It wasn’t exactly his plan to get lost. No, in fact, his plan had been to go back to his dorm room, bury himself in his work, and pretend as though he didn’t get embarrassingly upset over something as trivial as an anxiety attack .

“It’s not even that bad,” Thanatos grumbles to himself. Disappointment burns in his stomach, and he wills it to settle so hard that his sister would say he’s going to pop a blood vessel. “Let it go .”

He slumps against the hallway of the main school building. It’s dark now, not just outside but inside as well what with the lights dimmed or off for the night. Thanatos checks his phone. It’s almost 7:00 PM.

Curling up into a ball, knees against his chest, he scrolls through his contacts. Sibylla? Absolutely not; he wouldn’t want her troubling herself with something this stupid. He has Ms. Hawthorne’s number, but that thought is shooed away quickly. He could call Will… No. Will would never let him live this down.

He gets to the bottom of his list and pauses. Winifred Matthews, Winnie for short. She knows her way around this school, and—much to his benefit—seems to have a high interest in him. That could work.

Thanatos enters a simple “hello.” into their text log, short as it is, and waits. A beat. “please call.” he adds.

Another moment, then another, and just when he’s sighed and started begrudgingly texting his sister instead, his phone buzzes so hard and loud it nearly makes him drop it. Ah, there she is. He hits the little green button on his screen.

“Hello?” he starts. “Thanatos Briar spea-“

“Mr. Briar! Are you alright? Is there anything I can do for you?” Winnie rushes her words, and Thanatos finds himself wincing. She gasps, and, from what must be under her hand, she continues, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I cut you off, didn’t I?”

“It’s alright, Ms. Matthews. But if you would, please do calm down.”

“Right, sorry.”

“Apologies aren’t necessary,” he reassures. Thanatos holds the phone to his ear with his shoulder and wraps his arms around his knees. “I do, however, need your assistance.”

“Oh, yes! Anything!” She squeaks in realization and quiets down. “I mean, um, what is it, sir?”

Thanatos sighs through his nose. It’s almost endearing, the way she speaks. “Sir also isn’t necessary. Ato is fine.”

“A-Ato.”

“Yes?”

“No, sorry, I was just repeating it back. Um… uh… what was it you needed? My bad, I keep interrupting you. And apologizing.”

“It seems…” he starts, and his voice grows hesitant. “…that I’m lost. I’ve found myself in the primary school building-“ Because I’m a coward . “-to investigate, and it’s difficult to navigate.”

Winnie pauses from the other end of the line, and the burning of Thanatos’ ears is back and with a vengeance. It spreads to his cheeks. He can feel the way his brows are scrunching outside of his control. She has the gall to giggle and snort, and the distance tells him she’s trying so hard not to to the point of holding her phone away from her face. There’s the sound of shuffling then a door shutting.

“ Ms. Matthews, ” he chides.

“Sorry, sorry! Ah, I mean- No, um… Ato?”

“Yes, Ms. Matthews.” Don’t say it. Don’t you dare.

“Could it be…”

No.

“…you have a bad sense of direction?”

Thanatos could say he’s hit the end call button this fast without thinking before, but he’d be an outright liar. He drops his phone next to him and stares dead ahead at the other wall. This is fine. He can just ask the headmaster to move him to another room, and he can ignore everyone he’s met thus far. Maybe he can pretend to arrive for the first time tomorrow. Yes, that sounds nice.

His phone buzzes once, twice, three times before he finally retrieves it slowly. The screen is filled with texts from Ms. Matthews, all apologizing and filled with those cute little Japanese face emojis his sister is so fond of. Thanatos sighs and discards it again, preferring to wallow for a short while.

That is, he’d wallow if it were silent , but the sound of footsteps rushing toward him snaps him to attention. There’s only a phone light and passing lights from classrooms still waiting to be cleaned, but there’s no mistaking that short stature and choppy black hair.

“Ato! Are you there?!” Winnie yells, and Thanatos pulls himself to his feet.

“That was awfully quick,” he says, only slightly surprised.

Winnie skids to a halt in front of him and bends over, free hand on her knee while she pants hard. The smaller the body, the smaller the lungs.

“I- You said you- You were lost!” Her words are broken by laboured breaths. “And when you hung up, I got worried!”

Guilt isn’t a feeling he feels often, usually by choice, but it whispers so lightly in the back of his mind. She’s even out of uniform in what must be her lounge clothes: an extremely oversized sweater, colourful sleep shorts, and socks with flats. It’s quite the contrast to the black, white, and greys of Waurelt’s assigned wear.

“My apologies,” he says softly. “It was never my intent, but that’s beside the point. However, now that I have you here, could I ask another favour?”

Winnie perks up like spring daisies. “Yes, of course!” He motions her to walk with him as he moves down the hall.

“A few questions answered is all I need. Some may be personal.”

“That’s fine! Ask away, Ato.”

Thanatos nods. “What year are you in, Ms. Matthews?”

“My thirteenth year, sir.” She presses her fingers together, fidgeting. “Here, we run in our twelfth year at the end of the semester and take up the position at the start of our thirteenth year.”

“That makes you…?”

“Seventeen, sir.”

Thanatos is jotting this all into his phone, and Winnie takes a peek but backs away at a side-eyed questioning glance from Thanatos. She messes with her hair. She can’t stop moving , he writes.

“And as Student Council Secretary, do you have a lot of interaction with the student body?” he asks as he’s pulled by the sleeve into a different direction. “Ah, thank you,” he says softly.

“Well… I’d say so,” Winnie admits, and her face drops into something bittersweet “Interacting with people is part of my job description. After all, everything goes through me before it goes to Rebecca or anyone else on the council.” She sighs.

“So, if I showed you photos of students, would you have a decent idea of who they are?”

“Yes? I could at least find out if I don’t, anyways.”

Thanatos hums and continues typing. “And staff?”

Winnie falls quieter, and she swallows. Thanatos’ eyes narrow on the way she hugs herself. It’s the first time her hands have stopped moving since she got here.

“…Ms. Matthews?” he tries again.

She clears her throat. “Oh, um, yes, staff included. We have bi-weekly meetings with the education staff, so we’re fairly familiar with most of them.”

“And the next meeting is?”

“Um… this coming Sunday… two days from now.”

Thanatos puts his phone to sleep and tucks it away. “That’s enough for now.” He pauses. “Well, save for one final request.” Winnie bats her eyelashes up at him, head tilting and brows furrowed. “Please take me to the student council office.”

It’s an easy enough thing to do, and it doesn’t take them long to get there. The student council office itself is the size of a classroom, but it’s decorated for and dedicated to the prestigious students of the student council. There’s lush, velvety couches and a lavish white coffee table. Several desks line the walls, but right in front of the blackboard is the largest, nicest desk of them all. In a nameplate on its surface, Rebecca’s name is engraved in gold plated metal.

Thanatos makes a face of disgust as he inspects the room. “How… frivolous.” He opens the mini fridge filled to the brim with expensive spring waters and gourmet snacks.

“Oh, um-“ Winnie stutters and rushes to shut the fridge door. “S-Sorry, but those are for the council only. Not even class reps are allowed in there.”

“Are they purchased by the members?”

“No, they’re uh… supplied by the headmaster.”

Thanatos squints. “That’s absurd.”

Winnie kicks at the floor. “Mhm,” she agrees. “Ato, was there something in particular you needed? It’s already dark outside…”

He sighs and moves to Rebecca’s desk, and he traces his fingers along the white-painted wood. Inspecting them, they come up completely clean. Of course. “You said elections are held the year prior, but have there ever been exceptions?” He starts pulling at the drawers, finding them locked, but he pulls two bobby pins from under the back side of his hair, right above his nape, and gets to work. “It’s for the investigation.”

Winnie opens her mouth to comment, but she settles instead to watch him from older his shoulder. “Yes, sometimes, such as if a student transfers schools or faces disciplinary action. There have been some who couldn’t keep up with the pressure, so their grades dropped too low, and they got kicked out.”

“I see…” The lock clicks open, and the drawer gets pulled out to reveal its contents. Thanatos repeats this one, two more times for each drawer. “From what my sister has told me, it’s mostly a popularity contest in schools.”

“Basically.”

“Then how did you get the position?” he presses without hesitation, and he knows he’s hit the right button when she stops breathing. He looks up, but she refuses to meet her gaze.

“I… That’s…”

“No matter. Ignore it for now.” Yes… he’ll definitely come back to this. He knows now isn’t the time. He plasters on his trademark smile, and lets his brows furrow upward. Perfect concern. “My apologies, Winnie. Sometimes I get ahead of myself.”

Winnie relaxes as soon as her name spills from his lips, and she smiles back. “It’s okay! You’re just not the first to ask.”

With all three drawers open, Thanatos begins filing through their contents. The long, desk-wide top drawer is just some stationery and office supplies, standard stuff for a work desk. The second drawer on the side is records and files on the current student council and class representatives, and Thanatos takes pictures of the contents of the main council’s before returning them as they were. The last drawer, however, is perhaps the more interesting of the three.

“Ms. Hawthorne, you shouldn’t have,” he mutters to himself, smirking. Its contents are quite private, including the little book he flips through.

“What is it?”

“Nothing important,” he says. “Did Ms. Hawthorne stop by here before dinner?”

“She does every single day after classes, even if it’s only for a few minutes…”

Thanatos nods and hums in acknowledgement. He tucks the planner into his inner coat pocket while snapping a picture of the rest of the drawer’s contents. Winnie makes no comment or protest, only turning around to avoid watching the rest of this transaction.

“Plausible deniability, Ms. Matthews?” he asks, half-joking.

“Something like that.”

Winnie, he decides, gets more interesting with every interaction. He’ll have to keep an eye on her, especially during this investigation. The more tools he has, the better.

Thanatos shuts the locks the drawers back into place. “Let’s go. I should return to the dorms, as should you.” Passing her, he offers a wink and another smile. “We wouldn’t want rumours to start.”

Winnie nods hastily, face beet red as she takes the lead.

“You’re back super late, dude! I was worried when you ran off like that!” Jonny exclaims before Thanatos can even shut the dorm room door. He stares up, much to his chagrin, and feels his ears burning again.

“Leave it be,” he commands. “Now.”

“But-“

Thanatos pushes past him, bumping their shoulders, so he can take a seat at his desk. “It was a headache, nothing more.” The tension penetrated like acid, but Thanatos was an expert at ignoring it. He has to be.

Jonny clutches loosely at his shoulder, rubbing. “I’m sorry, Thanatos. For uh… for what happened at dinner. Eddie explained it to us.” God, he sounds like a kicked puppy. It makes Thanatos’ fists clench, and he shuts his laptop lid halfway through opening it. He spins in his chair.

“Explained what, exactly? Nothing happened, so I don’t need your apologies or pity,” comes out meaner than he’d like. “Just shut up and do as you would; I have work.”

“It’s not pity!” Jonny insists. “I fucked up, so you deserve an apology.”

“You meant no harm.”

Jonny rolls his stupidly blue eyes, and he slams his hands on Thanatos’ desk. “But it still hurt you, right? Intention don’t-“

“Doesn’t.”

“Oh my God, you get the point!” He leans in close, making Thanatos back away into his chair. “ I was the one who dragged you to that place, and you’re super new here, so it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re okay. Next time I mess up or do something stupid, just- I don’t know -hit me or something, okay?” Jonny holds his hand out in a fist.

Thanatos stares at it for several moments before turning away and covering his face with a hand while returning the fist bump gently with another. Jonny grins, and Thanatos carries the fist forward to hit Jonny in the cheek a little too hard. Whoops.

“Ow, shit!” Jonny falls back into his rear, hitting the floor. He cups his cheek. “What was that for?!”

“You said to hit you when you do something dumb. Your smile was dumb,” Thanatos explains. He wishes his skin would cool down. “Can you cook?”

Jonny blinks, leaning back on his hands. “No, not really. Can you?”

“Yes, but I’m busy. Order takeout and I’ll consider everything up to this point null and void. You’re paying.”

Jonny snorts before bursting out in full laughter, and he pushes himself up to his feet. “Chinese food fine?”

“If it’s edible, I don’t care, now hurry up,” Thanatos answers. A hand pats his head before Jonny moves into the kitchen, and he buries his face in his hands. It’s only a month, he reminds himself. It’s only for a month.