The Unexpected Visit

16 April 4080

5:56 A.M.

The message had reached Katon's phone the previous night.

But...

He hadn't seen it.

There was a simple reason for that.

Katon had a strict rule.

He went to sleep before 10:00 P.M. unless something genuinely important required him to stay awake.

The reason was efficiently simple.

He had noticed that maintaining a consistent sleeping schedule made him far more efficient throughout the day.

So, regardless of whether he had received a message or not...

He had gone to sleep at 10:00 P.M.

His usual wake-up time was 6:00 A.M.

Except...

Today, someone had decided to wake him up early.

Knock.

Knock.

Katon's eyes slowly opened.

"...?"

Someone was knocking on his door.

At this hour, that alone was unusual.

He sat up slowly.

Without putting on his glasses or checking his phone, he walked toward the door.

Knock.

Another knock.

Katon opened it and froze on the spot.

Standing in front of him...

Was Monika Kagenou.

His only teacher who teaches him.

Except...

She looked nothing like the teacher he knew.

Her face looked younger.

Much younger.

She looked around eighteen—the age she actually was.

Katon stared at her for several seconds.

Then rubbed his eyes, then looked again.

She was still there, her younger version.

"...Good morning, Monika ma'am."

He paused.

"...You look a lot younger today."

Another pause.

"Not only that..."

"You look surprisingly younger."

Katon tilted his head, still confused.

"Could you tell me which makeup you used today?"

BAM!

Monika's fist struck his stomach.

Katon's eyes widened by her attack.

"..."

His body went completely limp.

He collapsed onto the floor.

For approximately five seconds...

There was silence.

Then Katon slowly regained consciousness.

He lay on the floor, breathing heavily.

Monika looked down at him with an expression colder than the morning air.

"...Do you still want to know which makeup I used?"

Katon nodded weakly.

"...I understand."

He slowly pushed himself up.

"So..."

"You weren't twenty-five in the first place."

Monika extended her right hand out of pity.

Katon took it since it's efficient.

She pulled him up without any effort.

"Much better."

Then her expression became serious.

"Now tell me."

"Why didn't you read my message?"

Katon placed a hand over his stomach, felt like he got a question out of syllabus.

"I don't remember ever chatting with you in my entire life.”

"What exactly do you mean by 'didn't read my message'?"

BAM!

This time, her fist struck his side.

"...Looks like you forgot how to respect your teacher."

Monika leaned closer.

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"And don't forget..."

"I know what you and Kara did that night."

Katon's expression changed as he remembered something extremely important after hearing a word from her mouth.

He immediately looked toward the open doorway.

"Please close the door first."

"Otherwise..."

"That mother's boy will come here and create a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings and rumors about us."

Monika raised an eyebrow, understanding his sentence.

"...You mean Kara?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry."

"I sent a message last night saying that winter break starts tomorrow."

Katon's eyes widened, seriously this time.

"...Then the situation is even more critical."

He looked toward the hallway with panic.

"That mother's spoiled idiot is probably sprinting toward my house right now."

Monika stared at him, thinking he's exaggerating.

"...That's oddly specific."

Katon wasn't finished.

"He'll probably think I've somehow managed to make your younger sister my girlfriend."

He paused.

"Especially after seeing you like this."

Katon suddenly looked thoughtful.

"...Or..."

"He might get punched like I did because he most likely will think it's makeup magic."

Monika stretched her arms slightly.

"...Yeah."

"That does sound like something he'd do."

She grabbed Katon's collar and took him inside and closed the door.

"Now..."

"Tell me how I should punish you for ignoring your teacher's message."

Katon coughed, recovering from her previous random punches.

"Dear ma'am..."

"Could you let me drink some water first?"

"No."

"Wait until recess.”

Katon stared at her, pointing the surroundings.

"...But we're not at school."

"This is my house."

Monika paused, remembers her main reason of coming here today.

Then released him.

"...Right."

"My mistake."

She sighed, thinking how much she changed after acting Teacher for three weeks.

"Looks like it'll take some time before I start acting normally again."

Katon nodded approvingly.

"...Looks like it."

"But I must admit..."

"Your acting skills were truly impressive."

Monika immediately grabbed his right hand.

Then slowly moved it.

Katon's expression changed due to the immense pain.

"Let me give you some important advice."

"If you think buttering me up without answering my question is a good approach..."

"Think again."

Katon quickly answered after finding the most efficient conclusion from his mind.

"I always sleep at 10:00 P.M. and wake up at 6:00 A.M."

"So the most likely conclusion is that you sent the message sometime during that period."

Monika released his hand since she believed a little in him.

"...Fine."

"Give me your phone."

"And tell me the password."

Katon presses his injured right hand.

"It's probably in my bedroom.”

"And..."

"It doesn't have a password."

Monika's eyebrows rose out of curiosity.

"What? Why?"

Katon yawned a little since he just woke up.

"Because I put passwords on the important things inside it instead of locking the entire phone."

"It increases efficiency and safety."

Monika looked slightly confused.

"...How does that increase safety?"

Katon walked toward the kitchen.

He picked up a glass.

Then began filling it with water from the RO purifier.

"For example..."

"Right now, you want to verify whether I'm telling the truth about my sleeping schedule."

"If I had placed a password on the entire phone..."

"You might have investigated the other data as well."

He took a sip, a little one.

"You wouldn't want to waste an opportunity like this, would you?”

Monika considered his explanation.

"...Hmm."

"That makes sense."

Then she finally left him alone.

As she walked into his bedroom.

Monika picked up his phone.

She checked the message, then the time.

The message had indeed been sent at 10:15 P.M.

Katon had been asleep, so he hadn't ignored her.

He simply hadn't seen it.

Monika's eyes slowly moved around the room.

And then...

She noticed something strange.

The room was...

Normal.

Almost too normal.

There were no family photographs.

No decorations that revealed his interests.

Nothing that immediately suggested what kind of family he came from.

Nothing personal enough to provide useful information.

Monika quietly examined everything.

Interesting.

No family photographs.

No personal decorations.

Nothing unnecessary.

His room tells me almost nothing about him.

She looked back toward Katon who's coming after drinking water.

He was standing near the doorway, trying to understand her reason of coming here.

Except that he's anything but normal.

Katon returned to the doorway.

Then he stopped as he felt like...

Something's wrong.

The next moment...

Both of them heard a voice from outside.

"Yo, leader!"

"Sorry I was so busy petting #CutiePie1248 that I forgot to check the time!"

The bedroom door suddenly opened.

Kara entered while moving his hands excitedly like a five-year-old child.

"By the way, leader, what type of terror—"

He stopped, eyes widened.

"...Huh?"

He looked around with extra drama.

Katon was nowhere to be seen.

"...That's unusual."

Kara scratched his head, still find it hard to believe.

"I didn't expect someone like him, who considers efficiency more important than almost everything, to wake up when there isn't even a reason to."

He looked around again, just in case.

"...Could it be..."

"He decided to do something crazy without me?"

His expression became drastically sad.

"Leader..."

"So you were a traitor all along."

"I didn't expect this from you."

Meanwhile...

Katon was lying beneath his bed.

His expression was completely dead.

Who told you to expect anything from me in the first place?

Kara sighed dramatically, revealing his good intentions.

"Well..."

"I was actually hoping to watch the Spy Killer movie today."

"It's the adaptation of that serial killer manga you're reading last time."

"I already booked the closest cinema."

"And not only that..."

"It had the least crowd too."

He shrugged, thinking new ideas.

"But oh well."

"I'll have to figure out today's plan with Rurouni.”

Kara turned around, then he walked away.

Straight toward Rurouni's house.

The door closed behind him.

Silence returned.

Katon slowly crawled out from beneath the bed.

His expression had become visibly irritated.

He looked toward Monika.

"...Ma'am."

"Could you please leave now?"

"I can talk to you tomorrow."

"Or whenever you're free."

Monika sighed, rejected since she got no choice.

"...Unfortunately..."

"We can't postpone today."

Katon froze after hearing those words.

His expression genuinely changed.

His shoulders dropped slightly.

His eyes lost their usual composure.

"..."

"...That's unfortunate."

For the first time since coming this city...

Katon Ashford was sad.