hahahahaha!!"

My god, what am I watching?

Yulia's worried expression is by far the most logical thing here right now. As for me, this is oddly fun, so I'll keep my silence for now.

".....What?"

"Um, so here is the deal. It's really simple. Simplicity. It's not difficult. I just need you to find a certain person for me. Now, here is something that you need to know. This person is incredibly smart and considering how persistent I am and how observant I am, the very fact that I am not able to track him down despite all my work should honestly just go to show to the world how brilliant he is! Which is why, um, find Hyunda, for me. Okay, thanks. Get going now! Bye-bye!"

With that whole speech just now, I could tell immediately that Arkalee isn't trying to hide away the fact that she's been unsuccessful in finding where Hyunda is.

The biggest question is, how exactly did you even get away from her in the first place? Considering Arkalee's leech-like behavior, it should be humanly impossible to get her off you yet you somehow did it you clever bastard.

More importantly, though, Tatsu was about to deliver his answer to Arkalee, after having a long session of thinking to himself about whether or not he should obey his queen's decree.

"....I'm not doing it..."

"Hm? Why? What's wrong, Tatsu? Why won't you do me just this one favor? Did I do something bad? What's wrong, please tell me!"

"Arkalee, you are not alright..."

Yeah, Tatsu, I think that out of the four of us, the only one who isn't aware of that is Arkalee herself.

"No. What? What are you talking about? I am perfectly fine. I am just having a little trouble. Which is why I need your help."

"Arkalee, you haven't been yourself lately. Ever since you have gotten around with that bastard, you have lost your kindness and... sincerely, I don't like it."

Oh?

Wait, could it be...? Is the simp revolting!? They have free will!?

"Okay. Sure. Fine. Yulia, can you look for Hyunda? Actually, it's better if I just ask if any of you has seen him because I sure hell haven't! So, have y---"

"Arkalee, face the damn situation already! He doesn't love you back! Stop acting like such a little bitch!"

And Tatsu snapped.