Warfare Augmented Intelligent Frame Unit
Chapter 98 – Explosion of Secrets

Chapter 98 - Explosion of Secrets

The secret, secluded classroom on the tenth floor of the campus was thick with awkward silence—as if two atomic bombs had just dropped, leaving only the ringing aftermath behind. Dust motes danced in the stillness, caught in the pale slant of winter sunlight filtering through the high windows. 

Fei stood frozen, her eyes wide in disbelief, lips parted into a stunned "O" as if the words she wanted to say had fled from her tongue.

Meanwhile, a bead of cold sweat traced a slow line down my temple and along my cheek—odd, considering the temperature wasn’t even warm. Xyraxis was teetering on the tail end of its winter season, the air crisp but hardly sweat-inducing. No, the heat crawling under my skin wasn’t from the weather—it was from the weight of Fei’s sudden explosion of her secrets.

“O-oh!” Fei clapped her hands together with a burst of energy, her smile lighting up the cold room and snapping the tension like a brittle icicle. “So you really love Myrrh! She told me your relationship is just a front, but honestly, I was kind of expecting one of you to catch feelings.”

“Y-yeah, it’s definitely fake,” I stammered, scratching the back of my head as my face flushed red. “She’s just using me as pest repellent, that’s the only reason we’re pretending.”

Fei leaned in, eyes sparkling with mischief. “I knew something was going on between you two. You’re both just too stubborn to admit it. But I’m glad you finally told me.”

“Y-yeah. Just… you’re the only one who knows, okay? Please keep it a secret,” I said, lowering my voice and glancing toward the door.

“Will do!” Fei threw an exaggerated salute, her grin returning with full force. “Your secret is safe with me! And if you want help, I can totally get intel—like her favorite food, favorite color, favorite fish, favorite panties—”

I could tell Fei had no intention of letting go of the topic. She was clinging to it like a life raft, paddling frantically away from the nuclear aftermath she’d just triggered. Her voice grew more animated with every word, as if hoping that drowning the conversation in playful banter would undo the blast.

“Fei,” I muttered, cutting her off mid-sentence.

She flinched, blinking rapidly. “Ah, yes, sorry. Asking about her favorite panties was a bit vulgar, huh?” A nervous blush crept across her cheeks. “I mean, if there’s anything you want to know about her, I can just ask her directly!”

“Enough about her.” My voice came out cold, sharper than I expected. “Let’s talk about you.”

Her blush deepened, shifting from rose-pink to a crimson flush. “W-why?” she stammered, hugging herself. “A-are you interested in me too? But you’re already in love with Myrrh… A-are you going to make me your mi-mi-mistress?”

“It’s not that,” I groaned, cringing as heat rushed to my face. “It’s something you said earlier. About being… the Red Meteor.”

The instant the words left my mouth, the color drained from her face like a monitor screen being shut down. Her shoulders tensed. She lowered her head, eyes locking onto the floor, hands tightening around the hem of her skirt like she was bracing for impact.

Then, slowly, she nodded.

“It’s true,” she whispered. “I am the Red Meteor—the same one you fought during the Blackout Incident.”

I inhaled deeply, trying to anchor myself. My thoughts screamed at me to be afraid. She’s dangerous. She’s your enemy. She’s the one you fought with everything you had. And yet…

I wasn’t scared.

Not even a little.

Even as my mind raced with warning signals, my heart stayed oddly calm. This was Fei. My friend. My WAIFU. And now, even with the truth laid bare, that quiet trust I’d built with her didn’t crumble. It held strong—fragile, maybe, but unbroken.

Fei had always been my friend.

That truth lingered stubbornly in my chest, even as the weight of her confession pressed down on me. Yes, I felt betrayed—how could I not? But everyone carries skeletons in their closets, shadows they don’t want the world to see. And now, Fei had opened the door to hers, not with threats, but with a kind of quiet sincerity. She wasn’t here to hurt me. I could feel it. There was something else she wanted—maybe understanding, maybe redemption.

So I held my emotions in check. Letting them flare now would only breed confusion, or worse, push her away.

Then—unbidden—the face of Ismail Arondight flickered in my mind like a ghost, his eyes sharp, calculating, always two steps ahead.

“Did the terrorist group Neo Terrestrial Reich send you?” I asked, my voice steady but cold.

Fei’s lips parted, then closed again before she answered. “No. At least… not yet,” she said softly. “Just so you know, I’m not part of the NTR. I was just an agent. I was sent to observe certain individuals enrolled here at Orbital Tech.”

My hand rose instinctively to my mouth as the next realization settled in. “And you were observing me…”

Fei quickly shook her head. “No, not at first. I was originally assigned to track a defector—someone who broke ties with the Neo Terrestrial Reich. That was my mission when I first arrived. But things changed.”

She hesitated, as if weighing how much more she should reveal.

“When the Finals came around,” she continued, “I was suddenly reassigned. The orders shifted. They told me to watch you. That’s why Ismail Arondight hacked the school systems. He wanted to make sure we’d be paired together. That was no coincidence.”

My eyes went wide, the pieces snapping together in real time. But I forced myself to stay composed. My fists clenched at my sides, nails digging into my palms—but I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t afford to.

“Are they… still trying to recruit me?” I asked quietly.

Fei nodded, solemn and slow. “The Neo Terrestrial Reich is deeply interested in your mysterious abilities—specifically, the Weapons of Mass Destruction series. They believe your powers are the key to bringing Xyraxis to its knees. But we still know so little about how your system works... that’s why I was sent to observe you.”

I exhaled sharply, masking the tightening in my chest with a smirk. “But my mama told me not to join shady fraternities in the university.”

Fei chuckled faintly at the joke, but the sound didn’t reach her eyes. She turned away, taking three slow steps toward the tall windows on the far side of the room. The pale afternoon light spilled in, casting long shadows across the floor. Beyond the glass, the sprawling coliseum stood like a silent monument—cold, distant, and scarred by battle.

“At first,” she said quietly, “the NTR’s goal was to recruit both you and Myrrh Alicent. You were both valuable assets. But after what happened in today’s battle... when you activated the Weapons of Mass Destruction for me—” she paused, her voice trembling just slightly, “—I realized there was no need to pursue Myrrh any further. She would never agree to work with us anyway.”

“You mean because you’re psychopaths,” I replied, my voice flat and ice-cold.

Fei flinched but didn’t look back.

“You murdered countless people during the Blackout Raid,” I continued. My fists were clenched again, harder this time. “You even—” my throat tightened “—you even caused Myrrh to die, right in front of me.”

The silence stretched like a taut wire.

“Not just Myrrh,” I went on, eyes narrowing. “I heard what you did to some of the WAIFU agents too. And the civilians. All the lives you shattered. You and your... Cosmic Beast pets.”

Fei turned around, slowly. Her expression was unreadable—part sorrow, part restraint, part something I couldn’t name. Her teeth dug into her lower lip as she took a step closer.

“It’s true,” she said, almost in a whisper. “I tried to kill both of you. I won't deny it. I won’t ask for your forgiveness, either. I know I won't get any.”

She looked straight at me now, eyes steady but hollow.

“But... please. Just be open-minded about why.”

Fei turned to face me.

Her steps were slow, deliberate, each one echoing faintly against the polished floor. Her golden eyes met mine—not just looking at me, but into me, as though peeling back layers I hadn’t meant to expose. They shimmered like sunlight striking cold metal… beautiful, yes—but behind that shine, there was something else. Something deadly. Something real.

In that moment, I saw a glimpse of her true self—beneath the meekness, beneath the bashful smiles and shy gestures. The poison behind the petals.

“I know this isn’t easy,” she said, voice low and steady. “I’ve destroyed your trust… I know that. But consider this a message from the NTR itself.” Her expression darkened. “They want you to join the cause.”

“And if I don’t?” I tried to play it cool, forcing a cocky half-smile. But my jaw was clenched. My smirk was all teeth.

Fei’s gaze sharpened. She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t need to.

“Let’s just say,” she murmured, “what happened to Myrrh during the Blackout… might happen again.”

The air around us dropped several degrees. Her voice lacked confidence—but the words alone carried enough weight to crush my lungs. I could feel the blood draining from my face, but I held the smirk, brittle as it was.

“You’re a goddamn two-faced whore, you know that?” I hissed, the words slicing from my throat. My hands trembled at my sides, fists white-knuckled.

Fei didn’t flinch.

“I’ll give you until the end of the school year,” she said coldly. “Enjoy your little puppy love while you still can.”

And with that, she turned.

The black-haired beauty—once shy, once innocent in my eyes—walked away without another word. Her footsteps faded behind her as she slipped out the door, closing it softly.

I was left alone.

Alone in the ruins of a conversation that felt like an atomic bomb had gone off. The silence afterward wasn't peace—it was fallout.