Garoth glared indignantly as the two Guardians left him behind; he wished his ears were as sharp as his eyes so that he could hear what they were talking about. He didn't have much time to smolder, though, as his classmate soon approached. "Hiya Key," he said in a friendly tone, though he didn't take his eyes off of Saya and Tetsuo as he spoke, and by the looks of it Mr. Spirit was joining them too. "I was busy today so I couldn't make it to school..." "Busy" was the word he used whenever he was more inclined to spend the day practicing with his wooden sword and tossing rocks at a target than he was to reading books. Even though Mr. Rurian often took them outside, today was too nice to waste on books and numbers. "They're up to something," he continued, letting what he wished to be true embellish what was actually said. "Saya said they were going to have a secret meeting. I bet they found a monster and are going to make an elite team to go fight it!"

* * *

Saya turned and gave a silent nod to acknowledge Million's greeting. It seemed to be her standard way of saying hello these days. "Nothing out of the ordinary is happening," she said in an icy voice that was terrible at hiding the fact that this meeting was, in fact, a bit out of the ordinary. "We just need to discuss a few things. The village is safe. We will inform you if any precautions need to be taken."

Those words of reassurance only put Tetsuo a bit on edge. Why was she talking like that? Was she just that accustomed to talking about danger, or was there really something amiss. "Of course, you're welcome to attend the meeting if you like," Tetsuo said in a legitimately calming tone, not wanting Million to be put off by the weird attitude that Saya had been showing lately. "We decided to invite some respectable people to the meetings lately," Tetsuo explained to Saya, who had been away when they made that change. "You know, to keep things transparent." He was thinking that he ought to convince his father to let him off the hook tonight. The Cajun Catfish would last at least one night without him.

"I see..." Saya said, not entirely bothered by the fact that civilians would be attending the meetings, but a just a little dismayed by the lack of privacy. "Well, Tetsuo, if you don't currently have any duties, could you please spread the word to the other Guardians? And perhaps you could inform the people as well, Million? It would be best if we have a full house this evening."

"Not a problem," Tetsuo said with a nod, but he didn't want to leave poor Million in the dust, so he waited to see if he would help Saya as well before taking off.