[Day 2 │ 16:15 │ Northeast Sector: Forest Trail]
Afternoon haze drifted lazily between the trees, softening the forest beneath scattered shafts of sunlight. Leaves stirred overhead with every passing breeze, their gentle rustling occasionally interrupted by the distant call of a bird. Somewhere beyond the dense woodland, the faint sound of waves carried inland from the resort.
Akhina walked along the narrow dirt trail alone. Her arms swung loosely at her sides, though the stiffness in her shoulders betrayed the fierce energy she was desperately trying to keep bottled down. Every so often, her gaze wandered toward the surrounding trees, lingering on the spaces between their trunks before returning to the path ahead.
"If you truly were possessed and are a good survivor, take Fuji down."
Noah's words resurfaced in her mind.
Akhina frowned and kicked a pebble off the trail. "Why that chicken, though? Out of everyone, why him?" she muttered, watching it disappear into the undergrowth.
Of all the people Noah could have named, Fuji felt absurdly random. She barely knew him, and nothing about his easygoing, joker persona screamed dangerous. But then again, that was probably the point. Noah seemed to like playing games.
She didn't trust Noah—not for a second. There was something calculated about the way he spoke, as though every word served a purpose he had no intention of revealing. Unfortunately, Vanitas and Asher had agreed to cooperate with him. While Akhina wasn't particularly fond of taking instructions from someone she barely knew, she trusted those two considerably more than she trusted Noah.
"Ugh, whatever. I'll just talk to Fuji first," she grumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Not like I have to do anything immediately."
A sudden crunch of dry leaves interrupted her thoughts.
Akhina lifted her head.
Further down the trail, someone was approaching from the opposite direction. The figure moved at an unhurried pace, occasionally peering through the trees before checking the holographic interface on his wrist. A sketchpad was tucked beneath one arm.
Speak of the devil.
Fuji Homa.
Akhina recognised him almost immediately. He appeared preoccupied with whatever was displayed on his screen, only dismissing the interface when he looked up and noticed her.
For a moment, his expression changed. Then, a familiar, easygoing grin spread across his face.
"Hey! What's up?" He raised a hand in greeting.
Akhina stopped abruptly. Her shoulders stiffened before she caught herself and forced a smile.
Oop, act normal, Aki. Lock it in.
"Yo."
Fuji slowed to a halt as he approached, his smile dipping slightly at the edges as he took in her rigid stance. "Err... you okay? You look a little tense, is everything alright?"
"Huh? Nah, I'm fine." Akhina waved a hand dismissively, letting out a laugh that sounded a little sharper than intended. "Just nearly tripped over one of these stupid roots."
She glanced toward the ground, pretending to search for the offending root.
Fuji followed her gaze and chuckled. "Oh, tell me about it. I swear this island is trying to break our ankles before the actual game even gets us."
"Right?" Akhina agreed, relieved that he hadn't questioned her excuse.
"Anyway, it's nice seeing a familiar face out here." Fuji shifted the sketchpad under his arm, his tone light and conversational. "How've you been holding up?"
"Honestly? Pretty shit."
"Fair enough."
"We're stuck in some weird survival game, people are getting eliminated, and nobody actually knows what the hell is going on. What could possibly be worse?"
"Exactly." Fuji leaned casually against a nearby tree, glancing up toward the canopy. "They really threw us into this without much explanation, huh?"
Akhina shrugged.
"Honestly, I've been wandering around trying to figure things out myself." He gave a light, self-deprecating laugh. "Not much luck, though. Everyone's either hiding like they're about to vanish or looking at each other like they're ready to throw hands."
Well...
Akhina fought the urge to check her watch.
Fuji smiled, but his sharp, analytical mind was working underneath the surface. He hadn't expected to run into Akhina here. His original plan had been to track down Noah and throw enough wrenches into his deductions to buy Shun some breathing room. Stumbling across someone from Talgrin Spire was a detour, but a potentially useful one. If he could fish out where her loyalties or suspicions lay, it wouldn't be a waste of time.
"So," Akhina began, shifting her weight as her natural impatience flared through her restraint, "you've been walking around here all by yourself?"
"Pretty much."
"Did you run into anybody else?"
"Not really. Just you."
Akhina tilted her head, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Huh. You seem pretty chill about it."
Fuji blinked. "About what?"
"Being alone. In a literal murder competition."
He laughed awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. "Well, when you put it like that..."
"Are you actually just wandering around, or are you looking for someone?"
The question carried a sudden edge. Fuji caught the suspicion immediately, recognising the shift behind her gaze. Beneath his easygoing facade, his instincts sharpened.
He raised both hands in an exaggerated gesture of surrender. "Whoa, hold on. What's with the sudden interrogation?"
Akhina crossed her arms, refusing to back down. "Just asking."
"That's fair and all, but relax." Fuji chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not exactly wandering around for fun, y'know? Figured it'd be easier to get a feel for everyone if I kept to myself for a bit."
Akhina raised an eyebrow. "By walking around alone? Isn't that kinda risky?"
"Well, yeah. But sticking with the wrong people could be just as bad, couldn't it?" He shrugged, adjusting the sketchpad beneath his arm. "I'd rather figure out who I can trust before getting myself dragged into something."
Akhina considered his answer, her arms gradually uncrossing. He had a point. With everyone hiding their intentions, blindly joining a group wasn't necessarily any safer than travelling alone.
"Hmm. I guess you're right. Still sounds pretty risky to me, though."
"Tell me about it." Fuji gave a small, humourless laugh before lowering his voice. "Doesn't help that some people have been acting pretty sketchy, either."
Akhina tilted her head. "Like who?"
Fuji hesitated briefly, watching her expression before answering. "Well... Noah, for one."
Akhina's expression faltered.
Huh? The world seems to be fucking with my brain today.
"I'm not saying he's definitely dangerous," Fuji continued, watching her reaction like a hawk. "Crown guy seems to know an awful lot for someone supposedly figuring it out alongside everyone else. Doesn't that seem a little weird to you?"
Akhina pressed her lips together.
That was precisely what bothered Akhina about Noah. Yet hearing Fuji voice the same concern only made the situation more confusing. Either he had noticed something genuinely suspicious, or he was deliberately trying to turn her against someone who had already identified him as a threat.
She studied Fuji for a moment, watching how comfortably he leaned against the tree. He seemed remarkably at ease for someone who had just admitted he didn't know whom to trust.
"Honestly?" she said, shrugging. "Yeah. I find him sus as hell too."
"RIGHT? You get it!" Fuji exclaimed, gesturing toward her with a relieved grin. "Glad I'm not the only one thinking that."
Akhina gave a small chuckle, although her suspicions remained. Agreeing with him wasn't going to get her anywhere, and confronting him outright would probably make him defensive. Perhaps there was another way to figure out whether Noah's warning held any weight.
"But hey, since we're on the same page..." She paused, casually adjusting her sleeve. "Why don't we team up?"
Fuji blinked, caught off guard by the suggestion. "Wait, seriously?"
"Why not?" Akhina asked. "You said you're trying to find people you can trust, right?"
Fuji considered her offer. He hadn't expected Akhina to approach him so readily, especially when he'd originally intended to gather information without drawing too much attention to himself. Still, an alliance could provide exactly the opportunity he needed.
"Well, when you put it that way..." He grinned, straightening from the tree. "Man, you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that."
Akhina smiled faintly. "Don't get too excited. I'm not saying I trust you yet."
"Hey, fair enough!" Fuji laughed. "Gotta start somewhere, right?"
"Yeah." She nodded, then let a brief silence settle between them before continuing. "Though, if we're gonna watch each other's backs, shouldn't we at least know what we're working with?"
Fuji raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"Your role, dummy." Akhina gave him an expectant look. "What can you do?"
Fuji's smile stayed fixed, but his internal alarm bells rang softly. He had known the question was coming. Stonewalling her would only make her dig deeper, and claiming a basic survivor role wouldn't explain why he had been keeping to himself. He needed something utility-based—harmless enough to explain his caution, but convincing enough to satisfy her.
Silencer, maybe?
It was a known ability, non-violent, and difficult to verify once used. It made him look cautious rather than lethal.
"Hehe... about that." Fuji offered an apologetic, disarming shrug. "I should probably come clean about something."
Akhina raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Well, I didn't really want to broadcast my role because people tend to panic over it."
"Panic over what?"
"It's not a combat ability or anything," he assured her quickly. "More of a utility skill."
Akhina waited, her patience wearing thin.
Fuji took a breath, playing the part of someone confessing an awkward secret. "You remember when you got muted earlier?"
Her expression hardened instantly. "...Yeah?"
"That was actually me."
Silence stretched across the trail.
Fuji offered a sheepish, nervous laugh, trying to brush off the tension. "I know, I know, pretty bad first impression, right? But I was literally just testing out how the system worked. I didn't mean anything personal by it, I swear."
Akhina stared at him. For several long seconds, she didn't breathe.
...What?
That couldn't be right.
Asher was the Silencer. He had already demonstrated the ability to their group, leaving no reason for her to doubt his claim.
She blinked, looking at Fuji with renewed disbelief. "You're saying... you did that?"
"Yeah." Fuji nodded, mistaking her expression for ordinary surprise. "Look, I get why you'd be annoyed. I would've been too. But if we're going to watch each other's backs, I figured I should at least be honest with you."
Akhina barely registered the rest of his explanation.
He's lying.
And he was standing there smiling about it.
He's actually lying to my face.
Akhina's expression darkened. A cold, heavy knot twisted in her stomach. She had approached him, intending to find out whether Noah was telling the truth, not hoping to prove him right. Yet Fuji had just handed her the answer himself.
Her fingers curled into fists. She could have confronted him, demanded another explanation, or simply walked away. Instead, the frustration she'd been suppressing finally got the better of her.
Oh, you fucked up sooooo bad.
Fuji finally noticed the terrifying stiffness in her posture. "...Akhina?"
Her thumb slammed down on her watch interface.
Noah was right about this bastard.
[Activating: Daggers]
A sharp, brilliant burst of blue light erupted from her wrist, startling Fuji back a step. The light condensed rapidly around her hands, shaping itself into two short, gleaming blades that shimmered with an unnatural, cold radiance.
Fuji stared at the weapons, his easygoing mask shattering completely. "Akhina, what are you doing?"
She tightened her grip, her voice shaking with sudden, uncontainable fury. "You're just full of shit, huh?"
Fuji straightened. "Whoa, hold on. What did I—"
"Fucking liar!" Akhina raised a dagger, her raw impulse entirely taking over.
Fuji stared at the weapon, then at her furious expression. There was no time to work out what had gone wrong. He turned and ran.
"HEY! DON'T RUN!" Akhina yelled, surging after him.
"WHO THE HELL WOULDN'T RUN IN THIS SITUATION?!"
His shoes kicked up loose dirt and dry leaves as he sprinted down the narrow path, nearly wiping out on an exposed root.
"GET BACK HERE!"
"ARE YOU INSANE?! YOU LITERALLY HAVE KNIVES!"
Fuji ducked beneath a low branch, his heart pounding as he struggled to make sense of the situation.
He had expected suspicion, perhaps a few uncomfortable questions or even a demand to prove his role. What he hadn't expected was for Akhina to summon weapons and immediately attempt to chase him through the forest.
Whatever he'd said, it had clearly been the wrong thing.
Behind him, Akhina's foot caught on an uneven patch of earth. "Ugh—!" She slammed her hand against a tree trunk to keep from faceplanting.
Fuji risked a glance over his shoulder. Seeing her momentarily delayed, he pushed himself harder, hoping the distance would be enough to lose her among the trees.
Then her watch chimed loudly.
[Role Bonus: Assassin Assist Activated]
"Huh?"
Before Akhina could even process the prompt, an alien, mechanical force seized control of her body. Her muscles locked tight, and an overwhelming surge of momentum hurled her forward off the ground.
"Whoa!"
Her feet struck the earth with terrifying, inhuman speed. Akhina lurched down the trail like a fired bullet.
What? Did I just do that?!
The trees whipped past in a dizzying blur as she fought to regain control. The harder she resisted, the more unsettling the sensation became. It was as though something had taken hold of her movements and was dragging her toward Fuji.
Fuji heard the impossible acceleration closing the gap behind him. He looked back, and the blood drained entirely from his face.
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"
Akhina closed the distance in a heartbeat, her right arm snapping back on its own accord, the dagger angling straight for his chest.
Fuji reacted instinctively.
Years of training under his father's supervision had left certain movements deeply ingrained in him. The Eskrima drills, once repeated until his arms ached, had taught him to respond to an approaching weapon before hesitation could take hold.
His father's familiar instruction resurfaced: don't fixate on the weapon; pay attention to the movement behind it.
Fuji instinctively sidestepped the incoming thrust, narrowly avoiding the dagger's path. His left hand struck Akhina's wrist, knocking the glowing blade off course, while his other hand caught her arm near the elbow. With a sharp twist, he forced her wrist outward, disrupting her grip on the weapon.
Akhina shrieked out in surprise and pain. "OW—!"
The dagger slipped from her grip, clattering hard into the dirt.
Fuji staggered backward, breathing heavily as he stared at the fallen weapon.
For a moment, he seemed almost as surprised as Akhina that the manoeuvre had worked.
"Holy shit..."
Akhina stood frozen, her wrist throbbing fiercely, completely bewildered. She hadn't even understood what he'd done—one second the system was driving her like a puppet, and the next, her weapon was knocked clean away.
Fuji threw his hands up defensively, his voice cracking. "Okay, wait! I just—can we please stop for two seconds?!"
Akhina glared at him, chest heaving, when a holographic notification flashed violently across her vision.
[Weapon Severed From Assassin]
[Resummon Dagger?]
[Yes / No]
She blinked, stunned. "...Oh."
Fuji grimaced, backing away another inch. "What's 'oh' supposed to mean?"
Akhina hit Yes.
The dagger lying in the dirt dissolved into a cluster of faint blue particles before snapping back into existence inside her palm with a cold, solid weight.
Fuji's expression went completely blank. "...Huh?"
He looked from the empty patch of dirt back to the blade in her hand. How the hell did she—
Before he could move, three glowing, invasive markers mapped themselves directly across his body within Akhina's field of vision, tracking his every twitch.
[Target Acquired]
A: Carotid Artery — Instant Fatal
B: Left Kidney — Critical Shock
C: Intercostal Slice — Disabling Bleed
Akhina stared at the unfamiliar interface, her brows knitting together as she tried to make sense of the options. The markers followed Fuji as he retreated, refusing to disappear even when she looked away. Akhina tightened her grip on the dagger, increasingly uncertain whether the system was waiting for her decision or preparing to act regardless.
Carotid? Kidney?
She barely understood the anatomical terms, but Instant Fatal and Critical Shock sounded terrifying enough.
What the hell is this?
She snapped her gaze back to Fuji. He was still backing away slowly, hands raised, his breath coming in ragged, nervous gasps.
"Listen, Akhina, whatever I said, I'm sorry, okay? Just put the daggers away and we can talk this out!"
Akhina couldn't even process his words. Her panic-stricken eyes locked back onto the options floating in front of her.
Then her attention settled on the third.
Disabling Bleed.
Akhina tilted her head. She wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but disabling sounded considerably less frightening than fatal or critical shock. Perhaps it would simply prevent Fuji from running away.
"Okay... that one shouldn't be as bad, right?"
She hesitated, glancing at Fuji one last time before focusing on the final marker.
[Option C Selected. Executing…]
Akhina's breath caught in her throat. "Wait—"
Her arm didn't wait. The system hijacked her motion entirely, tearing her forward without a single shred of hesitation.
Fuji saw the flash of the blade cutting through the air. He tried to twist away, but it was already too late.
SHHHK—!
A sharp, wet, sickening sound tore through the silent forest.
Fuji's breath vanished instantly in a strangled, choking gasp. "AGH—!"
His entire body violently jerked backward. For a fraction of a second, his brain couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Then, a searing pain spread through his side, stealing what little breath remained in his lungs.
Akhina's dagger had buried itself cleanly beneath his lower ribs, severing the muscles that allowed his chest to expand.
The system released her arm the millisecond the strike landed, leaving Fuji stumbling backward on weak legs. He tripped over an exposed root and crashed heavily into the dirt. His sketchpad slipped from his arm, scattering blank and drawn pages across the muddy trail.
"Ah—!" He tried to push himself up, but a fresh wave of blinding pain locked his lungs. Every single time he tried to pull in air, the severed intercostal muscles flared like liquid fire.
Fuji gasped, his hand flying desperately to his side.
What...?
His fingers came away slick and warm.
He stared down at them in the dappled sunlight.
Red.
Dark, unmistakable, vivid red.
"...Blood?"
His voice sounded small, miles away. He pressed his palm back over the wound, frantically trying to stop the flow, hoping against hope that his eyes were playing tricks on him.
The pain only intensified, sharp and suffocating. A ragged, trembling breath tore out of his throat, turning into a wet cough.
"What... the fuck...?"
Akhina stood completely motionless. The unnatural force gripping her limbs had vanished, leaving her body her own again, but the heavy dagger in her hand was slick with dark crimson running down its edge.
Huh?
She looked at Fuji, then at the weapon, unable to reconcile what she was seeing with what she had expected.
"Fuji...?"
Fuji was fighting desperately just to pull air into his lungs. His skin was turning chalk-white, and his hands shook violently as he clamped them over his side. His chest hitched in shallow, erratic twitches—air wasn't reaching his lungs, and blood was already pooling into his thoracic cavity.
"Why..." Fuji gasped, tears of agony pricking the corners of his eyes as his voice broke. "Why does it... hurt so much...?"
Akhina's fingers loosened around the hilt. The daggers dissolved into blue light, but the blood remained coated over her skin.
No…
Fuji dragged himself backward through the dirt with his heels, his shoulders slamming hard against a tree trunk.
"Stay..." He swallowed hard, coughing up a spatter of red. "Stay away from me!"
Akhina flinched. "Fuji, I—"
"STAY AWAY!" His voice cracked, dissolving into a desperate, agonizing sob. He stared at the blood soaking his palms in pure, unadulterated horror. "This... this isn't... I thought we'd just..."
He couldn't finish the thought. Every attempt to speak sent agonizing spasms through his ribs.
Akhina stared at him. She understood what he meant.
Disappear.
That was what they'd expected elimination to involve. A notification, perhaps a teleportation or some sort of digital removal from the game. Anything other than this wet, suffocating reality.
"I didn't..." Akhina began, her voice barely audible. "I didn't know..."
Fuji pressed his hand harder against his side, wincing as his breathing became increasingly shallow.
Akhina looked desperately around the trail. There had to be something she could do. Someone she could call.
"Fuji! Hang on!" She dropped to her knees beside him. "We need to get you back! There has to be a medic or something!"
Fuji shook his head weakly. "Don't..."
"C'mon, I'll help you up!" Akhina reached for his upper arms, attempting to support his weight.
The movement caused Fuji to cry out. "AGH—! STOP!"
The shriek cut straight through her soul. She instantly let go, pulling her hands back as if she had just touched white-hot iron.
Fuji recoiled, clutching his injured side as his breathing grew frantic. "Stop... please..."
His voice was barely recognisable.
"Sorry! Sorry, I—" She scrambled backward, nearly losing her balance as her hands slipped against the dirt.
Fuji slumped against the tree, his trembling hands struggling to maintain pressure against his side. Blood seeped between his fingers and soaked into the earth beneath him. Each breath came shorter than the last, and even the slightest movement seemed to exhaust him.
Akhina backed away on her hands and knees, staring at him. "I didn't mean to hurt you like this."
BuT yOu dID. You hUrt hIM.
Akhina pressed her bloodstained hands against her knees.
aND You made It woRSe.
LooK At Him. He'S DyinG BEcaUSe oF yOu.
Her shoulders curled inward. She wanted to argue, to insist that she'd never meant for any of this to happen, but the sight of Fuji struggling against the tree left her without an answer.
UNContrOLLablE.
vIOLeNT.
MaD.
A mONsteR.
She covered her ears, although the accusations weren't coming from anywhere around her.
The whispers from her past—the ones she had tried so desperately to run from—flooded back with crushing, suffocating force. She had tried to hold back and be careful. Now, Fuji was sitting in front of her, injured by a weapon she had chosen to summon.
She didn't dare touch him again. Instead, Akhina sank onto her heels, drawing her trembling arms against her chest. Her gaze remained fixed on Fuji, wide and unblinking, even as the sounds around her gradually faded into an indistinct hum.
It said disabling... it said disabling bleed...
Time passed without Akhina noticing. The sunlight shifted across the trail, gradually retreating from where Fuji sat. His earlier cries had dwindled into faint, uneven breaths, and the hand pressed against his side had begun to slip. His gaze wandered toward the canopy overhead, though the leaves had long since blurred together. Eventually, his bloodstained fingers loosened completely, falling beside the open sketchpad.
He was in so much pain, but he didn't even have the breath left to cry out.
Her mind completely snapped.
I did this.
The thought repeated itself, growing heavier each time it resurfaced. She wanted to deny it, to insist that none of this was what she'd intended. Yet the blood staining her hands left her with a truth she could neither escape nor undo.
Akhina remained where she was, watching him with an increasingly vacant expression. Every time his chest rose, she found herself waiting for the next breath.
Fuji's chest rose once more. A tiny, faint sigh of air escaped his lips—the final release of pressure from a body that could no longer fight the internal bleeding.
His head tipped softly to the side against the rough bark, and his chest didn't rise again.
The forest fell completely, terrifyingly still.
Seconds later, a sharp, cheerful electronic chime shattered the silence, echoing from Akhina's wrist interface.
A bright holographic window popped up into her line of sight:
[Fuji assassinated.]
[The result will be shown at daytime.]
Akhina stared blankly at the neon letters floating in the air over Fuji's corpse.
Assassinated.
The notification vanished, leaving Akhina staring at the body beneath the tree. There was no blue light, no pixelation, nor any sign of the system recalling him.
Fuji's sketchpad lay open beside him, its pages shifting gently whenever the wind passed through. She watched one page lift and settle against his motionless hand.
Nothing else moved.
Akhina remained kneeling in the dirt, her bloodstained fingers resting in her lap. For once, she had nothing to say.
[Day 2 │ Northeast Sector: Resort Balcony]
Golden afternoon light washed across the resort balcony, catching the ocean breeze.
Lux Nightingale stood near the railing, hugging a round penguin plush Ace had won for her earlier in the entertainment room. She smiled softly down at its bead eyes.
Behind her, Shun sat in a deck chair, watching his wrist interface.
"Have you heard anything from Fuji?" Lux asked.
Shun closed the screen. "Not yet."
"Do you think he managed to find Noah?"
"Knowing Fuji? He probably got distracted talking to someone else," Shun said, leaning back.
Lux chuckled. "Haha, maybe."
"Still, he's not careless enough to forget why he went out there," Shun added, glancing toward the forest treeline. "At least, I hope not."
Silence returned between them. Neither of them knew that further down the island, the person they were waiting for was already gone.
Shun stood up, adjusting his cuffs. "We should start moving soon. North perimeter first. If Fuji made contact—"
A sharp electronic hum cut him off.
A shimmering blue ring materialized at mouth level. Shun instinctively tried to lean back, but the ring snapped forward instantly.
SHLNK!
The light clamped tightly across his lips.
Lux dropped her plush toy in shock, rushing forward. "Shun!"
Glowing strands wrapped around his neck, twisting together before locking into a solid, cold choker with a mechanical click.
Shun reached up, his fingers brushing against the cold band around his throat. He tried to speak, but no sound came out. His watch interface still responded, allowing him to access previous conversations, but every attempt to type produced the same red warning. Sending messages was impossible.
Lux leaned in slightly to examine the glowing choker around his neck, careful not to touch it. "This skill..." she murmured, her brows drawing together as she connected the dots. "It's like the one Akhina had on her before. Somebody is trying to silence you."
Shun narrowed his eyes. Had the Survivors caught onto something, or was the timing merely unfortunate? The restriction could be part of a larger strategy, perhaps even a role-specific mission. Whatever the reason, someone had deliberately taken away his ability to communicate.
Lux looked back up at his face, keeping an open mind. "We need to figure out who actually holds this silencing role. Until then, we have to stay observant and watch how people act around us."
Shun gave a single, firm nod of agreement. He raised his arm, tapping his watch screen to open Fuji's direct chat log, looking for any unread updates, but the channel remained completely dead. He glanced up at Lux, held up two fingers, and pointed firmly toward the forest treeline.
Lux read his sharp body language instantly. "Right. We should find Fuji first, then figure out the rest."
Shun gave an approving tilt of his head. He glanced down toward her feet, nudging his chin toward the plush toy sitting on the wooden deck.
Lux caught his glance and followed his eyes down to the ground. She quickly bent over, scooping the penguin plush back up into her arms and clutching it tight against her chest as her expression hardened with resolve. "Let's go. Lead the way."
Shun gestured for her to fall in close beside him, then turned toward the balcony stairs, leading the way down toward the path below. His throat pulsed with a cold blue light, his jaw set and his outward demeanor entirely calm and unreadable.
Yet beneath his composed exterior, Shun's thoughts remained unsettled. The timing of the restriction was suspicious, and although he had no evidence to support it, he couldn't shake off a small, nagging possibility buried deep in his mind—the silent gut feeling that Noah was somehow pulling the strings behind it all.