As the sun dipped, the yellow gazanias folded into themselves, sealing their color away from the cooling air. They had always opened for light and closed for shadow.
The moon rose full and luminous, bright enough to draw the eye of anyone who happened to look up. Its glow washed the earth in silver, flattening shapes and softening edges.
A cold wind slipped low across the ground.
Then, without warning, one gazania began to open.
Its petals parted slowly beneath the night sky, lifting toward the moon as though answering a summons.
Another followed.
Then another.
Soon the entire field was unfolding, yellow spreading wide under silver light, each bloom opening a little farther than it ever had beneath the sun. Their centers faced upward with a quiet intensity, and a rich fragrance spilled into the air, thicker and sweeter than it had ever been during the day.
They stood radiant beneath the moon.
After a while, one flower near the edge faltered. Its petals shuddered and began to draw inward, The effort looked strained, each inch of closure resisted by something unseen. At last it sealed itself shut, small and tight with the dark.
Another closed soon after, then a few more scattered through the field. They withdrew unevenly, The remaining flowers stayed wide, their fragrance deepening, their yellow gleaming faintly pale.
Then one of the open blooms sagged.
Its petals drooped at the tips, color draining into a thin gray. A single petal loosened and fell, twisting soundlessly to the ground. The flower's center darkened, hollowing as if something had been drawn out of it. Others began to follow, their stems bending, their brightness fading into a lifeless shade.
The moonlight did not change.
One by one, the open flowers withered where they stood, petals curling inward too late, graying as the life they had gathered slipped quietly away.
By the time the night thinned, most of the field had collapsed into itself.
Only the ones that had closed early remained intact, sealed and waiting for a sun that had not yet returned.
All but one.
At the center of the withered bed, a single gazania still bloomed fully beneath the moon, its yellow untouched, its posture proud and unwavering. It faced the sky as though it understood something the others had not.
The moon lingered over it.
And when the horizon began to pale, that lone flower did not close.
***
The atmosphere of the cafeteria had changed. What had once felt like a silent war now felt stripped of even that.
Something inside Sunless shifted.
He replayed everything carefully.
Kiyotaka had refused therapy without ever saying no. He redirected the topic toward government enemies and operational risk.
Then came the fracture.
When he read the first question, his eyes widened unnaturally. They shut, opened, shut again, before finally settling.
For a brief moment, paranoia flared.
What if it was staged? A calculated misstep designed to lure him?
Sunless examined it again.
The timing had been imperfect. The instability too raw. The tears that gathered later had not matched the mask he was trying to maintain.
No.
That had not been performance.
Sunless knew what performance looked like. He lived off it. What he had seen was real struggle.
After that first reaction, Kiyotaka withdrew without physically moving. His eyes lost focus, fixed somewhere inward. He stopped responding properly. While a thin sheen formed beneath his eyes. The tears came without distortion of expression.
Refusal. Eye instability. Withdrawal. Emotional leakage without visible emotion.
The pattern was incomplete, but it was there.
His flaw was connected to emotions. The questions about himself had pressed somewhere unstable.
Sunless lifted his glass and took a sip, hiding the faint curve at the corner of his mouth.
'So that's it! I might not have a idea about his entire Flaw, but I found a seam. A tiny, little crack in that face. You can refuse the ascended, Give them false sense of control... but the second you're asked who you are? How inconvenient for you! you can't even look at yourself without your brain catching fire.'
The Spell had a cruel sense of symmetry. It had twisted Sunless by forcing truth from a liar. Perhaps it had twisted Kiyotaka by turning control into a pressure point.
'Gods, the Spell is a sadistic bastard, isn't it? It took me a guy whose entire life was built on lies and turned me into a literal saint who can only speak truth, And going to that logic was your greatest strength that mask of yours, Which stays calm in every situation?'
Sunless has finally found some hope...
Still, the balance had shifted slightly. If Kiyotaka ever turned hostile against Sunless, there were ways he could retaliate.
Then Jet stood.
She did not hesitate. Her hand struck his face with the just a little force of an Ascended. His head snapped to the side. Any Sleeper should have reacted.
He did not.
Another strike followed. Then another. His cheeks reddened under the repeated impact, but there was nothing.
Sunless expected at least a reflex.
There was none.
A cold sensation slid down his spine.
What if it was not absence.
What if it was removal.
What if everything except vision had been sacrificed?
The scale of it settled in slowly.
He was already dangerous with mind interference. That alone made him a threat. But a man who could reduce his own body to a tool, who could live in silence and numbness for advantage, was something else entirely.
'Wait... stop. If he's willing to toss away his own flesh like it's yesterday's trash, What's stopping him from going even beyond with someone else?'
Sunless tried to imagine himself without sensation of touch, Hear, Taste and breath... He couldn't, He couldn't do anything like that.
Sunless tightened his grip around the glass, the faint scrape of porcelain grounding him.
'Okay, Sunless, breathe. You found a clue. That doesn't mean you get to pull the thread yet. If I trip and poke Kiyotaka without killing him, he won't feel a single thing while he's dismantling my ribs. And unlike him, I actually enjoy having my bones in one piece.'
Kiyotaka's eyes gradually returned to their usual stillness. The earlier instability vanished behind a flat, controlled gaze.
Sunless noticed something else.
A faint sheen of sweat at Jet's temple.
Even she understood the implication.
Her voice was steady, but there was no mistaking the edge beneath it.
"You are one crazy motherfucker."
***
After that, Kiyotaka asked for a few minutes. Without waiting for permission, he pulled the notebook closer and began writing.
Jet leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, watching him without hiding it. Sunless remained still, but his mind was anything but still. Too many pieces were shifting at once. The flaw. The sensory absence. The fact that Kiyotaka had returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
Who sacrifices that much and walks away unbothered?
Sunless studied him carefully.
There was no lingering instability in his posture. No tension in his shoulders. His expression had reset into that calm.
It irritated him.
He tried to angle his vision just enough to glimpse the page, but Kiyotaka's hand blocked most of it with, Even while writing, he controlled the angle.
'Mr. Wouldn't be myself blah blah blah.'
A minute later, Kiyotaka stopped. He tore the page neatly and handed it to Jet.
She took it without comment and read.
Her eyes moved once, then again, slower this time.
Then it moved again reading the paper as they blinked...
Just to make sure, she read it again.
She looked up at him.
"What is this?"
Kiyotaka met her gaze calmly.
"Will explain it later," she muttered, crumbling the paper once before keeping it in her hand.
That earned her the slightest narrowing of his eyes.
Jet rose from her chair with a faint stretch, rolling her shoulders as if they were discussing something mundane rather than dissecting psychological fractures minutes ago.
"There were some protocols I needed to go through," she said casually. "Mostly related to family background. I've reviewed Sunless's file already. And according to this" she tapped the paper lightly, "you don't have one either."
Her gaze drifted between them.
"Well. The two of you have more in common than you think."
The words hung there.
Just moments ago, they had been forced to revisit memories they would rather bury. They had uncovered part of Kiyotaka's flaw. Speculated about senses sacrificed. And now she was speaking about paperwork and background checks as if the conversation had merely shifted topics in a classroom.
The abruptness felt almost offensive.
Jet noticed.
"What?" she asked flatly. "You're uncomfortable because the subject changed? Don't expect life to move in neat sequences. You'll be laughing one second and bleeding the next in the Dream Realm. Whatever happened a moment ago is already in the past. Focus on what I'm saying now, or you'll learn that lesson the hard way."
Her tone was straightforward, almost careless, yet the weight behind it was unmistakable.
Sunless felt a flicker of reluctant respect. She never wasted words. Even her offhand remarks carried instruction.
Jet closed her eyes briefly, thinking, then spoke again.
"Normally I'd say your luck is terrible. There's not much time left before the next descent. But in your case..." She opened her eyes and studied them. "You found each other because of that bad luck."
Sunless frowned. "What do you mean we found each other?"
Jet looked at them as if they had suddenly forgotten how to think.
"You're both unstable in ways that can become assets. Alone, that instability might kill you. Together, it might not." She paused, then added with visible reluctance, "Form a team in the Dream Realm. I don't usually suggest partnerships this early. But the two of you together would be... effective."
Sunless almost rejected the idea immediately.
Travel with someone who willingly carved away his own senses for an advantage? That sounded like volunteering to let your guard down beside a loaded weapon.
But then he reconsidered.
He replayed everything again. The flaw. The control. The way Kiyotaka went against Jet.
He would rather stand beside that than face it across a battlefield.
He would never admit that out loud.
He glanced at Kiyotaka to gauge his reaction.
The boy simply nodded, as if she had suggested changing seats.
That unsettled him more than refusal would have.
Paranoia whispered that Kiyotaka might prefer keeping him close. Easier to silence if necessary.
The thought lingered as Sunless prepared to ask Him questions if it comes down to it.
Jet continued, shifting the topic without warning once again.
"As Sleepers, you are also entitled to enroll in the Awakened Academy. You'll be provided with food, lodging and a wide choice of preparatory classes. This late into the year, you won't be able to learn a lot. But it's better than nothing."
Her gaze shifted sharply to Kiyotaka.
"The paper you gave me says you don't know where you are. You have no contacts. No family. Yet you were dressed in high quality clothes when you were found, and you don't even know what the Spell is." Her eyes narrowed. "Someone might think you've lost all your memories."
There was frustration in her voice now, sharper than before.
Sunless turned to Kiyotaka slowly, disbelief creeping in.
'This guy... he might actually be worse than me.'
Not knowing about the Spell was nearly impossible. It was as fundamental as gravity. Children whispered about it. Adults built their lives around it.
It was like claiming ignorance of the sky.
'How the hell do you not know what the Spell is? Were you raised in a sealed box underground?'
Even his shadow seemed to droop in secondhand embarrassment.
Jet seemed to be manipulating essence across her palm, letting it shimmer faintly in the cafeteria light.
"Do you take me for a fool?" she asked quietly.
Kiyotaka did not react to the threat. He calmly wrote something else in the notebook and turned it toward her.
|I don't know if it's memory loss. But I'm willing to undergo a lie detector or memory examination if you doubt me.|
Jet stared at the sentence for a long moment.
Frustration tightened her expression, though whether it was at him or the situation was unclear.
"I advise both of you to join the Academy," she said at last. "You'll meet others who will enter the Dream Realm at the same time. Some of them may become companions for life."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling slowly.
"I'll arrange your enrollment. Documents won't be an issue. Until you can defend yourselves properly, it's better to stay vague with the government."
Silence settled again.
Jet looked at them expectantly.
After a brief pause, both Sunless and Kiyotaka nodded.
Whatever secrets surrounded them, whatever flaws and missing senses and fractured memories existed, survival still required the same basics.
And for now, the Academy offered those basics.
Even if it also promised new complications.
'Food is good.' Sunless nodded. 'Free food is even better.' He nodded harder.
But beyond the humour, his eyes had turned cold as he looked towards Kiyotaka making his own plans if things ever go south.
***
The three of them made their way toward the car parked outside the station.
As they walked, Kiyotaka quietly observed the influence Jet carried. A single phone call had been enough to enroll both of them into the Academy without documents, interviews, or delay.
Jet glanced back at him, faint confusion crossing her face.
"You forgot your clothes?"
Kiyotaka did not look toward the station. He kept walking. Those clothes no longer had a place in his life. For a moment he had considered selling them, but Jet had already said time was limited. There was no reason to waste effort on something irrelevant.
He wrote briefly in the notebook and showed it to her before entering the back seat.
|If they find it, tell them to throw it away.|
Jet clearly wanted to ask something, but she let it go.
A moment later, a police officer hurried outside carrying the folded clothes. Kiyotaka's attention sharpened immediately. The eye on his cheek focused on the clothes as the officer approached.
While speaking to Jet, the officer reached into one of the pockets. His hand emerged holding a pale fragment.
Bone.
Kiyotaka recognized it instantly.
A shard of Dry Water's skull.
Confusion surfaced quietly. He searched for logic, for sequence, for explanation, and found none.
Jet accepted both the clothes and the fragment without comment.
Sunless entered the back seat shortly afterward and froze when he realized Kiyotaka was already there. The hesitation lasted only a moment before he sat down anyway.
Jet circled to the driver's side and stopped when she saw the empty front seat.
A vein appeared faintly along her temple as venom came out.
"What the fuck? Do you think I'm your driver? Someone get in the front."
Neither moved.
Another eye opened on Kiyotaka's opposite cheek, turning slowly toward Sunless with silent insistence.
Sunless resisted the urge to recoil.
'That eye is so horrendous.'
Jet exhaled sharply. "Wow. The two of you already got wings? Really testing my patience."
Sunless began to shift forward, but Kiyotaka moved first, stepping out and taking the passenger seat without comment. The moment passed, and Sunless leaned back again, forcing his shoulders to relax.
Jet started the engine and handed the recovered items over.
"Seems like your past refuses to be thrown away."
Kiyotaka examined the skull fragment briefly before placing it into his pocket.
The car pulled onto the road.
Silence settled for several minutes before Jet spoke again.
"You asked questions earlier," she said, glancing briefly toward the notebook resting in Kiyotaka's hands. "About the Spell, Runes, and evaluation."
Her attention returned to the road.
"Most of that information is in the Academy library. Students have free access. Read the material yourself. You'll understand faster that way."
She paused briefly, recalling the rest.
"You also asked about True Names."
Sunless's gaze remained fixed outside the window, but something inside him tightened instantly.
Jet continued because the question had been asked, not because she intended to lecture.
"A True Name isn't given automatically," she said. "The Spell recognizes it only after someone achieves something significant enough to define who they are. Survival alone isn't enough. It has to mean something."
Her voice stayed calm, instructional.
"They're rare. Most Awakened live their entire lives without receiving one."
Sunless felt tension creeping slowly into his limbs.
His fingers curled slightly against his thigh before he consciously forced them flat again. Muscle by muscle, he loosened the stiffness, careful not to move too suddenly.
Jet continued.
"There's a common misconception," she said. "People think knowing someone's True Name gives power over them."
The words struck harder than anything before.
Heat surged through Sunless's chest.
Every instinct screamed for attention. His body wanted to react, to turn, to listen more closely than he already was.
He forced his shoulders to remain loose.
Forced his breathing to stay even.
Forced his hands to remain still despite the growing pressure coiling through his arms.
"It doesn't," Jet said simply. "A True Name isn't a chain. It doesn't allow control, commands, or ownership. The Spell doesn't work that way."
Sunless's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
Inside, resistance became physical.
His muscles tried to tense. He pushed them down deliberately, suppressing each reaction before it could surface. His arms felt heavy, as if pinned in place by his own will. Even the smallest motion felt dangerous.
'Don't move.'
His pulse quickened despite his efforts.
'Nothing changed. She's explaining theory. That's all.'
He kept his gaze steady on the passing streets, expression neutral, posture relaxed by sheer force of control.
The pressure built anyway.
A faint tremor traveled down his leg before he caught it. He pressed his heel harder against the floor of the car, anchoring himself.
Still, one foot flinched just slightly before becoming still again.
Before anything else could show, He shifted his senses into the shadow and completely destroyed the connection with the main body.
Jet continued speaking, unaware.
"The value of a True Name is personal. It reflects identity. Nothing more, You become really valuable with it, Though."
Her explanation moved on to practical matters afterward, tone returning to normal instruction, but Sunless barely registered the transition.
By the time she finished, every muscle in his body ached from restraint.
Outwardly, he remained perfectly calm.
Only he knew how close that calm had come to breaking.
***
As they approached the Academy, Jet slowed the car but did not stop immediately.
The large gates stood ahead, illuminated by soft evening lights, students moving in the distance like silhouettes entering another world entirely.
After a moment, she sighed.
"You two are making me give far more advice than I planned," she said, her voice carrying mild irritation that barely hid concern. "So listen carefully. When you enter the Academy, they will offer psychological counseling again. They will also ask for details about your Nightmare and your evaluation. The more information you provide, the better rewards they will promise you."
Her gaze remained on the road.
"So tell me. Are you going to accept it?"
Sunless stayed quiet for a few seconds. His thoughts moved quickly, tracing possibilities and consequences.
Institutions always collected information under the guise of help, and help rarely came without a cost attached somewhere unseen.
He forced his shoulders to relax before answering, carefully shaping his tone to sound natural.
"No. Even if you asked me to, I wouldn't."
There was restraint in his voice, but distrust lingered beneath it.
Jet glanced toward Kiyotaka.
Kiyotaka simply shook his head once.
She nodded unsurprised.
"Good. Don't do it."
Her expression hardened slightly as she continued.
"The Academy is filled with children from powerful families. Influence, money, connections. It wouldn't take much for someone to purchase information about you and have it quietly delivered to them."
The meaning settled heavily in the car. Everything they revealed could become leverage later.
Sunless tilted his head slightly, considering her words.
"The government would sell us out?"
Jet shrugged faintly.
"It's not personal. It's a system. Sacrificing weaker pieces so stronger ones can rise is considered efficiency."
Sunless fell silent after that, watching the passing streets while quietly recalculating how much a human life was worth in this world. The answer felt smaller than he had expected.
Beside Jet, Kiyotaka sat perfectly still, all of his eyes closed except one, as though conserving energy rather than resting.
Jet continued speaking.
"Second: there will be a lot of courses to choose from. All types of combat training, deep dives into Nightmare Creature categories and vulnerabilities, basics of various types of sorcery, artifact study and so on."
Kiyotaka glanced toward her, listening.
Sunless was already thinking ahead. Weapons, movement, defense. Four weeks was not enough time to become strong, but becoming average might mean surviving long enough to improve later.
Jet shook her head slightly.
"Ignore most of it. The only course either of you has time to attend is Wilderness Survival."
Sunless frowned faintly, confusion slipping through before he hid it. Combat seemed far more important. Survival skills sounded secondary compared to learning how to fight.
Jet noticed the reaction.
She glanced briefly toward Kiyotaka, remembering fragments of his Nightmare and the condition he had hidden, What was surprising that it was just starting of the book, She knew the rest of the Nightmare had become even harder. Yet he survived.
"I assume you already know how to survive," she said.
Kiyotaka paused before nodding slowly.
Jet accepted that answer and turned her attention to Sunless.
"What was the biggest threat in your Nightmare?"
Sunless hesitated.
Memories surfaced one after another. Poison, deception, killing, running from something far stronger than himself. Yet none of those moments stayed long enough to define the experience.
What remained was something simpler and far more persistent.
The cold.
The memory of shivering uncontrollably, teeth striking together while thoughts slowed and strength drained away no matter how desperately he tried to move.
His voice came out quieter than before.
"Cold."
A small, knowing smile appeared on Jet's face.
"Exactly. Monsters and people are dangerous, but you won't fight anything if you're freezing, starving, dehydrated, exhausted, or too sleep-deprived to think clearly." She glanced at him briefly. "Do you know how to start a fire without tools? Find safe water? Build shelter that won't collapse while you sleep?"
Sunless did not answer immediately. He realized he had focused so intensely on surviving the worst moments that he had ignored everything required to reach them alive in the first place.
There were gaps in his knowledge. Dangerous ones.
As silence settled, he began forming plans. Surviving was no longer enough. He did not want to crawl through this world forever avoiding death by inches. He wanted to thrive in it. The ability to stand without constantly retreating.
Jet glanced toward Kiyotaka again before allowing a faint hint of amusement and mischief.
"If you don't know," she said, "your dear friend can probably teach you. You could try asking him."
The words dear friend lingered in his mind as he cursed jet.
Sunless immediately looked away, pretending interest in the scenery outside the window. Asking for help felt uncomfortably close to admitting weakness.
'That girl looks good.'
Shadow nodded agreeing with Sunless.
The car finally stopped before the Academy gates.
All three stepped out. The air felt different here, heavier with expectation.
Jet faced them one last time.
"Final advice," she said.
Her tone lost its earlier sarcasm, becoming more serious.
"You already understand that teamwork matters. But don't grow attached enough to risk your life for it. Being alone for too long makes companionship feel more valuable than it actually is."
Her eyes moved between them.
"Betrayal almost always comes from the people closest to you."
The words sounded less like guidance and more like something learned through experience.
She opened the driver's door again, then added calmly,
"And revisit the four questions I asked you from time to time."
The engine started.
"I've already informed the Academy staff. Someone will come for you soon."
Without waiting for a reply, she drove away, leaving the two of them standing before the gates.
Silence followed.
Sunless glanced sideways at Kiyotaka, suddenly aware of how awkward the situation had become.
He hesitated.
How exactly was he supposed to ask this man for help?
***
I still remembered the first time I saw the Academy and felt certain there had been some mistake.
Tall walls surrounded it, reinforced by turrets that watched over the grounds. The gates were enormous, large.
Even then, before I understood the world properly, I had reached a simple conclusion. Humanity did not construct something like this without reason. Seeing the Academy had been the moment I realized monsters reaching the real world was a possibility.
I had walked closer to one of the walls, curiosity guiding me more than caution. I tapped its surface, wondering what material it was made from and how much force it could withstand.
There had been no sensation.
The realization followed a second later.
I had forgotten that I could not feel touch.
Even remembering it now made the moment difficult to sit with. It was such a small mistake.
I decided not to dwell on it.
When I glanced to the side, I noticed Sunless watching me. His gaze rested briefly on my hand against the wall before shifting away. He said nothing, but I was convinced he had noticed everything. He was probably making fun of me in his mind for forgetting something like that.
His silence somehow felt louder than mockery would have.
Not far from us, near the opposite wall, stood Nephis.
I remembered observing her quietly, studying the calm certainty in the way she carried herself.
At the time, I found myself agreeing with her without a single word being exchanged... Yes whatever she was thinking must have been right...
Oh how wrong was I...
Don't blame me, She looked like she knew what she was doing... She was just... Wrong with erm... Confidence that she was right?
I complimented her repeatedly in my thoughts, noting her composure, her focus, the strange steadiness she seemed to possess even while waiting like the rest of us.
If I tried doing the same now, Sunless would probably follow me just to start a conversation....
The three of us stood apart from the others, wearing identical police tracksuits, the last ones waiting to enter. At the time it felt random, an unimportant overlap of circumstances.
Later, I would understand that coincidence rarely existed for someone [Embraced by Fate], especially when accompanied by another who carried [Fated].
Of course, I did not know about that yet. Back then, it had simply felt like standing beside strangers under the same sky.
The gates opened slowly.
We walked forward together without hesitation, stepping inside with the quiet expectation that life would simply continue, only slightly different than before.
I remembered thinking those were simple times.
Now We are surrounded by not so simple time.
***
As Sunless, the girl, and I walked into the so called Academy, we were guided toward a smaller section separated from the main grounds by wide training fields.
The open space between structures immediately stood out to me. Nothing obstructed visibility for long distances, and movement across the fields would be easy to monitor from multiple angles.
Most of the complex extended underground, with only a handful of buildings visible above the surface.
The structures that did rise above ground were thick and reinforced, their shapes practical rather than decorative.
The Academy did not resemble a school as much as it resembled a place prepared to continue functioning even if the world outside failed.
As we entered the building, the interior opened into wide corridors that felt spacious. The ceilings were high enough to prevent crowding, and intersections appeared at measured intervals. My attention moved automatically, tracing distances, counting turns, estimating how long it would take to reach an exit at a normal pace versus a sprint.
Left corridor connected to another wing. Emergency lighting embedded along the floor. Cameras positioned high enough to avoid interference yet angled to remove blind spots.
Without realizing it, I began constructing a mental map.
Each hallway connected like lines forming a diagram inside my mind. Entry points became nodes. Staircases became vertical transitions. Possible bottlenecks marked themselves naturally as areas where movement could be controlled or restricted.
The building was brightly lit.
White walls extended in every direction, Why they had to be white... Anyways, reflecting light evenly enough that shadows struggled to form. The absence of visual clutter made orientation easier, though it also removed places to hide.
Eventually, we were led into a large hall already filled with more than a hundred others.
Most of them looked prepared.
Proper clothes. Bags filled with personal belongings. Some spoke quietly with familiarity, others observed cautiously, but nearly all carried themselves with the subtle confidence of people who had expected to arrive here.
Unlike us.
Our police tracksuits stood out immediately among the crowd. Conversations slowed near us before continuing again, attention lingering just long enough to confirm we were different... As they prepared their plan to approach us... They were younge and wanted to share their experience.
Well that's good that I can't say anything.
I noted several groups forming naturally based on prior acquaintance or shared background. Individuals alone were already being categorized by others, consciously or not. Social structures were forming before anyone had officially spoken.
Preparation created hierarchy faster than authority ever could.
For a moment, I considered changing back into my previous clothes to reduce attention. Blending into a crowd lowered unpredictability and limited unnecessary observation.
However, I had not seen a suitable place to change since entering the building. Every hallway had been monitored or too exposed to attempt it without drawing more notice than remaining as I was.
Remaining unchanged became the more efficient option.
Paths formed automatically in my thoughts, I made pathways in my own mind if things ever go wrong.
Everyone seemed focused on what would come next.
I found myself more interested in how many of them had already realized they were being observed just as carefully as they were observing others.
***
From the corner of my vision, Sunless stepped closer until he stood beside me. He glanced around the hall, noticed the attention already drifting toward us, and seemed quietly satisfied with something only he understood.
Why is he approaching me, He knows that I have a mind hax.
"Let's stay together, my dear friend."
Jet's words, stripped of sincerity and reused purely for convenience.
He slipped his hands into his pockets and began smiling at anyone who looked our way. It was not a friendly smile.
It acknowledged people without inviting them closer.
The effect was immediate.
A group of students approached, encouraged by curiosity and poor collective judgment. The boy leading them walked confidently until his eyes reached my face.
His steps slowed.
His expression stalled halfway between greeting and apology. He stared, blinked, then stared again, clearly waiting for reality to correct itself.
I watched his lips patiently.
He noticed I did not react to his voice.
"Oh… you read lips?"
I nodded once.
Behind him, one of his friends leaned sideways to confirm what she was seeing and immediately regretted committing to that decision.
The boy turned toward Sunless with visible relief, like someone discovering an emergency exit.
Sunless smiled back calmly.
Hope appeared.
Then hesitation.
The boy looked between us again. Sunless remained perfectly comfortable standing beside me, showing no concern whatsoever.
The hope faded slowly.
"You two… know each other?" he asked carefully.
Sunless nodded.
"He is my best friend."
The boy processed this information as if it revealed something deeply troubling about the world.
"...right," he said, already stepping backward. "Nice meeting you."
They retreated quickly.
I watched them leave.
Apparently my mere existence invalidated greetings. I had neither threatened nor pursued them, yet conversation collapsed instantly.
It was difficult not to feel personally attacked.
If I possessed lips, I might have frowned.
Instead, I remained motionless, silently enduring this emotional betrayal.
Sunless observed their retreat with quiet amusement.
"They thought I was the safe option," he said. "Then they noticed my decision making."
Why do you sound so proud while roasting yourself.
Another pair approached, whispering intensely before reaching us.
"You talk first."
"No, you said you wanted to meet people."
"I meant people with faces."
They stopped anyway.
"Hi," one of them said cautiously.
Her eyes landed on me and immediately lost confidence. Words slowed as she tried to maintain politeness while her brain searched unsuccessfully for explanations.
Her friend turned toward Sunless with visible relief.
Sunless smiled at her.
He said nothing.
The silence stretched just long enough to become uncomfortable. Her gaze moved between us, confusion growing as Sunless continued standing there without offering clarification or escape.
.
.
[.] [Arliet3928 insta]
.
.
"Oh… okay," she said eventually, despite nothing occurring.
They nodded several times and left.
I watched them go, reflecting on the interaction.
Twice now, individuals had approached with hope only to abandon communication entirely. I began to suspect I was unpopular.
This realization wounded me deeply.
Internally.
Very deeply.
Sunless followed their departure with his eyes.
"They look at me like I'm supposed to explain you," he murmured. "As if I agreed to that responsibility."
This has to be what my classmates used to call rage bait.
More students attempted approaches. Each followed the same progression: confidence, confusion, hopeful glance at Sunless, then immediate reconsideration once they realized he willingly occupied this position.
One boy approached with determination, opened his mouth toward Sunless, then paused after looking at me again.
He studied Sunless more carefully.
A subtle suspicion formed.
"...never mind," he said, leaving.
I observed this carefully.
At this rate, I might never experience casual conversation again. My academic future appeared socially doomed. I wondered if this counted as bullying.
Sunless seemed increasingly relaxed as the empty space around us widened. He continued smiling faintly at observers, which only reinforced the unsettling conclusion others were reaching.
Across the hall, a student pointed at us while arguing with a friend about approaching. The friend refused immediately and physically pulled him away.
I felt another sharp stab of imaginary emotional pain.
Tragic.
Sunless glanced sideways at me.
"You know," he said quietly, "standing next to you might be the safest decision I've made today."
And standing next to you is the biggest blow to my self worth.
Another student began approaching despite everything.
Sunless noticed immediately.
His smile faded as disbelief replaced amusement.
The student slowed after seeing my face… hesitated… then continued walking anyway.
Sunless straightened.
"Oh no."
The student kept coming.
Sunless turned toward me, completely serious.
"I'm warning you," he said quietly, "if someone approaches us even after witnessing all of this, I am leaving you behind."
He gestured toward the wide circle of avoidance surrounding us.
"That level of determination means they're not thinking correctly, and I refuse to participate in whatever situation follows."
The student finally lost courage and turned away at the last second.
Relief returned to Sunless instantly.
"Good," he muttered as he wipes non existent sweat from his forehead. "Sanity survives another day."
He resumed smiling faintly at the room, entirely comfortable inside the growing space created by people who had collectively decided that anyone willingly standing beside me was probably just as dangerous as I was.
I considered this outcome.
Despite doing nothing, I had successfully damaged two dozen social opportunities.
I felt profoundly misunderstood.
And after just half an hour, We had become famous among others as the ones you should not approach.
My social life.....
***
Satisfied with their performance, Sunless drifted toward the corner of the hall with his best friend Kiyotaka beside him.
The decision was mutual in the sense that neither of them said anything and both simply moved away from people at the same time.
For some reason, the corner remained completely empty.
As they walked, Sunless felt eyes following them. Not subtle glances either. Entire conversations paused as students watched them pass, expressions caught somewhere between confusion, nervous curiosity, and the instinctive caution.
"They are looking at me like that because of you,"
Sunless muttered under his breath, not even pretending fairness.
He shook his head faintly, as if burdened by tragedy.
"My reputation is being destroyed through association."
Kiyotaka, naturally, gave no response.
Sunless glanced sideways at him.
Honestly, this was entirely Kiyotaka's fault. Him and that ridiculous fate nonsense had entered Sunless's life solely to complicate it.
He absolutely had not decided to stay near Kiyotaka because by doing so others won't approach him and he won't have to talk, Potentially revealing his Flaw to Kiyotaka
Absolutely not.
Trust the agenda.
As they reached the corner, Sunless noticed the lone occupant.
A girl sat quietly at a bench.
The quiet girl was delicate, demure and very pretty. Her clothes were tidy and neat. They weren't very expensive, but still rather tasteful. With her pale blond hair, big blue eyes and exquisite face, she looked like a beautiful porcelain doll.
She was subtly breathtaking.
However, there was something wrong with her. Sunny frowned, trying to understand what exactly about the girl made him uncomfortable. After a while, he realized that her empty, expressionless stare was reminding him of Mountain King.
Sunless stiffened slightly before realization settled in.
Blind.
It took him a moment to compose himself.
'What a shame' he thought quietly. The world rarely spared beauty.
He moved to sit at the far edge of the bench, intending to keep distance out of habit more than politeness.
Before he could sit, Kiyotaka stopped him.
Sunless turned back, confused.
Kiyotaka stood still, looking toward the girl.
For a brief moment, his expression changed.
Cold.
Just sharply focused, as if something inside him had aligned into place. The temperature around him seemed to drop without warning.
Sunless blinked.
Well. That was unsettling.
Kiyotaka gestured calmly toward the opposite bench, silently instructing Sunless to sit there instead.
Sunless stared at him.
"...seriously?"
Kiyotaka did not move.
Sunless sighed and changed direction, muttering under his breath as he sat down across from them.
"What is he planning now…"
Kiyotaka approached the girl and tapped the table lightly a few times.
The sound startled her slightly. Her head turned toward him, surprise softening quickly into a gentle smile.
She nodded, silently allowing him to sit.
Kiyotaka took the seat beside her without hesitation.
Sunless watched the interaction with growing suspicion.
He leaned back slightly, observing the two of them.
Sunless frowned.
Of all people, this silent, faceless anomaly had chosen the one person in the room who could not even see him.
He considered this for a moment.
Then another thought appeared, entirely uninvited.
'If I stabbed two eyes out of him and gifted them to her, would that count as kindness?'
Sunless tilted his head slightly, genuinely considering the logistics before dismissing the idea.
He watched them quietly, resting his chin against his hand.
"What a strange pairing," he murmured to himself.
Around them, students continued stealing glances toward the corner, whispering among themselves. Whatever hesitation had kept people away earlier now doubled. The sight of someone willingly sitting beside Kiyotaka only confirmed their suspicions.
Sunless noticed the widening space and felt deeply validated.
Yes.
This corner was perfect.
None of them knew at the time, But this moment right here... Will be written in history.
Named: When the three met.
*******
So this academy section will be named "Dramatic Irony." It will go on for 4–5 chapters. I have too many things to establish, and trust me, it won't be boring.
I have put too much thought into it for it to be boring.
This chapter was really tough and frustrating to write. In the Shadow Slave novel, it was mostly just descriptions of how things looked and Sunless being Sunless as part of the academy's introduction.
But if I had just copied it as it happened, it would have been really boring for people who have already read Shadow Slave.
So I had to think of so many things.
Too boring? Let's have a lot of humour as the introductory chapter.
You know what, let's have Jet roast them.
Let's have Ayanokouji from the future narrate.
Let's have Ayanokouji get bullied for his looks.
Let's have Sunless being Sunless.
I had to put so much thought into this chapter. Omfg.
(It might be named Dramatic Irony but u won't be spoonfed anything, Might as well find what the irony is about before I reveal it in last two chapters of Dramatic Irony. :))
Next chapter - Either Sunday or Monday.