Chapter Summaries

Si Ang helped Richie back to class after finding him in the forest, where Richie fell asleep during math. When the teacher called on him, Richie correctly answered a linear-function question and went straight back to sleep.

• Si Ang offered Richie a hand, then pulled him up and supported him out of the forest.
• Si Ang told the Math Teacher that Richie had been frightened by a stray dog after attending Eden's Good Voice auditions.
• Richie sat down and fell asleep while Si Ang took notes during the lesson on linear functions.
• The Math Teacher called on Richie to solve y=5x+3 when y=23.
• Richie answered x=4 and slumped back over his desk, leaving the teacher suspicious.

Richie was accused by the Math Teacher of copying a math answer, but Si Ang defended him and said Richie had solved it himself. The teacher challenged Richie to solve an even harder problem on the blackboard.

• The Math Teacher called Richie to explain a math problem and accused him of copying the answer from Si Ang.
• Si Ang gently woke Richie, and Richie realized Si Ang had been trying to treat him better.
• Richie let the Math Teacher believe he had admitted to copying, then prepared to explain the solution.
• Si Ang stood up and told the Math Teacher that he did not know how to solve the problem and Richie had worked it out himself.
• The Math Teacher rejected Si Ang's defense and wrote Richie a problem beyond the syllabus, challenging him to solve it on the blackboard.

Richie correctly answered the math teacher’s quadratic-function question, but the teacher accused him of cheating and threatened him with a Tonitrus and expulsion. Richie remained calm as the class ended, leaving Si Ang worried about him.

• Richie answered that a = 2 when the math teacher asked for the value of a.
• The math teacher accused Richie Forger of cheating and threatened to report him to his homeroom teacher and get him a Tonitrus.
• Damian, Si Ang, and Anya tried to defend Richie, but the math teacher silenced them and threatened anyone who supported him.
• Richie dismissed the math teacher and went back to sleep at his desk as the bell rang and the teacher left.
• Si Ang worried that Richie might be lying at his desk because he felt wronged.

Richie was summoned to the Faculty Office after the Math Teacher accused him of sleeping in class, disrespecting his teacher, and cheating. Facing possible expulsion, Richie denied cheating and asked to prove his innocence by taking Eden Academy’s hardest math test, and Henry went to find one.

• Henry called Richie to the Faculty Office, and Richie reassured Anya before leaving the classroom.
• Henry questioned Richie about sleeping through math class, ignoring the lesson, disrespecting the Math Teacher, and cheating.
• Richie admitted sleeping and not paying attention but denied disrespecting the Math Teacher or cheating.
• The Math Teacher accused Richie of cheating and demanded that Eden Academy expel him, but Richie challenged him to provide evidence.
• Richie asked Henry for Eden Academy’s hardest math test to prove his innocence, and Henry rose to search for one.

Richie proved his math ability to Henry by completing a test, weakening the Math Teacher’s accusations. He then challenged the Math Teacher with a supposed famous problem that left him sweating and unable to answer.

• Richie explained how to solve the two problems from class, and Henry’s anger eased as he listened.
• Henry gave Richie a second-grade math test, which Richie finished in less than ten minutes with every answer correct.
• Richie challenged the Math Teacher to solve the problem “142b4(1+1)80” and claimed it came from Zhang Si.
• The Math Teacher grew nervous as he failed to solve the problem, while Richie and Henry pressed him to answer.

Richie faced the elder Swan’s demand for punishment after the Math Teacher accused him of misbehavior, and he accepted three Tonitrus Bolts to protect Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry remained at Eden Academy, while Richie was left alone after Swan and the Math Teacher departed.

• The Math Teacher insisted Richie should be punished for sleeping in class, talking back, and disrespecting his teacher.
• The elder Swan arrived and demanded that Mr. Henry choose between three Tonitrus Bolts for Richie, dismissal, or expulsion.
• Richie offered to accept the three Tonitrus Bolts so the elder Swan would not punish Mr. Henry.
• Mr. Henry offered to resign to spare Richie, but Richie argued that the class would run wilder without him.
• The elder Swan and the Math Teacher left, and Mr. Henry saw them off before leaving Richie alone.

After Henry reassured Richie about the classroom incident, Twilight came to Eden Academy and learned what had happened. Richie feared Twilight would abandon him, but Twilight comforted him and resolved to protect his family from anyone interfering with his mission.

• Richie told Henry that Old Swan and the Math Teacher had set a trap for him, while Henry dismissed his suspicions and called Twilight to pick him up.
• Twilight arrived at Eden Academy, heard Henry's account, and silently imagined ways to kill Old Swan.
• On the way home, Richie apologized for sleeping in class and begged Twilight not to abandon him.
• Twilight promised Richie he would always be his father and told him to go easy on himself and punish others.
• Twilight reassured Richie that he had four Tonitrus Bolts left before expulsion, then planned to take him home and cook for him.

Old Swan and the Math Teacher schemed to expel Richie, while Anya and Si Ang worried about him after he disappeared from class. Richie returned home and reassured Anya, but she never called Si Ang, who waited all night for her call.

• Old Swan praised the Math Teacher for helping him pursue his late son's wish to expel Richie and promised him a promotion and raise.
• Si Ang and Anya worried that Richie had not returned to class, and Si Ang asked Anya to tell him how Richie was doing.
• Anya heard Si Ang's thoughts and promised to call him instead of letting him visit Richie with homework.
• Anya returned home and asked Richie what had happened, and he joked that he was about to become the Raiden Shogun.
• Richie and Anya decided not to call Si Ang, who waited in his dormitory all night for the phone call.

Richie advanced to the finals of the school music competition, but worried when Si Ang took a long leave and disappeared. During a weekend of community service, Anya caused trouble while Richie slept through each assignment, and the Forger family returned home after being dismissed from the hospital.

• Richie barely advanced through each round and became one of three finalists, with the live final set for a week later.
• Richie noticed Si Ang had taken a long leave and worried about why he had gone home.
• Twilight declined to arrange a visit to Si Ang and took Anya and Richie to the hospital for community service instead.
• At the hospital, Richie slept while Anya disrupted work in the changing room, library, and kitchen, so staff sent the family away from each department.
• Anya tried to reach the operating room, but a nurse ordered the Forgers to go home.
• Anya apologized, and Richie comforted her by saying he would always love her.

Anya heard a boy drowning in the hospital pool and jumped in to save him, though she could not swim. Twilight rescued Anya and Richie, and the boy survived; Anya was praised for her bravery.

• Anya heard the rehabilitation boy's thoughts calling for help from the pool.
• Anya ran to the deep pool and jumped in to find the boy, while Richie followed and tried to stop her.
• Twilight pulled Richie back from the edge, then rescued both Anya and the boy from underwater.
• The boy's young woman companion and the adults thanked and praised Anya for spotting the drowning.
• Twilight warned Anya not to be so reckless again, and Richie told her he was proud of her.

Richie Forger entered Eden Academy’s Good Voice finals, where he was expected to compose an original piece under observation. While the other finalists worked, Richie slept for forty minutes, then woke as the judges watched.

• Richie rejected Twilight’s suggestion to memorize a piece and promised to compose one during the allotted hour.
• Henry, Twilight, Yor, and Anya encouraged Richie as he followed a staff member to his composition room, while Old Swan insulted him.
• Xana focused on winning the championship and earning her first star, while Ann Grandelle composed at the piano.
• Two teacher judges allied with Old Swan stopped another judge from waking Richie, citing the rule against interfering with contestants.
• After forty minutes, Richie woke as if on a timer.

Richie finished composing and prepared for the final performances, but two judges loyal to Old Swan stole his score. After watching Ann Grandelle perform to thunderous applause, Richie remained confident that his own composition would surprise the audience.

• Richie finished composing while the judge who wanted to help him was sent away with a sudden stomachache.
• Shana Selay drew the second performance slot, Ann Grandelle was assigned to perform first, and Richie was announced as the finale.
• Richie returned to the composing room and discovered his score had vanished, while two judges took it to report back to Mr. Swan.
• Richie decided he could perform from memory and left to watch Ann Grandelle.
• Ann Grandelle performed a gentle but emotionally powerful piece, earning thunderous applause and predictions that she would win again.
• Richie wondered what surprise Ann would have for the audience.

Richie performed an original piano piece that transported the audience to a battlefield, despite broken keys and hidden needles that cut his fingers. He won the crowd’s thunderous applause and collapsed, believing he had helped his father earn a star.

• Shana delivered an eccentric, emotionally charged violin performance and left the stage to sustained applause.
• Richie took the stage, determined to perform well and earn a star for his father, while Old Swan and Nason expected him to fail.
• Richie’s piano music immersed the audience in vivid visions of defending a homeland on the battlefield.
• Richie discovered broken keys and hidden steel needles in the piano, but kept playing as his fingers bled.
• Richie exhausted his mental strength and willpower to finish the piece, later known as “Shatter,” and the audience erupted in applause.
• Richie fell from the bench, murmuring that he had done it for his father.

Richie collapsed after finishing his piano performance, and Twilight found steel needles hidden between the keys and demanded Eden Academy investigate. The audience later voted Richie champion by a wide margin, though he had already left for medical care.

• Richie collapsed onstage, and Twilight and Yor rushed to him as staff and audience members reacted.
• Twilight found long steel needles hidden among the piano keys and confronted Eden Academy’s organizer, who apologized and promised an investigation and to cover Richie’s medical expenses.
• Twilight carried Anya away while Yor carried the unconscious Richie from the hall.
• The audience vote named Xana Sele third with 589 votes, Ann Grandelle second with 1,044, and Richie champion with 2,798.
• Henry praised Richie, while an old man left the hall remarking on Richie’s extraordinary musical talent.

After Eden Academy expelled Nason for putting steel needles on Richie Forger’s piano, Si Ang intercepted him on the way home and ordered his men to torture him with needles. Si Ang left after promising that Nason would pay many times over for Richie’s suffering.

• Eden Academy announced that a jealous second-year student had sabotaged Richie Forger’s piano, expelled him, and refused to disclose his identity.
• Nason walked home, resented his expulsion, and stomped on the notice from Eden Academy.
• Si Ang’s attendants seized Nason and carried him into an alley.
• Si Ang confronted Nason about the steel needles, but Nason denied responsibility and blamed the school.
• Si Ang ordered his men to gag Nason and hold him down, then left as they prepared to hurt him with steel needles.

Si Ang dealt with Nason and went to the hospital to see Richie, where he asked to stay at Richie's house because his father was ill and he was alone. Twilight hesitated, weighing the risks and possible advantages, while Richie and Anya suspected Si Ang was hiding something.

• Si Ang punished Nason, then had him taken away so he would not need to explain his expulsion to his family.
• Si Ang went to the hospital to visit Richie, but hesitated outside the room until Richie came out with Twilight and Anya.
• Richie greeted Si Ang and asked whether he needed something, and Si Ang asked to stay at Richie's house for the night.
• Twilight learned that Si Ang's father was ill and considered whether taking him in could cause trouble or help him build ties with the Evan Family.
• Anya pleaded in her thoughts for Twilight not to agree, while Richie suspected Si Ang's request was suspicious and began reading his mind.

Si Ang persuaded Twilight to let him stay at the Forger home, hoping to get closer to Richie and sleep in the same room. When Richie went to sleep with Twilight instead, Si Ang was left alone with his embarrassing feelings for Richie.

• Si Ang asked Twilight to take him in because his father was recovering in the hospital and his house was empty.
• Anya and Richie read Si Ang's thoughts, and Richie encouraged Twilight to let Si Ang stay the night.
• Twilight and Yor prepared Richie's room for Si Ang, while Anya watched her spy cartoon and fretted about Si Ang moving in.
• Si Ang nervously invited Richie to bed, but Richie went to sleep in Twilight's room instead.
• Si Ang hid under the covers, mortified that he had spent the day wanting to sleep with Richie.

Si Ang and Twilight separately realized that someone beyond Nason had targeted Richie, while Anya warned Richie that Si Ang had moved into their house to target him. Richie revealed that he already knew Si Ang's intentions and was waiting to see what he would do.

• Si Ang concluded that an unknown person had damaged Richie's piano keys and helped get Nason expelled to conceal the sabotage.
• Twilight investigated the attack on Richie and, feeling guilty, considered how to quietly kill those responsible.
• Anya woke Richie and took him to the balcony to warn him that Si Ang had moved into their house because he was targeting Richie.
• Richie told Anya that he already knew what Si Ang was thinking and wanted to see what he planned to do.
• Richie sent Anya to bed and hurried back to Twilight's room, still exhausted.

Anya and Richie received stars at Cecil Academy, and their family celebrated their achievements. Twilight later learned that Nathan Caspar had sabotaged Richie's competition and that the boy who planted the needle had disappeared, possibly murdered to cover up the plot.

• Anya and Richie received stars at the school ceremony, while Second Son silently resented that they had earned them first.
• Anya and Richie said goodbye to the boy Anya had saved, and Yor embraced them before offering to cook dinner.
• Twilight praised the children and reflected on his relief and his continued concern about whoever was plotting against them.
• Twilight met his disguised superior, who identified Nathan Caspar as the boy who planted the steel needle and said school staff had also helped with the sabotage.
• Twilight's superior told him that Nason had disappeared after the competition and was suspected of having been killed to silence him.

Anya and Richie returned to Eden Academy to find that their classmates admired Anya’s star but judged Richie by his Tonitrus Bolts. Anya’s hopes of winning Second Son over were dashed, while Richie’s classmates spread rumors about the siblings and Si Ang defended them.

• Anya stepped off the bus gracefully and basked in students’ praise for earning a star and saving someone.
• Richie heard students call him talented but dangerous because of his four Tonitrus Bolts, and resolved to excel in academics and athletics.
• Becky greeted Anya, who asked to be called Starlight Anya and imagined that her popularity would help her father’s mission succeed.
• At the classroom, Second Son insulted Anya and left with his Malfoy Squad, while Becky fumed at his behavior.
• Richie’s classmates accused the siblings of boasting, violence, and cheating, and Si Ang rebuked them for disrespecting Eden Academy.