The sun spilled across Min Academy's courtyards, and the academy buzzed with life. Banners of every color waved in the breeze as students rushed between club booths. Today marked the start of the week-long Club Competition: 10,000 thread points for first place, 5,000 for second, 3,000 for third. The stakes were high, and every club was eager to impress.
The top three clubs—Combat, Elemental, and Research Guild—immediately drew the largest crowds. Their senior leaders moved with precision, coordinating demonstrations, adjusting displays, and directing members. First-years like Daren Myrr and Rin Aetherion hovered nearby, ready to execute dazzling maneuvers, though the real pressure rested on the senior club members.
Combat Division set up obstacle courses, thread-guided sparring rings, and precision-target arenas. Students vaulted, spun, and struck in perfect synchronization, crimson and azure threads blazing with each successful hit.
Elemental Club conjured elaborate displays of fire, ice, and lightning threads, their choreography blending dazzling flashes with subtle manipulations. Sparks collided midair, melting, freezing, or crackling into small explosions that drew gasps from the audience.
Research Guild focused on innovation—mechanical constructs, holographic thread networks, and interactive demonstrations. Arcane devices whirred, glowing runes floated, and miniature thread constructs danced through impossible patterns, leaving spectators wide-eyed.
Other clubs—Thread Orchestra, Spirit Weaving Society, and dozens more—added to the festival of skill. Some played instruments while their threads hummed in rhythm; others created light shows or minor elemental displays. Each impressed their niche audience, yet none could match the raw spectacle of the top three.
And yet, in the shadowed corner of the western pavilion, the Nothing Club remained perfectly still.
Kaito Fei leaned back, eyes half-lidded, Liora resting lightly on his shoulder. Mika sprawled across a cushion, Rion curled up in a chair, all of them ignoring the bustle around them.
"You really think they're going to ignore us all week?" Mika muttered, blinking.
Kaito smirked faintly. "They'll notice eventually… but it won't matter."
Liora tilted her head, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Watching everyone scramble like this… it's kind of entertaining."
"It is," Kaito agreed. "Especially when they think ignoring us will make a difference."
Whispers spread through the crowd. "Are they… asleep?"
"Are they really ignoring the competition?"
"Even while the top clubs are showing off?"
Judges glanced their way once, then moved on. The Nothing Club made no effort to impress, no display, no demonstration.
Meanwhile, Daren executed a fire-and-thread display in Elemental Club, his movements precise, sparks arching and colliding into frozen constructs Rin conjured. Students cheered, votes registering in small thread-linked devices. At the Research Guild booth, mechanical automata performed synchronized tasks, spinning glowing shapes in the air. Combat Division's obstacle course ended with a flawless team strike. Each demonstration pulled murmurs of admiration and scribbled votes from the audience.
All the while, the Nothing Club remained in blissful inactivity. Liora traced idle patterns on Kaito's hand, whispering teasing comments, while he barely moved. Mika yawned, Rion shifted slightly, and a sleeping cat sprawled over scattered cushions.
"Heads-up," Liora said softly. "People are definitely judging us."
"Let them," Kaito murmured. "We aren't competing. We're observing."
Even the most senior club leaders noticed, frowning. "That's rank-1 Kaito Fei and Liora Vex… just… doing nothing?" one muttered to another.
As the morning faded into afternoon, the crowd surged with excitement. Votes were tallied constantly, magical threads recording impressions, audience reactions, and enthusiasm. Clubs adjusted, improvising tricks, refining experiments, and escalating displays. Fire spirals, lightning strikes, arcane threads, mechanical marvels—they all collided into a spectacle of coordination and skill.
Other clubs—the Thread Orchestra, Elemental Variants, Spirit Weaving Guild, and smaller niche societies—kept the energy alive. Their performances ranged from elegant to chaotic, but the majority of votes remained locked on the top three. Kaito noticed it all lazily, smirking beneath half-closed eyes.
A cheer erupted as Daren's dual-display with Rin concluded, sparks fading to harmless glimmers. Students around the courtyard murmured excitedly, predicting outcomes and analyzing techniques. Kaito yawned. Liora tilted her head against him, whispering, "Even while they're performing miracles, we're… calm."
"Calm, yes," he murmured. "And undefeated in comfort."
By evening, the courtyard still thrummed with energy. Competitions continued, clubs rotating members, swapping demonstrations, and adding minor enhancements. Votes continued to trickle in; first-years, seniors, and even observers were engaged in constant evaluation. Yet the Nothing Club remained untouched by ambition or expectation.
Kaito finally stretched, letting a faint smirk cross his lips. "Nothing like watching chaos in motion while remaining perfectly… stationary."
Liora giggled, brushing a strand of white hair behind her ear. "You really enjoy this far too much."
"Perhaps," he admitted, eyes half-lidded, "because everyone else is weaving their threads so carefully, while we… weave nothing at all."
A low murmur of irritation ran through the crowd. "How can they just… lounge there?"
"They're going to lose, right?
"Exactly. Can't they at least try?"
But the Nothing Club ignored them, sipping tea, napping, and trading soft whispers. Outside, the sun dipped behind the western towers. Shadows stretched long over the courtyard, curling obediently around the small pavilion.
And somewhere deep in the midst of the competition, unseen by all, Kaito's faint black aura—the Dark Thread—twisted beneath his sleeves. Calm, patient, observing.
For the rest of the academy, the week promised spectacle, rivalry, and heated competition. For the Nothing Club, it promised nothing but quiet, a sanctuary immune to ambition and noise.
Yet in that nothingness, Kaito found an unusual sort of power—the calm before the storm, a space untouched by expectations, and a moment he could call entirely his own.
And while the top clubs continued their dazzling performances, earning votes and admiration, the Nothing Club remained untouched. Observers whispered, some in awe, some in disbelief: "How can they do nothing and still feel… like winners?"
Kaito, of course, didn't answer.
Because for now, nothing was everything.