“You're joining the hockey team? How brutish,” the woman stated.

The three men stopped in their tracks, Gillian looking obviously flustered and in distress. His voice was shaking as he spoke. “H-Hi, Anneliese… What are, um, you doing here?” he asked the woman, wringing his hands together.

Antonio raised an eyebrow as he glanced between Gillian and the girl, Anneliese. She was dressed elegantly in a long white skirt and a purple blouse. Her hair was straight and raven-dark, reaching her waist though part of it was pulled out of the way into a small bun. She had dark brown eyes and her jaw was set in a firm frown. There was a small beauty mark beneath her right eye. The woman had an air of confidence and pride around her that was hard to ignore.

Anneliese raised an eyebrow. “I go to school here, Gillian. You know that,” she said flatly, though Antonio could pick up the faintest hint of amusement as her eyes glimmered.

It didn't seem that his friend could pick up on it though. He only seemed to grow more flustered and embarrassed by the moment. “R-Right, right. I knew that. I meant, here, on this sidewalk, going in this direction, at this exact moment.”

Without saying a word, she held up the violin case in her hand. “I have lessons.”

Gillian laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he averted his gaze, shuffling his feet. “Of course, of course,” he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair with a small huff. This seemed...different than his normal fear of women.

Before awkward silence could fall over the area, Christopher turned to Anneliese, sweeping his arm over his stomach and bowing. “My lady, I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting, and my friend and I,” he said with a nod to Antonio, “don't quite know who you are, nor your affiliation with our friend.”

Anneliese stared at Christopher for a few moments, her eyes quick and calculating as she took in the trio. She nodded. “I can spare a few moments…” she murmured, almost to herself. “We had our math course together last semester. For some reason, we seem to keep running into each other.” Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully before she shook her head. “Anyways, I really must be going before I'm late,” she stated, walking past them. “It was nice to meet you.” She paused, glancing back over her shoulder. “And it was nice to see you again, Gillian,” Anneliese added before heading off down the sidewalk, pausing at a crossroads before taking the left path.

Gillian let out a pained noise, rubbing his flushed face. “Hey, wait! You're going the wrong way,” he called out, fidgeting in place as though he was torn between staying where he was and running after her. “Always so absentminded…” he mumbled under his breath to himself as she just continued down the path she had taken.

It became suddenly apparent to Antonio why Gillian was acting the way that he was. A fond smile tugged at the corners of his lips. So the mighty Gillian has finally fallen in love, even if he himself can’t see that that’s what it is. Antonio glanced over at Christopher and raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head towards their mutual friend.

Christopher nodded, placing a hand on Gillian’s shoulder. “Mon ami, why don’t you go after her to make sure that she gets to her lessons okay? It would be a shame for such a lovely lady to get lost.”

Gillian dropped his hands to his sides, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he glanced between his two friends. “Look, I don’t know what you two are thinking, but I can assure you that it’s definitely not it. I don’t like her. She’s arrogant and acts like she’s better than me--”

“Well, she does have more class than you,” Christopher interjected.

“--and she’s just… She makes me want to pull my hair out with how frustrating she acts. And how delicate and fragile she looks…” Gillian continued as if Christopher hadn’t spoken. “And she’s just--”

Antonio cut him off with a hand on his shoulder. “You know, from everything that I saw for the few moments that she was here, I’m pretty sure that she likes you. I’m not telling you to get over your fear of women. I’m just saying not to let that hold you back from following your heart…”

Gillian’s jaw dropped as his face turned beet red. “W-What?”

“Gil, s’il vous plaît, we’re your best friends. We know you,” Christopher said gently. “This isn’t your normal behavior around a woman. You certainly didn’t run away screaming,” he teased with a sly smirk and a nudge with his elbow.

“Oi! That was one time!” Gillian retorted, rubbing his side with an over-exaggerated pout as he crossed his arms sulkily.

“We’re just saying that you shouldn’t let this opportunity pass, and that we’re here to support you if you need it. Follow your heart, Gil.” Antonio nodded his head back towards the path that Anneliese had disappeared down.

Gillian had started to take a few steps forward before hesitating. “But what about the hockey coach and our plans? We can’t just throw those to the wayside.”

“Oh mon dieu, we’re not saying that, and you’ll have plenty of time to do that once you’ve walked her to her music lessons. She might not have the time to get to her lesson on time though, if you keep on with all of this dilly-dallying around and stalling. Now, go! Allez, allez!” Christopher said exasperatedly as he gave Gillian a push down the sidewalk in order for the man to get going.

He hesitated for a few moments more, looking over his shoulder before nodding and jogging down the sidewalk. They watched in silence until he disappeared out of view, both of them letting out a sigh.

“What are we going to do with him?” Antonio chuckled, cracking his neck.

“Strangle him, maybe,” Christopher responded, shaking his head with a small laugh before becoming more serious as they continued walking. “All of Gil’s love life aside, we still have important work to do, and just because we’re in a better mood, we shouldn’t let that be cause for our guards to be lowered. I’ll have to do some more digging and background checks, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find some stuff involving some of the people that were mentioned in L’s report. I’ll try to figure out who he has connections with here at the school, whether it be student or administrative, and even locally. I’ll take care of all of the tech stuff.” He placed a hand on Antonio’s shoulder, looking at him over the rims of his glasses. “I want you to take care of your lady and keep an eye on her brother and Mathias for right now. Until Gil is able to get some physical proof of L’s actions, then we just need to lay low and keep our guards up. Otherwise, who knows what extremes might be taken to silence us...”

Antonio nodded, patting the man’s hand with a grim smile. “I know. We’re certainly treading into dangerous waters now, my friend.”

With everything that was starting to unfold before them and the weight of the responsibility that was falling upon their shoulders, Antonio held the fear that they would end up being like Sisyphus. They thought they were being so clever and that they would end up being able to get this boulder of burden up to the top of the hill. However, what would happen if they managed to push the boulder through all of the obstacles that faced them, only to have everything fall apart and for the boulder to go crashing down to the bottom of the hill? He didn’t want that to happen.

Christopher grunted in agreement, his thoughts going down a similar path. “Dangerous waters, indeed.”