– Magatsu? – Agatha calls her son while knocking his room's door. – Sasha wants to see you.

In a rush, Magatsu opens the door. He had just woke up, so he was shirtless. Sasha, who was near Agatha, sees it and blushes mildly while looking somewhere else. He immediately goes back in to grab a shirt while shouting.

– Come in.

Agatha leaves them alone and goes to somewhere else. Sasha enters and catches a glimpse of Magatsu's back as he finishes pulling down his shirt.

– Sorry if it's so early. – She apologizes while hugging him. He kisses her forehead.

– For you, it's never too early. – He lets her go and sits on his net. – So, what do you want? To see my handsome face again?

She snorts. – You're hopeless. No, I came here to ask you about something. It's about that girl, Mr. Aliodi's daughter.

– You mean Juno? What about her?

– A while ago, you told me about how you notice how she tends to like being near you and stuff.

– What about it? – Magatsu now scratches his chin with three fingers, an eyebrow raised.

– Oh – She waves her hand. – , I was just curious. In any case, what will you do? Summer break is almost coming and I don't see you hyped over it.

– I'll do things. – He says while smirking.

– Won't you go to school today? – She asks. He shrugs

– Today, the school closed doors because of an accident. What about you?

– Eh, our teachers will have a meeting today so the whole school has the day off.

They look at each other with mischievous smiles. Magatsu then asks. – Wanna do something fun?

– You bet.

They both leave his house and head to the park. Once there, Magatsu sees Juno in the distance sitting on a bench while reading.

– Is that her? – Sasha asks. Magatsu nods. – Twelve, wasn't it? She's really pretty for someone her age.

– She falls more under the cute category if you ask me. – He shrugs.

From even further, a trio of kids comes from a building. Once they spot Juno, the one in front of the other two drags their attention to her. All of them smirk maliciously.

– I think I have already seen them before. – Magatsu comments as they slowly walk towards Juno.

– I know that one in the middle. A real headache. His name is Bernard.

– Wait, Bernard? – Magatsu stops to ponder. – I have definitely heard this name before.

Bernard and his group now reach Juno as the duo that was watching the scene was a sidewalk away from them.

– Hey, look who it is. – He forces his voice into a mocking one. – It's that Aliodi's pretty princess.

– Leave me alone, Bernard. – She calmly says without looking at him.

– What are you reading? – He snatches her book from her hands. The book had in its cover a big golden airship flying alongside a big black bird with frozen glaciers for its background.

– Give it back! – Juno shouts while standing to try and reach her book. Bernard throws it to one of his friends.

– Come and get it if you want it so bad! – He pushes her, now with an angry face.

– Ok, that's enough. – Magatsu says while walking towards the trouble, only to be stopped by Sasha. He looks at her as she places her hand on his shoulder. – What?

– They're just kids, Mag. If something does get out of hand, then we step in.

He frowns before stepping back and crossing his arms. Bernard continues with his rant.

– Because of you and your lies, my father grounded me for weeks! And like that wasn't enough, he even beat me up! All because of you!

He pushes her with more force, making her trip and almost fall. Magatsu's leg starts to twitch with anxiety.

– I-I don't know what you're talking about! – Juno tries to defend herself but Bernard doesn't give her the chance, now poking his index finger against her.

– Lies! That's all you do, isn't it?! – He then points to one of his friends. – Barry over there lost a close friend of his because of what you told her. And guess what? It was a lie!

Magatsu was within earshot of their discussion as he does a surprised face. Bernard then points at his other friend.

– And Jhonny's father broke his videogame because of what you told him! Really?! A dead rabbit?! What is wrong with you?!

He pushes her with both his hands, causing her to fall. Sasha immediately holds Magatsu's shoulder to prevent him from moving, something he tries to do.

– Now, you're gonna pay for that. And there will be no guards to save you this time.

The trio then surrounds her and proceeds to shout insults at her. She tries her best but ultimately starts to cry while curled in a ball.

Magatsu sees the whole thing with gritted teeth as he forces himself to stay put for Sasha's sake. That is until Jhonny throws Juno's book against her, injuring her. She yelps with pain, starling Bernard as he looks to his friend.

– Why did you do that?! Are you retarded?!

– Probably. – Magatsu menacingly answers while standing behind Jhonny. Neither kids nor Sasha saw him move, so everyone widens their eyes.

– W-Who are you? – Jhonny stutters without turning back as Juno looks up to see her savior with watery eyes, a shocked face, and an odd smile.

– The pain of your existence. – That's the last thing the boy hears before being knocked out by a karate chop to his neck.

– Magatsu!! – Sasha shouts while running towards him with anger in her voice. – Why did you do that?! He's just a kid!

– Who was manly enough to attack a defenseless girl. – He simply answers while stretching. – And only him. For the others, you better start giving explanations. What was that rant about?

– You don't know? – Bernard asks, shocked and smiling dumbly. – This girl is the worst liar you'll ever meet in your life. She came to my house and made up a lie to my father about what happened that one day you decided to play hero. He grounded me for three weeks and slapped my face so hard I can still feel it.

– That's not true! – Juno tries to defend herself but Bernard glares at her, forcing her to look somewhere else.

– Hey, eyes on me, not on her. – Magatsu demands with acid in his voice. Bernard looks back at him before continuing.

– The guy you knocked out, Jhonny, had a videogame he played pretty much every day. Thanks to her lies, his father smashed a hammer hard on it like a nail. She told him she found him killing a rabbit! A rabbit! Can you believe that?! – He asks while opening his arms.

– What...? – Magatsu widens his eyes before looking at Juno, who looks deep into his eyes with a pleading expression, slowly shaking her head.

– And Barry here lost his childhood friend because this liar thought it would be funny to tell her that he had tendencies to steal panties. Like, why?! – He now addresses her with acid eyes. – Why do you do this to people?! Do you enjoy it?! You like it, don't you? You know what, I'm done with you!

Without warning, he jumps over Juno with a snarl.

Too slow.

Still mid-air, Magatsu holds his ankle and raises him high, his foot above his head. He looks down on him with a menacing face.

– What were you doing?

– Don't you get in my way, peasant! – Bernard tries to struggle free from his grasp. It only annoys Magatsu as he pokes his belly with force, causing him to stop everything he was doing to hold it with a pained expression.

– Magatsu! – Sasha scolds him. He gently places Bernard with his back facing the ground, he still curled with pain.

– I just poked him. – He says with a smirk.

– Magatsu!! – Juno suddenly leaps from the ground and hugs Magatsu's neck tightly. – I was so scared! Thank you for saving me again!

– Yeah, yeah. No biggie. – He says while pushing her away, her smiley face flattering him a bit. – But what were they talking about just now?

– They're just looking for excuses to be mean to me. – She says with determination in her voice. – You don't believe them, right? I mean, how could someone like me ever do such things to anyone?

– Well... – Magatsu thinks about something. – When we first met, you did say you had some behavior issues, which was why you didn't have many friends.

– Are you dumb?! – Bernard, who now raises from the floor, asks in disbelief. – How can you believe a single word of what she says?

– You better shut up, kid. – Magatsu dangerously says. – I'm not in the mood to deal with your nonsense again so you better get outta here.

– You're not my father! – Bernard, angry, leaps at Magatsu. The teen backsteps, causing the pre-teen to fall on his face. He then starts to sob lightly.

– Want some help? – Magatsu sarcastically asks. Bernard death glares him with watery eyes.

– You're gonna regret it. Both of you! – He points at Juno before standing up and going away with his friend who didn't even lend a hand to try and help him. They carry the unconscious Jhonny in their arms without looking back.

– And never come back! – Juno screams once they reach far enough. She then looks at Magatsu with a joyful smile.

– So you must be Juno Aliodi. – Sasha asks while offering a handshake. Juno looks at her and takes it.

– Pleased to meet you, Mrs...

– Sasha Ashlair. And please, don't call me Mrs.

– Right, Mrs. Aliodi – Magatsu jokes around with her. She pushes his arm with a fist as he laughs casually.

Juno immediately realizes what's going on and forces a weird feeling inside.

– Erm, Mag. – She calls him rather timidly, completely contrasting how she behaved just a minute ago. – Are you doing anything later?

Instead of him, Sasha answers. – Yes, he is. He'll hang out with me. Why do you ask?

There was some obvious suspicion in her voice as she asks Juno with secret intents. Juno looks at her for a second before answering.

– I thought we could go do something fun in my house like watching a movie or something. You know, like good friends.

– I don't see why not. – Magastu says. Sasha eyes him with the corner of her eye while internally sighing. Of course he didn't pick what Juno meant with that request.

– Hey, Juno, mind if we have a word in private? There's some girl stuff I want to share with you. – She then looks at Magatsu. – Can you go grab me that really big sandwich with extra meat I love so much, honey?

She emphasizes the last word while looking at Juno. Magatsu nods with a hum before walking away.

Once he is far enough, Sasha sits on the same bench Juno was while inviting her to sit aside her.

– So, Juno. What do you think about my boyfriend?

Juno feels weird again with the mention of the obvious fact before answering. – I-I really think highly of him, and-

– I don't mean that. – Sasha cuts her. – I mean about how do you look at him. He's too oblivious to notice it but I'm not. He told me about how you keep approaching him from time to time. He doesn't think much of it but we both know that's not the case, right?

– Erm... – Now anxious, she tries to come up with a lie. – I mean, its not what you think, really. It's-

– And what's up with your lies? – Sasha asks. – Bernard might be a hindrance but he isn't someone to get so mad like this for no good reason. He talked about how you kept spreading lies to those kids' parents, getting them in trouble. What about that?

– It's... You wouldn't understand... – Juno looks somewhere else. Sasha grabs her by her shoulders and looks deep in her eyes.

– Try me.

Speechless due to not having a back-up plan, Juno just stares at Sasha with a dumb face. The young adult sighs.

– Listen. You're too young for that and Magatsu already has a girl. And even if he didn't, he doesn't look to you as anything more than a little girl. Stop lying to others and stop lying to yourself. He doesn't love you this way and never will.

Each word spoken shattered Juno's heart little by little as she struggled to not burst in tears. All of it was true, yet she didn't want to admit it. She wanted Magatsu to love her. She wanted to do all sorts of lovers' things with him.

Still, now that she knew Sasha existed she had to put a halt to her attempts.

– Do you understand? – Sasha finishes talking with a question, to which Juno nods sadly. – Good. You can stay if you want.

She nods again before walking away with her book in her hand. By the time Magatsu came back with his girlfriend's snack, Juno was almost home.

The couple has a lot of fun for the rest of the day while Juno cries for almost all day long. She didn't tell her father about Bernard and his friends, much less about her encounter with Sasha.

Still, somewhere inside her, there was still hope. A deluded glimpse of hope that only the most convenient of fantasies could ever conceive as something that could work.

That's all she had and she wouldn't give it up just because someone told her to.

She just had to think about a way to get rid of Sasha without letting Magatsu ever find out.

Yeah, she thought, that could work too...