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*Chapter 9: The Accidental Kiss*
Aether High was buzzing with gossip the morning after the Talent Fest disaster. If anyone thought Kaito's ghostly mishap and punch bowl dive were going to be forgotten, they were wrong. It was all over the enchanted school scrolls:
*"Kaito Nakamura Summons Terror Bird & Dives Face First into Fruit Blood"*
Even the school's magical ravens had been repeating the incident word-for-word like feathered gossipmongers.
Kaito tried to keep a low profile—hood over his head, hurrying through the hallways. Unfortunately, his presence alone was now a signal for chaos.
"Hey dove boy! Got any more demons in your sleeves?" someone shouted.
Kaito sped up. "Note to self: never perform again."
Meanwhile, in the Training Coliseum, Professor Reiga, a hot-tempered elemental warlock, clapped his hands. "Today we're doing tandem combat drills. Pairs. Randomly selected."
Kaito groaned.
Professor Reiga pulled the names out of a floating orb. "Kaito Nakamura... and Jin Lee."
Kaito turned pale. Jin looked equally surprised.
They walked awkwardly to the center of the ring as students formed a circle. The drill? Trust-based teleportation. One person leads, the other follows, and they reappear together on a floating platform above the crowd.
"Ready?" Reiga barked.
"Not really," Kaito muttered.
Jin reached for his hand. "Don't overthink it."
They vanished in a flash of light—appearing ten feet above the platform instead of on it.
"W-Wait—"
Kaito slipped, crashing into Jin. Their lips smacked together mid-fall in front of the *entire* school.
A second of stunned silence.
Then... absolute screaming chaos.
"OH. MY. GODS!" someone shrieked.
"Did he just—?"
"That was a *kiss*! I SAW TONGUE—"
They landed in a heap, tangled and dazed. Jin blinked, face burning red. Kaito's soul wanted to leave his body all over again.
David, watching from the stands, was frozen. White Louise crushed her water bottle in rage. Alexander narrowed his eyes.
"WELL," Reiga said, trying not to laugh, "...at least their sync rate is good."
Jin mumbled, "You okay?"
Kaito squeaked, "I THINK I JUST DIED AGAIN."
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(Kaito pov)
Kaito didn't remember how he got off the floating platform. One moment, he was on top of Jin in a tangle of limbs and mortification, the next, he was standing back on solid ground, gripping a towel someone had shoved into his hands.
His lips still tingled. His ears were on fire. His soul? Embarrassed beyond repair.
"I KISSED JIN—IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL," Kaito whisper-screamed into the towel.
Jin, beside him, looked no better. His cheeks were redder than a phoenix feather. "It was… uh, just a collision. An accident. Right?"
Kaito nodded frantically. "Yes. Yes. Just… gravity. Physics. Trauma."
From the crowd, David stood frozen, fists clenched at his sides, jaw ticking.
White Louise stomped forward, flipping her hair dramatically. "Unbelievable," she hissed. "He's barely dead and already trying to steal everyone's spotlight—and lips."
Alexander stood near the edge of the coliseum, arms crossed, eyes locked on Kaito with a cold intensity. No words. Just that unreadable expression that made Kaito's knees go weak for the wrong reasons.
Before anyone could say more, Claude Darkblood materialized from a puff of violet smoke, grinning like a skeleton who'd just found gossip gold.
"BREAKING NEWS!" he shouted to no one and everyone. "Our beloved Kaito delivers another iconic moment—*this time with romance*. Stay tuned for ghostly gossip at six!"
Kaito turned to Jin. "Can I crawl into a spirit hole and just... never return?"
Jin blinked. "Only if I can come with you."
Meanwhile, David stormed off, dragging a trail of cold air behind him—literally. Frost formed on the walls he passed.
Kaito groaned. "Oh no. Now David hates me. You think he'll summon a demon to eat me in my sleep?"
Jin tried to smile. "David doesn't get mad. He gets even."
That didn't help.
Later, in the dining hall, everything was worse. Magical screens replayed the incident on loop. Luna, the vampire cheerleader, giggled every time she saw it.
White Louise, furious, sat with Clare and Mara Gold—her twin besties—plotting.
"He's stealing all the attention. From me. From Alexander. From *everything*," she snapped.
Clare muttered, "He's literally a menace with a cute face."
"...That's the dangerous kind," Mara added.
Meanwhile, in his dorm, Alexander sat alone, still watching the clip in silence. Then, he muttered under his breath:
"Stupid... reckless... idiot."
He closed the screen and stared at the wall.
*"Mine."*
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