Sakura stared at the clock. 9:01 AM. Class would have just started. She brushed away a strand of hair and leaned back in her chair, letting out a small sigh. How nice it was to eternally be an elite honour role student, allowed to skip class. Her eyelids were starting to droop, when a sharp beep in her right ear startled her.
Miss Sammi looked up from the computer at her desk and grinned at her. "Not used to that yet?" Sakura roughly yanked the intercom set from her ear. "Hurry up and see whether 078, 138, or 569 is calling you."
"It wouldn't be either of them," Sakura mumbled. "They wouldn't call, they'd just speak." She saw Miss Sammi's gaze flicker quickly to her from the corner of her eye. Positioning the intercom back on her ear, she answered the call. "Hello?"
"Flying through the rifts of time," a raspy, electronically altered voice began, "Angels with the gossa-"
Sakura ripped out the unit and abruptly threw it on the table.
"Who is it?" Miss Sammi asked, observing her actions.
Sakura shrugged. "A random creeper thinking it would be fun to call me."
"You're not going to listen to the rest?"
Sakura shook her head. "There are better things to do than listen to him recite poetry."
"Like what?"
Sakura yawned. "Sleep."
Miss Sammi pushed her chair back and walked over to the table, picking up Sakura's intercom. "Look at you, what if this is a call for GCU? If you're not going to participate, you should probably go to class."
Sakura let out a sigh. "Okay, give it to me." She waved her hand lazily in front of Miss Sammi's face until the intercom found its way into her palm. Raising it closer to her head, it hadn't reached her ear before a scream crackled through the tiny speaker.
Caught by surprise, she lost her grip on the intercom. Sakura stood frozen for a second before dropping down on all fours to search for it. Retrieving the fallen device from under Miss Sammi's desk, she shoved the unit back in her ear. "Hello? Hello!?"
"...Sakura. Guess who?"
"Who was screaming?"
"Did you not hear clearly?" The scream split through the unit again, and Sakura cringed from the noise. Laughter sounded from the other end. "Am I making you cringe? How unfortunate." The scream came back for the third time, before dying away into silence.
Miss Sammi frowned, but returned to her desk and continued to work on her computer as if nothing had happened.
Sakura got up and rushed up to Miss Sammi's desk. "Wait, you're not going to do anything about that?"
Miss Sammi didn't look up from the screen when she replied. "What is there to do? We're the Guilun Crimefighting Unit and I don't see any crime here for us to fight."
"What about the screaming?" Sakura demanded. "Are you going to bet on the fact that it's a prank and ignore the fact that someone could actually be hurt?"
Miss Sammi sighed. "Let's be realistic. There haven't been any reports of student going missing, so if that really was a student's scream, it was probably pre-recorded. If it was anything serious the student would have come to us already."
"Well then, can you at least trace the call for me?" Sakura said, holding out the intercom. "Please?"
Miss Sammi rested her chin on her hands, looking at her from above the monitor. "Sakura."
Sakura stood in silence for a moment. It seemed as if Miss Sammi really wasn't going to help her. "Fine," she grumbled. "Where's 078, 138, and 569?"
"There isn't much going on around the school at the moment," Miss Sammi replied, "So I sent them out to patrol the school." She tapped her keyboard and brought up the intercom tracking map of the school. Sakura went around the side of the desk to peer at the map. "It looks like 569 is in the science wing," Miss Sammi said, "138 is in the common room, and 078 is at the basketball court outside."
Sakura fit the intercom back in her ear and headed out the door. Miss Sammi called out to her before she stepped out the door. "Sakura, change into uniform before you go out."
Pausing, Sakura looked down at herself, realizing that she was still wearing a t-shirt and sweats. "Oh." Sakura had overslept in the morning, and had hurriedly pulled on something easy, figuring that since she planned to stay in the GCU room all day, it wasn't necessary to change into uniform right away. She quickly pulled her rumpled uniform from her bag and attempted to smooth out the creases.
"There's an iron in the cabinets somewhere," Miss Sammi offered.
"It's okay," Sakura replied, pulling the uniform on over her clothes. She slipped into the skirt before pulling of the sweats. "I'm going out!"
Sakura headed for the science wing first, as it was the closest. She found 569 pretty easily. A science class was having a competition in the hall to see which group's robotic race car was the fastest. 569 was excitedly remote controlling a red car hurtling down the hallway. As it passed by her, Sakura bent down and plucked it from the floor. With no resistance, the wheels spun noisily on the small car.
"Hey!" 569 called out. "Who stopped the car?"
"5-6-9!" Sakura yelled. "You're supposed to be patrolling, not playing!"
"Oh, hey, it's you," 569 came up to her, grinning unabashedly.
"There's work to do," Sakura told him.
He immediately perked up. "Really? Wait a second." He ran back to the students and put down the remote control and car before coming back to Sakura's side and saluting. "Miss Sam-" Hurriedly, Sakura clamped her hand over his mouth. The rest of his sentence came out garbled. "-miemrrdytuhdowhrvryuhwrnt."
"Shh!" Sakura hissed. She reached up and turned off his intercom before continuing. "Don't say anything about it to Miss Sammi!" She grabbed his hand and dragged off the bewildered 569.
Coming across the common room next, spotting 138 was pretty easy as well; he was the one at the centre of attention.
"何志豪同學! Student He Zhi Hao! Can you help me with this math question?"
"It's very simple, multiply by the conjugate up here so that your steps below are simplified."
"Student He Zhi Hao, can you look over my history report?"
"Of course, put it on top of my binder and I'll look at it tonight."
"Student He Zhi Hao, could you help me translate this sentence?"
"Yes...it says, 'Please submit by the twenty-third next month'."
"Student He-"
"Student He Zhi Hao!" Sakura yelled. "GCU calls!"
138's gaze immediately broke off from the circle of students around him and searched for Sakura's voice. Flashing everyone a smile, he gathered up his books and squeezed out of the common room. "Sakura. 569."
"Come on!" Sakura ran in the other direction without explaining anything to 138.
Behind her, she could hear 569 attempting to explain the situation. "So you see, we're not supposed to say anything about this to Miss Sammi..."
Stepping outside into the sun, Sakura squinted her eyes from the brightness. "Where's 078?" She pointed at the basketball court, where a game was in session.
"Let's go closer," 138 said, handing her his sunglasses as he passed.
Sakura pranced after 138 and 569. Such a student like 078, shouldn't he stand out as much or more than 138 and 569?
"078!" 569 called. "Come out!"
Sakura weaved her way through the spectators. "078?" An odd sensation came from behind her and she whirled around.
"Your uniform is wrinked," 078 said.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Can't you greet people more normally?"
"GCU is never normal," 078 replied. "Isn't that what Miss Sammi always says? What's your mission this time?"
Sakura was about to shush him when she saw that the light on 078's intercom wasn't flashing. He had turned it off beforehand. She also noticed the fact that he had said "your mission".
"How'd you know?"
078 gave her a long look, and walked away without answering her question.
Back in the GCU room, Sakura openly explained the contents of the call and her worries. Miss Sammi had gone elsewhere to "guide" people, as she called her position as a counsellor.
"Miss Sammi has a point though," 569 said. "We don't even have any clues except for one and a half lines of a random poem and three screams that only Sakura heard."
"Any clue is a clue," 078 said.
"Here, genius," 138 said, pulling out a report and throwing it on the table in front of 078. "Some chick wants her report looked over. Does she actually think I'll help? I don't even know her name."
"It's Weng Chu Hua," Sakura muttered, half-asleep on the table.
"You know her?"
"No, it's on the cover page."
"I figured," 138 said. "You don't know anyone other than us."
"Hey!"
"That's because you're completely anti-social," 078 said with no change in tone or expression, the red pen in his hand rapidly marking up the report. "You've barely stepped outside of the GCU HQ since you started school."
"You haven't either!" Sakura accused.
"I can list all the students in the school."
"Really?" 569 bounded up and over to Miss Sammi's desk, taking a copy of the student list. "Who is tenth on the attendance for first year music?"
"Miya Miyuu," 078 replied instantly.
"Whoa!" 569 exclaimed. "What about twelfth for second year music?"
"Park Sung-hyo."
"I can do that too," Sakura insisted. She reached over and grabbed the sheet from 569. She scanned over the names twice before giving it back to him. "Shoot."
"Last for first year English?"
"Me!"
Sakura shrieked the word just before 078 said, "Sakura." 078 threw down his pen and flicked the report across the table to 138. He didn't say anything, but it was obvious he was claiming victory since he had been multi-tasking.
569 flipped absentmindedly flipped open the report and started reading it out loud. "Since the development of the automobile-"
He got no further before Sakura jumped up. "Automobile! That's it!" As the boys' eyes moved to hers, she explained, "These low-pitched growling sounds I heard beneath the screams; I was trying to place them - they're car engines. Cars passing by."
"So if someone is being held captive, they're outside," 078 finished.
"Eh, what are we waiting for?" 569 was already halfway out the door.
The four GCU agents ran out of the HQ, and down the hall, pausing at the closest exit. "Sakura, 138, go that way," 078 decided. "569 and I will go this way. We'll meet as we come around."
"Why am I stuck with you?" 569 grumbled to 078.
"Because you need me to pick out the details," 078 replied without missing a beat. "Let's go."
138 jogged ahead, covering wider ground, while Sakura stayed closer to the building of the school, scouring the premises for evidence of student trafficking. As the two rounded a corner, Sakura saw that 138 had abruptly stopped. She listened - a soft, but definitely feminine wailing sound from ahead. Unfortunately, they couldn't exactly see what was ahead, as they had reached the front of the school, where the roof at the entrance jutted out along the path up to the front doors.
138 held out his hand, warning her to stay back. 138 crept forwards, and then lurched into the open. He stood frozen for a moment, and then straightened. He walked briskly towards the flagpole on the opposite side of the entrance.
Taking this as a sign that it was safe, Sakura removed herself from her hidden position and joined 138. As she got closer, she realized what was up at the flagpole. The sound of a wailing student got louder and louder; yet there was no-one around but the two of them. "078, 569, come to the flagpole out front," Sakura said.
"ARE YOU OKAY SAKURA?" 569 screeched through the intercom. Even 138 flinched up ahead.
"Wu liu jiuuuuu, I never even said anything about being hurt!" Sakura groaned. "Don't give me a heart attack!"
"Sakura and I found something," 138 explained.
And then 078's single word, "Coming."
Sakura walked up to the base of the pole, where 138 was poking around. "It's a sound recording, isn't it?"
138 glanced at her. "Yeah. I'm not sure where it's coming from though." He paused near a patch of darker dirt and dug the tip of his shoe into the ground. After kicking up a thin layer of dirt, he reached into the hole and produced a small recording device. However, even after turning it off, the same wailing noise still came from somewhere else. They both looked up.
"It's lashed to the top of the pole," Sakura said after a few seconds. She almost felt stupid pointing out such an obvious thing.
138 grasped the flagpole with both hands and pulled himself up, but slipped back down. He took a step back and waved his hands around in the air. "Ugh, why is it wet?"
Kicking off her shoes and socks, Sakura started forwards. "I'll do it." Grabbing the rain-slicked flagpole, she shimmied up the entire height easily. Clutching the pole with her entire body, she reached for the identical recording device and gave it a solid yank. "138!" She dropped the device to him before carefully sliding down.
The wailing had stopped by the time Sakura reached the ground. She grinned. "Mission accomplished."
138 twirled the recorders around his finger. "So you wear shorts under your uniform skirt," he said dryly.
Sakura glared at him indignantly. "138!!"
"Sakura, 569!" 569 ran up to the two of them, with 078 trailing behind. "What were you doing?"
"Nothing!" they said in unison.
569 stared suspiciously at them, and 078 looked as if he was going to speak, but he was interrupted.
"Congratulations." Now, the voice that previously only existed in Sakura's memory was broadcast through the recorders for all of GCU to hear. "But you think this is a recording? We can both hear you very well."
"Say 'dragon egg' then," Sakura challenged.
"Dragon egg," the nasty voice responded immediately. "How about we have my friend here say it as well?"
There was a sound on the other end as if the voice had put down the device, and then the ripping of duct tape. The girl's scream filled the speakers. "Help! Help me-aagghokaydragon egg!"
The GCU agents exchanged looks. "Why dragon egg?" 569 said suddenly. But they all knew what it meant; someone was actually being held captive.
"As a prize," the voice continued, "I'll give you the rest of the poem. Flying through the rifts of time, angels with the gossamer wings Who will rise up to the top, and behold all seven rings?"
Ignoring the poem, Sakura said, "Quick, spread out and search!" But they knew, and confirmed an hour later, that their efforts would be in vain.
With nothing to do but waste time mulling over the meaning of the rhyme, the four of them idled in the GCU HQ.
"Ready? Three, two, one, go!" Sakura bent over the paper and started writing at hyper speed. She slammed the pen on the table. "Done!" Looking across from her, she realized that 078 had finished at the same time as her.
"Aw, you guys are no fun," 569 complained as he collected the papers. "You're too evenly matched."
138 glanced at them. He was at the back of the room ironing Sakura's uniform. "Why don't you have a go? We'll make Sakura and 078 do twice as many word problems as you."
"Nah, I'd rather put my superbrain to use solving this mystery."
"Yeah, right," 138 snickered. "Sakura, your uniform."
Miss Sammi walked in at that moment, and everyone froze. Sensing the tense atmosphere, she looked questioningly at them. "What?"
The agents quickly resumed their actions. 569 walked towards the doors with the papers in his hand. "I'll hand in these assessments for you."
"Thanks," Sakura called, her voice muffled as she slipped on her uniform.
Miss Sammi unpacked her bag on her desk. "So, who got fed up with your uniform first, Sakura?"
"Sakura got fed up with 078 being fed up with it so the third person was forced to resolve the situation," 138 said with a serious face. He was shoving the iron back on the shelf.
Sakura grinned brazenly him. "Thanks, 138."
569 came back in a while, holding more stuff than he had when he went out. He put three bags of takeout on the table and handed a thin manila envelope to Miss Sammi.
"What are those?" Sakura asked.
"Club applications," 569 replied.
Clubs were a big and popular part of school life, especially for elite honour role students who could basically spend all day in their clubrooms. and as a result, students cultivated most friendships and memories in the clubs. However, like many other schools across Asia, students were only allowed to join one club.
Miss Sammi turned the envelope upside down and shook out a single sheet and some ripped scraps of paper.
Sakura stood up and went over to her side, easily piecing together the scraps. "It's just another club application form. How rude."
"This one's worse," Miss Sammi said. "Stupid club, who would...ever want to join...why is this handwriting so messy? Join you? GCU?"
"GCU was never a popular club anyways," 138 commented. "Last year we only had three people. Me, 569, and a fourth year who graduated. This year we scored two first year geniuses, so I'd say we're doing pretty good."
"If they didn't want to join, they didn't have to put applications in our mailbox saying they didn't want to," Miss Sammi said sulkily as she threw the sheets in the recycling.
569 was busy removing the takeout from the paper bags. "So I got myself a burger, 138, this sandwich is yours. And I got five drinks, take whatever you like but the strawberry milk is Sakura's. 078, the Pad Thai is yours, the chicken bento is Sakura's and the noodles are Miss Sammi's."
Miss Sammi grabbed her noodles approvingly. "Very good choice, 569."
The paper bag in front of Sakura was partly covering the drinks. She grabbed it and was about to scrunch it up when she noticed the logo. It looked like the Olympic rings, but with an extra two at the bottom to form a hexagonal flower-like shape. Above was the number 7, and below was the word "RINGS".
"7 Rings?!" Sakura exclaimed, almost knocking over her lunch.
569 looked at her, alarmed. "Yeah, it's Guilun's campus restaurant."
078 caught on immediately, as did 138.
"There's no ketchup," 138 announced. "Let's go get ketchup."
"Why? We don't even need ketchup," 569 said.
138 dragged 569 out with him. "Come on, Sakura, 078. Help me carry the ketchup!"
"Ketchup?" Sakura said as they broke into a run. "And you couldn't have come up with something a little more imaginative."
The GCU HQ was located in an isolated wing of the school. It wasn't a very popular club even amongst the administration, and as a result was assigned the least favourable room; the one leftover after all the other clubs had chosen. There were pros to the room too. It was very big, and even had a loft-like second level. But that was the work of Miss Sammi and previous GCU members who restored the rundown, drafty room to the comfortable GCU HQ today. Exiting the wing, they crossed the park to the other side of the campus.
7 Rings. The only restaurant on the campus. "Why didn't anyone say anything before?" Sakura demanded mostly to herself.
569 muttered something incoherent, and Sakura turned on him. "I can let 078 off the hook, as he's first year, although it's likely you memorized the entire floorplan of the school and school grounds." Sakura eyed 078 suspiciously. "But you two are second years!"
"I have low observational skills," 569 told her comfortably, speaking directly.
"And you?" Sakura looked to challenge 138, but he had already wandered off. Sakura rolled her eyes and skipped into the restaurant.
Entering the building, she realized that she had never stepped foot in the other side of the campus before now. Previously, when GCU ate their meals, Miss Sammi usually brought something to the HQ for them, or 138 would cook a few dishes using the kitchenette in the room. There was really no reason to step out of the club room other than for missions. They even had their own washroom.
The atmosphere was bright as students sat with their friends, eating and chatting. The appearance of the four GCU members turned a couple of heads, but the students lost interest fast.
"Spread out," Sakura said. They split up and went to each corner of the restaurant. Sakura scoured her section of the restaurant with her eyes, but found nothing suspicious. All the students seemed normal, there was nothing out of place, and there didn't seem to be anything connecting the restaurant with the poem. Perhaps it was really just a coincident. But did coincidents exist? As she turned around, she saw a crumpled piece of paper near the entrance of the restaurant. Making her way back to the door, she crouched down.
The boys converged behind her. "Sakura, exactly what are we looking for?" 138 said. Ignoring him, Sakura unfurled the paper and smoothed it out on the floor. ANNUAL STUDENT COOKING COMPETITION. Sakura's hopes fell as she read on. Come participate in or watch the annual 7 Rings student cooking competition! The best dish will be added to the menu for the school year. Our principal, Professor Hendricks, will be the judge this year!
138 patted her on the head. "Were you hoping it was a clue?"
"Yeah," Sakura admitted, "but it's just a flyer for the student cooking contest this Friday."
Just then, Ms. Sammi's voice sounded through their earpieces. "GCU, back to HQ! There's a clue!"
Shooting to her feet, Sakura tossed the flyer in the recycling and ran after the other agents. They pounded across the campus, through the halls of the GCU wing, until they arrived at the HQ.
Miss Sammi was waiting for them at her desk, studying something in her hands. She stood up with a worried expression when the four of them filed into the room. "This," she said, holding out a plain disk. "I went to the washroom, and when I came out, this was on the table."
"Security cameras?" 078 asked immediately.
Miss Sammi shook her head. "Looped. I already checked. But I waited until you guys came back to watch this." Sitting back down in her chair, she wheeled over to her computer and popped in the disk. It automatically ran a quick virus check before playing the contents.
A video appeared, dark and low resolution. Sakura had to lean in to see what was happening. A struggling girl was roped to a chair in the middle of the room, her wrists and ankles shackled. She was blindfolded by a handkerchief. The video was only five seconds long - but they had already seen all they needed to see.
Sakura looked immediately to 569 and 138. "You two have been here longer, do you recognize that room?"
They both shook their heads, so she looked to 078. "I don't recognize it," he started, "but..." 078 went to the extensive wall of bookshelves and ran his finger over the spines, until he pulled out a binder that he wanted. Inside the binder were pages of photos of every room and corner of the school. "Some of the previous GCU agents compiled this. If that video was taken inside the school, it should be in here."
569 furrowed his brows as 078 flipped through the photos at lightning speed. "But they all look the same and the video was dark," he complained. "How can we tell which room it is?"
"Stop!" Sakura screeched, stabbing a photo.
"You're right, it's this one." 078 stood back, satisfied. The caption below the photo read:
Phys. Ed wing
Storage room C
Used unfrequently
Key - PE8
"Alright, let's go then!" 569 exclaimed.
"We need a key," 138 said, pointing at the caption. "Even I knew that."
"A key...fine! Let's get the key," he grumbled.
As they ran to the Phys. Ed wing, Sakura stopped by the office and asked the desk lady for the key.
"PE8?" she said. "Just sign in there and come with me."
Scrawling her name on the clipboard, Sakura followed the lady into the office, past the lost-and-found, to the rack where the keys were hanging. "Ah, this one." The lady plucked a key off the rack and handed it to Sakura. "Bring it back safely, dear."
"I will," Sakura called, already falling into a jog. She dashed down the halls, catching up with the boys, who had gone ahead.
"Stay calm," 138 was saying. He was peering through the crack between the doors. "We're getting the key. You'll be out soon. Please stay calm."
"138!" Sakura called, waving the key in front of her face. 078 and 569 parted to let her through. As soon as the doors swung open, they rushed in.
"Freeze!" she heard 078 yell, and she spun around just in time to see a black figure disappear down the hall. 569 immediately gave chase to the person, while 078 and 138 were working on undoing the girl's bonds.
569 returned, shaking his head, just as they finished untying the girl. 138 stood up. "Dui bu qi," he said, "I should have stayed silent until Sakura arrived with the key."
"It's okay," 078 said briefly. "She's safe now."
The girl ripped the blindfold off her face and blinked rapidly, adjusting to the light. Two long braids settled over her shoulders. "Where is she?" she cried.
When 078 didn't reply to the girl, Sakura said, "Your kidnapper got away. But we'll find her, don't worry." She noted that the culprit was female.
"What's your name?" 138 asked the girl. Now that Sakura could see her face, she looked older than 138. She was most likely a senior at the school.
"Koon Xin Yi," she replied in a small voice. "Thank you for saving me."
"Let's bring her to HQ," Sakura suggested. "Miss Sammi might want to talk to her."
Xin Yi was patting her pockets and spinning around as if she had lost something.
"Did you lose something?" 569 was the first to ask.
She nodded. "My phone."
"We'll stop by the office," 078 said, already halfway out the door. "Let's get going."
The halls were silent as they headed back towards the GCU wing. All students were either in class or their club rooms. Stopping by the office, Xin Yi darted behind the secretary's desk and rummaged around quickly, fishing out a phone with a triumphant grin.
The others were in a celebratory mood. 078 didn't look excited - he never did - but he had a mysterious look on his face, as if he was chuckling inwardly. However, Sakura was beginning to have doubts about the whole situation.
The last of the five to file into the GCU room, she paused outside the door. Kneeling, she wriggled a tiny gift box wedged under one of the double doors. Taking a glance at the contents, she slipped it into her blazer pocket before joining the others.
"Good work saving this female student. But the kidnapper still needs to be caught," Miss Sammi was saying. Xin Yi was seated at the table, slurping down a cup noodle. "Sakura, I'm sorry I didn't believe you in the beginning."
"You did it on purpose," Sakura said bluntly. She could see 138 and 569 looking sharply at her. They were surprised at her disrespect towards Miss Sammi, but Miss Sammi merely smiled. "We don't need to catch the kidnapper," Sakura continued, "...because there isn't one."
"What are you talking about?" 569 demanded.
"And you." Sakura pointed a finger at Xin Yi. "I should be calling you Miss Koon, right? Because you aren't a student. You're a teacher."
Xin Yi put down her chopsticks and clapped her hands. "Well done." She undid the braids in her hair, running her hands through them. She looked much more mature with her hair down. Now it was evident that she was closer to Miss Sammi's age than that of a student's. "Samantha, your new recruit is a keeper!"
Miss Sammi laughed at their astounded faces. "Since Sakura is our newest addition to the Guilun Crimefighting Unit, Xin Yi and I concocted a fake scenario to test her out."
Miss Koon nodded at Sakura. "What gave us away?"
Sakura wasn't finished sending daggers to the teachers, but she replied calmly. "First, Miss Sammi's acting skills. She was too uninterested when I got the phone call with the screams. And then the DVD with the video. In the time it took for you to go to the washroom, how could someone have possibly accessed our security feed and looped it before you came out and without making any sound?"
Miss Koon had a good laugh as Miss Sammi grimaced at Sakura's words. "Anything else?"
"The last point is directed at Miss Koon," Sakura grinned, and Miss Koon's smile was abruptly wiped off her face. "When you went to find your quote quote lost phone, you didn't write your name on the clipboard. And although the secretary lady saw you, she didn't make you sign in. Which means that you can only be a teacher. And since you pretended you were a student, I knew something was up."
"You should have said something earlier." 569 rubbed his calves. "I ran so hard after the kidnapper."
138 slapped him on the back. "Xin ku le. 078, you must have suspected something too, am I right?"
Sakura looked at him, also interested in his answer.
078 allowed a small smile. "I knew as soon as I set eyes on Miss Koon in the storage room. Because I recognized her as a teacher, and I know that no one could ever be able to kidnap Miss Koon."
Miss Koon nodded her head in agreement. "Zhou Guo Feng knows me. I was lucky he didn't blow my cover right away."
"Miss Koon..." 138 mused. "Ah! I know. Head of Guidance?"
"The one and only," she confirmed.
Sakura had seen enough to confirm her own speculations. "But the game isn't over yet."
Everyone fell silent, staring at Sakura as she palmed the gift box. Flicking the lid open, she showed everyone what was inside. A small porcelain figurine of an angel.
Sakura's phone rang. The ringtone almost passed over her unnoticed until 569 poked her. Slowly, she dragged the icon on her screen to answer the call. "Hello?"
"Secrets lie untold within the thrones of the kings. Who will listen to the truth when the nightingale sings?"
The line went dead.
"What is it?" Miss Sammi asked as Sakura brought down the phone.
Sakura let out her breath. "Another poem similar to yours. Miss Sammi, someone's using your fake scenario and making some real mischief." It wasn't over yet.
