The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

“We’re not just defending you, Poppy. It’s more about that woman was going too far. I can’t help myself to stop ignoring her.” Emma answered. “We can take care of future matters later. But now I feel relieved that you are no longer her assistant.”

“He’d probably have a lot of trouble doing everything herself.” Poppy sighed. “Thanks for saving me, guys. Finally, I’m free from Ms Tania.”

As they expected, Ms Tania was trying to make it difficult for the three girls to score. But luckily, Emma and her two friends had been practising so often that they had become adept at mastering some of the moves. This made Ms Tania very upset.

Once the ballet class was over, as usual, the three girls would shower in the campus shower room.

“Are you guys going straight home after this?” Poppy asked while drying her hair.

Emma, ??who had finished cleaning up, shook her head, “I’ll continue my coursework with Calvin.”

“I went straight home,” Rachel answered.

“Oh, Rachel. You’re not working part-time anymore, are you?” Poppy asked.

.....

“I still work a few days but not as much as usual. That’s why I have more free time.” The tall girl answered.

“That’s good. Working too much will have a bad effect on your health. You should give your body a break.” Poppy said.

“Girls, looks like I have to go now,” Emma said by glancing at her watch.

“Oh.. You’re done, huh?” Poppy looked at Emma in the mirror.

Emma nodded as she looked at her phone, “Calvin said his business will be finished soon.”

“Okay then, Emma. See you tomorrow.” Poppy said.

After saying goodbye to her two friends, Emma immediately went over to Calvin, who she could guess was in the old radio room.

Emma stood in front of the room’s door before taking a deep breath. Then she knocked on the door and opened it. However, the room turned out to be empty. It seemed that Calvin and Jita Kyoei were done with their meeting.

“Why did you come here, Emma?”

The sound made Emma jump in surprise and turn around. Calvin smiled kindly at her.

“Ah.. I thought you were still here,” Emma answered by closing the door again.

Calvin shook his head, “We’re just done. You should just go straight to the cafe. Luckily, I realized I left my stuff here.”

“Then you can take it,” Emma opened the door again.

“Thanks,” Calvin said as he entered the room. Emma followed behind him.

“Oh.. What is it?” Emma saw a paper folded into four parts. It looked like the paper was large. That was the stuff Calvin had left behind.

“Ah.. This is a map.” Calvin answered by opening his backpack.

“A map? May I see it?” Emma asked. She had a feeling about it.

At first, Calvin seemed to think about giving the thing to Emma. But he shrugged by handing the map to her.

Emma smiled, “Thanks.” she said as she opened the map, “Wow.. This is cool. Is this a building floor map?” she asked, scanning the paper carefully. In fact, she already knew that it was a map of RJC’s headquarters with just a few seconds of staring at it. But she was just pretending to be innocent.

“You’re right. It’s a map of a building.” Calvin nodded.

After finishing studying it, Emma returned the paper to Calvin, “Did you guys make it?”

“It was Frank,” Calvin replied.

“Frank? He’s cool,” Emma muttered.

“You think so?” Calvin seemed curious about Emma’s opinion.

“Well.. He looks reliable but never voices it. I think people who hide their prowess are cool.” Emma said as she walked out of the room.

“H-how do you see me?” Calvin asked directly.

“Sorry?” Emma turned around.

Calvin looked at Emma deeply, “What do you think of me? May I know that?”

“Eum..” Emma blinked a few times. Why did if Calvin asked like that, then she got confused? She rubbed the trunk of her neck and began to think, “You.. I think.. you are kind and friendly.”

Calvin smiled faintly, “Is that all? Kind and friendly?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. You make me confused if you suddenly ask like that.” Emma replied.

“Did I? Sorry then.. if I have confused you,” Calvin stepped out of the room and closed the door, “I hope you like nice and friendly men too.”

“There’s no one that doesn’t like nice and friendly people, I think,” Emma replied by paralleling her steps beside Calvin.

“I know. But aren’t there too many people has that image? So that doesn’t make it special.” He looked disappointed even though his lips were smiling.

“You’ve always been a special person to me. You should know that.” Emma said.

Calvin smiled and nodded. ‘But I don’t feel it, Emma.’ he said in his heart.

***

At home, Emma thought alone. She was checking the assignment she had done with Calvin this afternoon in the quiet campus cafe. She suddenly thought of what had happened earlier, when Calvin asked what Emma thought about him.

In fact, Emma could always easily judge other people even though she never said it out loud. But in her entire life, it was only Calvin who asked her about it directly. For some reason, Calvin’s question immediately made her brain feel like shut down.

“Calvin makes my feelings uncomfortable until now. Looks like I’ll have to consult Poppy about this tomorrow. She’s a feeling expert.” Emma said to herself.

Once her coursework was over, Emma finally did what she had been planning. The thing that made her rush to finish her assignment.

She still clearly remembered the map she had seen earlier. It was not a well-crafted map, but an attack strategy.

She didn’t know where Calvin and his friends could get a map of RJC’s headquarters. However, Emma, ??who had entered the base several times, could recognize the pattern of the building even from a floor map. Although the paper did not show details of the location of the rooms, it was sufficient to describe where the core spots of RJC’s headquarters were.

On the map, there could be seen several X’s which had crossed out the front door, back door, and second-floor window near the outer emergency stairwell. Emma could read that Jita Kyoei’s group would enter from these points. They also outlined where the emergency stairs were located in the building.

“Why are they still fighting?” Emma muttered as she leaned back weakly on the back of her chair.

Suddenly, Emma’s cell phone rang. She immediately raised her head again and grabbed the phone from the table, “Rachel?” Then she pressed the green symbol on the screen of her phone and put it to her ear, “Hello?”

“Hi, Emma. Am I bothering you?” Rachel asked from across the line.

Emma shook her head, “No, Rachel. What’s wrong?”

“Thank God. Are you.. at home now?”

Emma nodded, “I am. Did something happen?”

“Ah..” Rachel chuckled awkwardly, “Actually, I was thinking of coming over to your house if you don’t mind. Is that okay?”

“Of course, you can, Rachel. I’d love it if you came here.” Emma answered with raised eyebrows.

“Thank you.” Rachel said. “I happened to be in front of your house. Can you come out and open the door for me?”

“What? Are you outside already?” Emma asked as she got up from her seat and immediately walked out of the house. She couldn’t believe what Rachel was asking.

As soon as she left the door of her house, Emma stepped over to the fence and opened it. Outside, she found a girl with a helmet sitting on a dark blue motorbike. Then she chuckled, “I don’t regret accepting Marcel’s offer,”

Rachel laughed along, “May I come in?”

“Of course, Tiger,” Emma answered by pushing the big fence open a little wider.

Rachel started the engine again and rode her bike inside. Then she parked it in Emma’s garage, next to the girl’s jet black motorbike.

“I can’t believe you modify it so quickly. Did you take it to the detailing shop?” Emma asked as she walked in.

Rachel shook her head and sat down on the sofa after taking off her leather jacket, “I did the detailing myself.”

Emma’s eyebrows shot up, “You did? Gosh, you’re awesome, Rachel. I thought you were only good at fiddling with machines.”

“While fiddling with the engine, I studied detailing and modification. Therefore, this bike is actually a good experimental object. Thank you for accepting the offer from Marcel, Emma. The bike’s highly useful for me.”

“There’s no need to thank me, Rachel. You overly deserve it. For what you’ve done for their group, it’s still underwhelming.” Emma said as she stepped out from behind the kitchen counter and walked over to Rachel with two hot drinks in her hands. “By the way, why did you suddenly come here?”

“I have a feeling that something isn’t right. Are my assumptions correct?” Rachel asked with a serious face.

“Oh.. About my face today, huh?” Emma guessed, ??smiling faintly with her eyes staring at the two glasses she placed on the guest table.

Rachel nodded, “That wasn’t about the coursework, was it?”

Emma let out a long sigh, “You’re right, Rachel. It’s not a college assignment. It’s a matter that is still related to our last mission.”

“I thought so. What happened, Emma?”

But Emma looked at Rachel meaningfully, “But, Rachel. This matter has nothing to do with the Chingsu District or anything within it. So.. I can say that it has nothing to do with you anymore.”

Hearing Emma’s words made Rachel frown, “So.. you mean that I have no right to intervene anymore?” she asked carefully.

“It’s not that you have no right, Rachel. But you don’t have to burden yourself with these problems anymore.” Emma answered quickly.

Rachel could see the look of desperation on Emma’s face. She indeed understood what Emma was thinking, and she wanted to set things straight. “Emma, ??listen to me.” She stared at her best friend as she gripped her shoulders.

.....