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Shot of Silence Chapter 16: sunshine
"Should we… be worried that those two are hitting it off this well?" Jitsuo sweatdropped. He was among the few students demoted to this class rank due to a drastic decline in his scores rather than bad behavior, just like some of his peers. By now, no one is even paying attention to the gym class or Lillian anymore, including Lia, who replied to their class rep with glee, "I don't know, man. But I'm preparing myself for something to happen." She was bemused by the sight of their Heath-sensei aggressively shoving the remaining contents of the food basket into their mutagenic Homeroom teacher's mouth. “Honestly, I’m not even sure what we’re witnessing right now, but shouldn't we interfere?” Zane sweatdropped at the rapid pace of their teachers’ bizarre and fast interactions. To him, observing these two felt like watching the personification of his last two brain cells at 2 am, counting down the hours to an exam. He found it both hilarious and concerning how, in one moment, the two a
Shot of Silence Chapter 17: Creating The Lines
"Hey, you," calling out the dazed brunet, Henko waved his hand in front of Heath’s line of view to gain the younger’s attention since calling his name doesn’t seem to be so effective anymore, “you okay, dude?” “ah, yes? Sorry, you were saying?” Lips pursed into a line, Henko was clearly unimpressed with his masking, “Is there something the matter, Heath? You've been so distracted since dinner time.” And it’s morning now. A brand new day, yet his cousin looked like he hadn’t even had a wink of rest. Much to his dismay, his intuition was right. Ah, sorry, it’s nothing much. There’s just something on my mind.” Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, Heath offers another smile in hope it’ll make the other less worried. However, unfazed by any of that, Henko, who has seen the exhausted look that the other slips up a moment ago, poked him with another question, “Nothing serious, but consuming your waking hours?” He made a face at Heath, eyes staring straight at the pair of brown, sho
Shot of Silence Chapter 18: The Prankster Hoyden
As soon as he reached the school ground, he noticed that only Perry was in the teacher room. The mutant was comically writing in his planner, like he usually does during his morning routine, when Heath greeted him before heading to class. A yawn escaped his lips as he made his way through the creaky hallway. "Damn, I'm tired," he thought. He knew that Henko had been pointing this out during breakfast, but by then, his mind was still running a mile away. Meanwhile, despite the buzzing alarm in his head, nothing seemed out of the ordinary right now. So, whatever his Enhanced Insight was trying to warn him about, it likely wouldn't happen yet. Probably somewhere around noon, or at the earliest, when his two other coworkers arrived at the school. According to Perry, they would arrive in three hours or so because they had a meeting with the chairman first. "Honestly, the fact that the chairman is agreeing to any of this is—" he paused, searching for the right word. "Sick? Icky?" Well, at
Shot of Silence Chapter 19: Mr. Chameleon
"Sensei, are you okay?" A different voice chimed in, snapping him out of grief as he saw Lia and the two other students behind her, who earlier volunteered to help him clean up. "Hmm? Why yes, Lia-chan. A thought just crossed my mind, that's all," he smiled. "Really? You were so distracted, though," she dragged on, obviously curious but not wanting to make the other uncomfortable. "You can share with us so it wouldn't bother you too much, Heath-sensei," Zane added, looking just as concerned, in which the brunet smiled. 'They're such nice children indeed.' He can’t believe that there are adults with high power out there who dares to taint these children’s innocence just to keep their own hands clean. "Well, It might be a bit disturbing, but since you're asking so kindly~" Heath decided to humor them a bit. "What do you think of Perry-sensei as sushi?" The three students were dumbstruck while the redhead, who was standing behind all of them. "Probably doesn't taste as good as real
Shot of Silence Chapter 20: False Alarm
An astonished expression could be seen in the gleam of the other male's eyes. However, it was not long later that he cleared his throat, “Hmm, that’s good for you.” He then followed up immediately with the formal introduction of the new recruit, cutting short the brief slip of emotion on his face. “Well, Sagara-san, let me introduce you to Mister Orion Conman.” He said, gesturing at the youngest in the room, “He’s been recruited to assist the students’ study from a letter of recommendation from someone,” The man explained vaguely while Orion, just like yesterday, reached his hand out to shake Heath’s hand. “I’ll be in your care, Sagara-san~!” a silly grin adorned his face as Heath took his hand and shook it. Putting aside Orion’s demeanor, Heath noticed that Lillian was giving him a stare from where she stood, not so far behind the young man. ‘I guess they wanted me to keep quiet about yesterday.’ He gave a nod, both to answer the greeting and to the secret agent. Then again, befor
Shot of Silence Chapter 21: Just A Bit Peculiar
"Sagara Heath, quite a weirdo, ain’t he?" Orion remarked as he found himself alone with Lillian in the teacher's lounge. 'Well, I mean, he's not bad, just rather peculiar than your everyday folks.' She ponders before deciding to say something less bold, for she couldn't exactly agreeing with that statement despite feeling the same. "Yeah, He's really not a bad guy, just a bit more on the eccentric side," the ravenette responded, choosing a milder statement. Despite feeling similarly, she refrained from fully agreeing. Eccentricity suits the brunet, evident in his bold fashion choices—different colored undershirts daily and now, hair accessories with feathers and a bracelet adorned with various charms. "I see," Orion hummed, "Well, anyway. I had prepared various approaches for the target," he reported nonchalantly, lighting up another cigar. "I never thought seduction would work. Seems like that punk is also a peculiar one, but hey, what works ain’t stupid." “Hmm hmm,” Lillian glanc
Shot of Silence Chapter 22: Egotistical Seducer
Perry took his leave as soon as the bell rang, stating that he heard someone using the coffee machine and wanted some for himself. The next class was Orion’s anyway, so he left the students in the right person's care. "Er... Orion-sensei?" Nia called out after their new teacher failed to touch, let alone finish off their target. It was embarrassing that he missed his target, but he blamed the fact that he hadn't been given any gun and was armed only with a flimsy special dagger, his least favorite weapon. Either way, the mentioned man was too aggravated to acknowledge the call as he put the dagger back into its sheath. On the other hand, Nia, who kept getting ignored, was also starting to get annoyed. Thankfully, before she could explode on their new teacher, their class rep, Jitsuo, stepped in. "Class is starting. Shouldn't we go back in?" "Class?" he replied coldly, "Oh, right." Lighting up another cigar, he didn't even spare a glance as he said, "Just make it study hall or somet
Shot of Silence Chapter 23: Peak of Chaos
True to his words, Orion could be seen starting to lose his cool, especially now that the students blatantly disrespect him with name-calling. It only fueled the blazing fire caused by the humiliation he gets after the series of failures in his attempt on their target. "Sensei?" Once again, Jitsuo called him. "What is it?" He aggravatedly replied, finally pausing the aggressive tapping on his mobile phone. "If you're not going to teach us anything, could you bring back Perry-sensei? Or at least Heath-sensei or Miller-sensei if he's busy?" It was clear that he's trying not to crack under the pressure, but the way he's disrespectfully staring at the older male made the assassin's gaze slightly harden. "What?" "You know, we've got entrance exams this year, so—" "Ha!" The adult sniggers, "You want that vicious creature to teach you?" His chattering only started, but scowls are already present on the students' faces. "You think your exams matter when there are lives at stake? Heh~ mus
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- Shot of Silence
Chapter 60: Decision makers
“Henhen?”“Hmm?”“What are you doing, man?”“Resting.”Heath sighed as he turned to his right, where the blonde man lay down. “You do realize this bed has no space for two grown-up men, right? Why are you here?”Henko just grinned as he looked to his left. “If we sleep on our sides, it’s possible!”“Haa… geez.” The brunet facepalmed before chuckling. “A sleepover at this age, my dude?”“Sleepovers aren’t limited by age.”Heath sweatdropped at the curt reply. “Can I at least get why you insisted? Aren’t I usually the one being all clingy?”“Yeah, yeah, you are. So it’s my turn now.”“But I’m still sick. Weren’t you the one who told me to sleep early today?” Heath arched a brow, questioning. Yet Henko remained quiet.“?”Not only did the blonde ignore that question, but he was also actively avoiding the topic without avoiding Heath entirely.“Henko?” Heath prompted, concern creeping into his voice.Henko sighed deeply, staring at the ceiling as if it held the answers he was searching fo
- Shot of Silence
Chapter 59: Piles of Options
In the end, towards Agent K’s offer, Heath said that this decision was not his alone, since he lived with his cousin who knew nothing of the I-9 class's true nature. Which is why he couldn’t just put his signature on it yet, thankfully, the smiley man agreed to let him go.“You can just send me an email of it when you have the time. Please consider my sincere offer wisely, Sagara-san. After all, you’ve worked hard when it should have been our responsibility.”His words seemed well-intended, and a bright smile was present, but for a moment there, Agent K's smile looked absurdly evil. Heath couldn’t hide his flinch as he tried to mask the blaring alarm in his head at the sight with his own smile. The juxtaposition of the agent's demeanor with the sinister undertones was unsettling.He had wondered why Agent K switched up so fast all of a sudden. But now he realized why the smiley man, who never seemed to actually smile with his eyes, hadn’t been grilling him further despite the chances.
- Shot of Silence
Chapter 58: Recount
By the time the sun rose the next day, the students were called to get ready to go home as their trip duration was over. Heath, despite still not being fully recovered, had no choice but to pack up as well.‘Thankfully, the fever has dropped a lot,’ he thought. While he was still warm, overall he felt fine, and his core was mostly fixed up, enough that he could check the number of people in disguises around their group.‘At least the government seems to have finally pulled themselves together,’ he mused. It was for the best, really, after their major failure last time.That being said, ‘Lil’ bro isn't here?’ He looked around. ‘No, he's not the only one missing,’ his brief search was, however, interrupted by a call.“Looking for someone, Heath-sensei?”The brunet blinked before smiling with his eyes, to show his emotions despite his mask. “Oh, Jitsuo-kun! Glad to see you up and about~”The boy grinned back at him in response. “The medic told me to take it easy for a while and get lots
- Shot of Silence
Chapter 57: Investigation (pt. 3)
“To be honest, I didn’t think that they were kidnapped,” Heath said, his voice steady despite the strain he felt. When the device was activated, Heath initially didn’t think the situation was that grave. “I thought my students were entangled in a gang fight or something.”“Pardon?” Agent K's eyebrow arched in surprise.Heath scratched his cheek a bit, appearing embarrassed. “My students, they're good kids. But some of them can be… sassy at times. Yeah, let's put it that way. And they're capable of defending themselves. So, um, yeah. I was worried that my students got into trouble, which is why I was rushing. But the scale of trouble they were in was something out of left field. Had I known that they were kidnapped and not just losing a street fight, I would have called Miller-san instead of Perry-sensei.”Heath's voice was calm and measured, every word carefully chosen. Above all, he was not lying. His enhanced Insight had declined the idea of a simple street fight and alarmed him tha
- Shot of Silence
Chapter 56: investigation (pt. 2)
Asher had been the last to go among his guardians. That aloof guy had been the strongest, the ace of his cards back in the day. He didn't know how the man was killed, but Ernesh had been considerate enough to spare him the brutal details. Back then, Heath didn’t have the mental capacity to take in the entire truth either. Asher's death was odd. Being the strongest among his guardians, it was hard to believe he was killed because of a mole. But at the time, Heath had no reason to doubt his sworn brother. Detecting no lies in the man's words, he could only bitterly accept the fact that all the true Veridiania had been wiped out, leaving only him.Out of all the Quadradirmias, only Heath Veridiania and Ernesh Mazzanti, along with his guardians, were left while Umbranox had fallen and Eventidea couldn’t continue either, being close to ruin. Asher's death made him question whether he could carry on at all. Ernesh was the only reason he could see the end of the coup. That’s why his betraya
- Shot of Silence
Chapter 55: investigation (pt. 1)
Heath sat on the edge of the bed in his dimly lit hotel room, the shadows from the sparse lamps casting an eerie glow on the walls. His feverish state was evident; his face was pale and slick with sweat, a damp cloth draped over his neck in a futile attempt to cool his burning skin. Despite the discomfort, he forced himself to maintain a semblance of composure.Seeing his state, Lillian wanted to push back the questioning session. After all, there’s just no way that the searing heat on his skin is a mere facade. Despite her own suspicions, Heath has been nothing but cooperative. Lillian knows herself well enough to know she doesn’t get emotional easily, yet when it comes to this brunet, she always feels this bubbling anxiety whenever the man is not okay. It’s suspicious.This wasn’t the first or second time she felt this way. This is the third time she has witnessed this civilian being hurt. ‘Is it because I’m getting used to his bubbly self that seeing him like this shakes me so much?
- Shot of Silence
Chapter 54: Recuperate
‘I'm so beat…’ and that was such an understatement, he knew.Perry had been incredibly helpful in guiding him to his bedroom per his request because, at the moment, even breathing was a chore. Lillian and her buddies, whom he was so sure would have questioned him then and there, were apparently lenient enough to let him go when he was caught dazedly staring at the wall or the ceiling multiple times. Thankfully, no one really quizzed him about his condition since no injuries were found, assuming he was simply exhausted from running miles.“Heh heh…~” His condition was bad, but not as bad as he thought it’d be. It was actually surprising that he wasn’t bleeding out somehow, but perhaps it was because he’d been training on his own time, and even more after the ambush by the Leilian brothers. Regardless, he found his situation to be rather amusing.‘The recoil.’ He could feel his core cracking inside due to the strain. Just because he knew how to use magic didn’t mean he should have pushe
- Shot of Silence
Chapter 53: Rescued
“Phew, what a troublesome bunch.”After making sure that everyone was unconscious, Heath combed his hair before dusting off his outfit. At first, he thought it would be hard to deal with them, but in fact, he had been overestimating his enemies by a couple of notches. He had expected them to at least tear his outfit, land a strong hit once, or worse, shoot him. But none of that ever happened, and luckily, his clothes weren’t tainted with blood. Feeling a bit proud that he could control his power merely by judging from his appearance, he then counted his victims.‘24 down.’The last three people were not pursuing him.Throb.Scowling as his feet began to move again, it seemed like there was no time for him to rest. His enhanced insight was acting up again, and since he wasn’t in any immediate threat, his second hunch was about his missing students.Throb.‘Don’t just agree with me, gosh,’ he thought, gritting his teeth. He scanned the area once more before mumbling curses under his br
- Shot of Silence
Chapter 52: First contact
"You bastard!!!"No guns yet; it seems like they chose close combat instead. 'Well, lucky me, that would make things easier.'A fist was launched, but Heath easily ducked it and immediately followed with a roundhouse kick. The blow connected, sending the guy sprawling."T-That can't be...!"That last guy had been on the heavier side indeed. He was probably one of their best fighters, which is why this last man standing was left quivering, in disbelief that his comrades were defeated so easily.Well, it turns out, despite his scare, he seems to know how to assess the situation. And now Heath was facing the fearful weapon he had dreaded.The guy aimed and desperately shot in Heath's direction as if it were his lifeline. Which, quite frankly, was not far-fetched.BANG! BANG! BANG!'It has a line projectile, so once he fires, if he misses, he misses.'Unlike some magic that can chase after its target, bullets don't work that way, which is relieving because that means Heath could just move
