The timing was so wrong I would've sworn if I could.
Ryo stood right in front of me, the last person I wanted to see, while a bomb threatened to detonate inside me. I had sworn I'd never be weak before him again, but reality has never cared about vows.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face to me, Ryo," I gritted my teeth, keeping my face blank even as my core twisted like a festering wound.
But he only arched his brows as he looked at me. Disgust. Disregard. One thing was missing from Ryo's gaze though, remorse.
He should be wallowing in guilt and fucking remorse, he should be on his knees begging me for a quick death, not looking at me like the dirt beneath his shoe. And for this reason alone he was going to die. He just does not know it yet.
I just had to survive first, that was all I had to do, then I would bring pestilence upon his head.
"The loser survived a Rift and now thinks he's something," he laughed, and his minions echoed like the loyal parasites they were.
I opened my mouth to respond, but the flare of anger that came with Ryo's voice tore through the fragile control I had left. My stomach lurched, and before I could stop it, I heaved blood all over his shoes.
The humiliation that ran through me tore at me like a blade. It was such a terrible moment that it was almost comical.
If Lian were here, he'd have laughed.
"Woah!" someone exclaimed. My vision blurred, everything around me distorting. I barely stayed upright until a hand grabbed my arm.
I tried to pull it back, but he held on firm, determined to help me even at my own expense.
"Bro, you alright?" the orange-haired boy — Jin, I remembered, said, trying to steady me despite my attempts to pull away.
"You freaking loser!" Ryo barked. And before anybody could stop him,his boot connected with my stomach, hard.
Pain detonated in my gut. The storm inside me roared, an avalanche of ice and darkness mixed with a sprinkling of wrath. I heaved again, blood, ice, and something even colder.
Then, before Ryo could raise his boot a second time, a shadow covered me.
"Enough, Ryo!"
A small voice, sharp and shaking, yelled. I turned weakly to see her, a short girl with a blunt bob and glasses, standing in front of me with her arms outstretched like a shield.
Ryo froze. "What did you just say to me?"
"I said enough!" she shouted again, louder.
I sighed in annoyance, I didn't need any of them getting in my way, but I suppose I should be grateful for the interruption.
With the attention taken off me for a second, I tried to summon Ae like I had been able to do so casually these past few days, but I could not. It simply engulfed my fist, a flickering blue shadow, but wilting into nothingness.
I groaned in disappointment, I was going to be humiliated again.
Just then, something cracked in the air…not power, but defiance. Class F moved in behind her. Some grabbed Ryo's arms, others stood between us.
I could only stare in wonder. We were a bunch of cowards in division F. We never stood up, not even against injustice. This was definitely an out of character moment.
"Get lost, Hasegawa! You've done enough!" someone yelled.
Ryo blinked, stunned.
And so was I.
Class F never interfered. Never for me.
But here they were, standing their ground.
I wanted to feel something. Gratitude, maybe. But my veins were ice and my heart had forgotten warmth.
Ryo's confusion melted into rage. "You rejects think you can touch me?" he growled, aura flaring, dark and violent as it surrounded him like flickering light. His rage made him a fierce opponent, and I knew, as they all did, that he was going to wipe us out. "Fine. Let's see how long you last…"
"Enough."
The single word sliced through the chaos.
Cold. Controlled. Absolute.
The room went still, and even Ryo's aura stopped flickering.
Kael Draven stood in the doorway.
Class B's prodigy. The academy's golden monster.
Also known as Battle division's ace. Often elusive, especially to lower grades, but was now standing in the doorway like he belonged there.
Even Ryo stiffened.
Kael's eyes found me immediately, his gaze steady, unreadable. He stepped inside, his presence a quiet force that made everyone instinctively move aside.
"You're the one who came back from the Rift," he said simply, his cat-like eyes watching me with a strange expression that I could not read.
I didn't answer. My breath fogged between us. It drew his attention to my skin, and to the frost crawling over my hands.
Then he did something no one expected, especially not me.
He reached out and pressed his palm against my stomach, right over the fragment thrumming inside me, my body stiffened.
The temperature plummeted.
Frost crackled across the floor.
His eyes widened slightly.
"…Interesting," he murmured.
But before I could react, his expression shifted, the brief flicker of curiosity replaced by something fierce and deliberate.
He yanked his hand back, energy swirling around his wrist, then slammed it against my abdomen again.
The impact sent a surge of foreign power through me. I choked, heaving out a mouthful of thick, dark blood that hissed as it hit the frozen floor.
The pain was unbearable, and yet, somewhere deep inside, the chaos in my core… stilled, and I could finally breathe.
Kael's eyes burned into mine. "I've bought you time," he said quietly, voice low but certain. "Figure yourself out before it's too late."
He straightened abruptly, turned to Ryo, and grabbed his collar. "You're coming with me."
Ryo, for once, didn't resist.
Kael dragged him out of the room, the weight of his authority leaving silence in his wake. But just before stepping through the door, he paused.
And looked back at me with a loaded stare.
It wasn't filled with pity.
Wasn't brimming with just curiosity either.
It was something else, something that coiled low in my chest and unsettled me in ways I couldn't name, and an unpleasant feeling of nausea rose in my stomach.
Then he was gone.
The classroom erupted into whispers.
And all I could think was that for the first time since the Rift… someone had looked at me like I wasn't a ghost.
But he was a schemer, I could see it in his eyes. He would come back for payment, definitely. And I would be ready when he does.