千寻影视

He could feel an unbearable headache and he started massaging his temples.

Standing up, his body pushed itself on the wall.

The world seemed to spin.

A sense of vertigo washed over him.

"Fuck…"

And as soon as his senses started coming back…

"Ukhhh…"

His stomach started churning.

"Ugkk…"

His gag reflexes started acting up. But he persisted and tried to fight off the feeling.

"Blergh…!"

But it was to no avail as he started puking profusely on the floor.

"Blergh!"

This continued on for the next few minutes until he could finally fight against the vertigo.

"Hoo… Motherfuck—"

He then realized something.

Wiping the puke residue off his lips, he retrieved his phone with his other hand.

Checking his phone, it was currently 4:00 AM.

And his eyes went wide open as he saw the text below it.

[Monday, September 5.]

It was the day of the festival.

And he had to be at the Academy before 8:00 AM.

"Fuck."

He cursed under his breath.

At that, Brandon immediately rushed towards the door.

Clank! Clank!

"Fuck… Smith, let me out!"

Smith's voice echoed from below shortly after.

"Twist the lock, idiot."

"Oh."

Clank!

The door abruptly opened and Brandon immediately rushed down the flight of stairs.

Bang!

He stumbled down and crashed against the wall.

"Fuck—Ugkkk!"

His gag reflexes started acting up again. But he fought back against it and rushed out of the hallway.

His world continued to spin. But eventually he found his way to the tavern's main area.

Looking ahead, all eyes fell on him and he continued wobbling around.

His gaze eventually landed on the bartender who stood at the counter.

With his hands on his forehead, Brandon nodded at him.

"Thanks, Smith."

Clink!

Brandon tossed a gold coin on his desk.

"The drinks are ten gold coins. Hey…!

Heading for the exit, Brandon flashed his middle finger.

Smith did so as well and cursed.

"Fuck you too."

Brandon then left shortly after.

*

Arriving at the Academy, it was 7:45 AM.

The students had all lined up and the parade was about to start.

Looking around, his gaze eventually landed on Amelia who was holding a bunch of documents.

He hadn't taken a shower at all.

"Fuck it."

But his duties were more important.

His symptoms were slightly better than they were a few hours ago.

But he could still feel a migraine aching in his head.

Paying no heed to it, he then made his way towards Amelia.

In the midst of his steps, he almost tripped but was caught by Amelia who looked at him with a worried gaze.

"Careful."

"What happened? You're almost late."

"...Sorry."

Amelia then covered her nose and knitted her brows.

"Have you been drinking?"

"...No."

"Haa… Just get into position. Let's see."

She peered down on the documents in her hands.

"Checkpoint number six. The last checkpoint."

"..."

So this meant…

"Run."

He had to rush towards the last checkpoint…

All while having a hangover.

"Haa…"

He took a deep breath.

Channeling mana in his legs, Brandon closed his eyes.

"What are you—"

Tzz—

And he sprinted, leaving sparks of blue lightning in his trail.

He continued sprinting without sparing a single glance at the students who looked at him back with a skeptical expression.

"Ukhh!"

He started gagging again but he fought against it.

A burning sensation rushed towards his stomach.

"Fuck."

But yet again, he persisted.

It took about twelve minutes as he took pauses in between. But eventually he had finally arrived at the final checkpoint.

"Haa… Haa…"

Taking deep heavy breaths, Brandon supported himself with a wall.

"Ugkkk…!"

Another sense of vertigo washed over him.

But since no one was around,

Then…

"Blergh…!"

He puked on a bush nearby.

And once again, this continued on for the next few minutes.

Supporting himself on the wall, Brandon blankly stared at the ground.

The vertigo washed away and his stomach stopped churning.

Lifting his head up, Brandon stared at the sky and took a heavy breath.

"Haa…"

Wiping the puke residue off his mouth he looked ahead.

The parade had already started but it seemed like they were still quite far from where he was.

"Good, no one saw—"

"What was that?"

He stopped mid sentence as a familiar figure appeared before him.

Her long dark purple hair cascaded down her shoulders and her blue eyes met his gaze.

"Evelyn… What are you doing here?"

"I'm the Professor assigned for this checkpoint."

"Right, Amelia did debrief that…"

Scanning his face, Evelyn opened her mouth.

"So… What was that about?"

"What was what?"

Brandon played dumb.

But then she covered her nose with a handkerchief.

"You smell…"

"Smell… Good?"

"You've been drinking."

"No."

As Brandon denied her suspicions, Evelyn shook her head and took a step back.

"I didn't expect that from you."

"Then stop expecting—"

"No, I didn't mean it in a bad way… I'm glad."

Brandon's eyes lit up as soon as those words left her mouth.

Evelyn continued.

"You really are a teenager. I'm glad you're finally acting your age."

"..."

This…

Was that how the others saw it as well?

Was he just putting everything on his plate…?

"I…"

"I won't tell anyone. But get some rest after this, okay?"

"...Thank you."

***

Bang!

A loud banging sound echoed in the air as a variety of confetti scattered in the air.

Dozens of flags stood tall on each side as the student's assigned gripped the pole tightly.

The parade had finally kicked off.

Students had lined up with their classes and continued walking ahead.

At the front were the seniors who were playing drums and started chanting the Astrea Academy hymn.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The sound of drums rang and was followed by the sound of trumpets being blown.

"H-hey, stop pushing."

"Move…!"

"Fuck."

It had only been two minutes and there were already several complaints.

"Everyone…! Give space!"

The leaders assigned to each class would then intervene whenever a small conflict arises.

Since Brandon wasn't present, the one who stepped up and took the mantle was none other than Raven.

Unlike the other classes, their classes were united.

Raven didn't have to do as much as he thought he would.

"Hehe."

He laughed at the thought.

"Do you know where Brandon is?"

A familiar voice reached his ears.

Turning around, what met his sight was Rachel who looked back at him. Seeing her curious gaze, Raven answered.

"I think he's at the last checkpoint."

"Oh, I see. No wonder he ran."

"Yeah, I wonder why he's late though."

Rachel didn't know either.

What she only knew was that Brandon wasn't home the entire day.

But she dismissed her thoughts.

Whatever he was up to was none of her business.

Ever since the start of the preparations, Brandon was arriving home less and less.

The last time they were alone together was a little over two months ago. July to be exact.

Whenever she would try to visit their apartment, Brandon was never there.

It was like that during the weekends too.

Rachel pouted at the thought.

She had no chances of ever asking him to explore the festival together.

But…

Today,

Hopefully.

She could finally ask him out.

Rachel then smiled.

Right.

There was no need to rush.

Brandon was here to stay.

They lived close by too.

There would be a lot of chances to approach him.

With such thoughts, Rachel looked ahead.

For now, she had to focus on the parade.

She also had duties to attend to once their maid cafe starts its operations.

As soon as she finishes her duties, then she could ask him out.

"I hope he'll accept…"

She muttered under her breath.

This festival…

She wholeheartedly looked forward to it.