"You… what were you doing in Noey-kun's room?" Sirius asked as he walked toward Kieran in soundless steps, his eyes hollow. He stopped about three meters away.
"Damn! Someone saw me. What do I do?!" Kieran thought to himself, anxious and flustered, taking a step back.
"I asked you a question… What were you doing in Noey-kun's room?" Sirius asked again, calmly pointing his finger at Kieran with cold eyes.
"I'll have to knock him out and erase his memory of seeing me…" Kieran thought, still hesitant, before making his decision.
At that moment, Kieran dashed toward Sirius with such speed he seemed to vanish and reappear behind him, aiming a punch at his neck to knock him unconscious. But Sirius had tracked his movement with his eyes and leaned right just enough to dodge the punch, his gaze still fixed on Kieran. Shocked, Kieran leapt back, creating distance between them.
"He dodged that? How? He shouldn't have seen my movements, let alone reacted... Maybe his skill lets him see future attacks—that's how he countered in time. That would be a real pain if true," Kieran thought, feeling worried for the first time about someone he'd never even heard of before.
"...Kieran Rhydan," Sirius said, turning to him with a cold, disdainful glare.
"Damn it, he knows who I am," Kieran clicked his tongue in frustration.
"Aria Valeblanc ordered you to come here and harm Noey-kun, didn't she?" Sirius asked, though he already knew the answer.
"W-What?! How does he know that?!" Kieran panicked as a chill ran through him.
"You didn't originally plan to hurt him, but your intent changed when you were expelled from his consciousness… I don't know what you saw inside Noey-kun's mind, and I don't care… I was going to let you go," Sirius said quietly.
"H-He knows too much! Who told him all this?! No one knows about this mission except me and Aria. She'd never expose herself like this, so… it must be his skill!" Kieran thought, heart pounding as he realized Sirius wasn't going to let him leave.
"But… thinking that someone knows something about Noey-kun that I don't… makes me jealous. And on top of that, you saw too much. And technically… you were inside him...inside Noey-kun...," Sirius said, his cheeks reddening as he scratched at his face and neck, overwhelmed by emotion.
"W-What's wrong with this crazy guy—?!" Kieran thought, but suddenly Sirius appeared in front of him, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off the ground.
"L-Let me go!" Kieran choked, struggling against Sirius's iron grip.
"This isn't fair. Noey-kun hides so much from me. And I try to restrain my curiosity, my nature… but then someone shows up who can enter others' minds? That's not fair!" Sirius growled, hurling Kieran to the ground and kicking him hard enough to send him crashing into the wall.
"Ughhh!!" Kieran groaned in agony, curling up from the sharp pain in his back.
Sirius walked over and crouched beside him, grabbing him by the hair and yanking his head up to make him look into his eyes.
"You agree with me, don't you? What you did is unjust. I've known Noey-kun longer than you, but you know everything about him just because of your skill. That's why I hate skills. Logic and order have collapsed as they evolved over generations, creating people like you. Just because they have high-rank skills, they think they have the absolute right to do whatever they want, while those weaker than them kiss their asses just to survive," Sirius said, violently shaking Kieran's head, making the pain worse.
"Heh… You know what? You should be ashamed of yourself. My skill isn't even combat-related. I don't even use mana. And yet I'm beating the hell out of you right now, and you can't do a thing. Isn't that pathetic? Am I the one with the absolute right now?" Sirius asked, tone flat and uncaring.
"Fuck you!" Kieran groaned, cursing Sirius and spitting at him, but Sirius instinctively smashed his head into the wall behind him.
"Ah, crap. Are you okay? Don't blame me in the afterlife, okay? You're the one who spat at me," Sirius said with a slight nod of regret.
Kieran's nose was broken, blood flowing down and staining the wall, even cracking it slightly. His gray eyes sparked with violet light that glowed intensely.
"I'll kill him! I'll kill him! I'll kill him! I'll kill him! I will kill him! I don't care how strong this son of a bitch is. I'll kill him no matter what!" Kieran thought, eyes burning with real hatred and rage.
----------
In the student council room, Aria Valeblanc sat on the student council president's chair, leaning back as she twirled a pen between her fingers.
"Emotion Trigger…" she murmured, and in her hand appeared a violet earring with a magical aura.
"The skill to manipulate others' emotions at will—'Emotion Trigger.' I planted the 'HeartSeed' inside Kieran and set the condition: if he loses to Noah in any way, under any form, he'll develop absolute hatred toward him… Of course he'll lose. Logic doesn't apply to that boy. Now, I don't even need to give Kieran a reason. If I want to expel Noah Grace from this university—or even erase him permanently—I can. Let's just hope no pesky obstacle gets in the way of my plan," Aria explained to herself, letting out a faint laugh and tossing the pen on the desk.
"All I want is to get rid of him. I didn't even ask for revenge. I just want him gone. All he brings is chaos, grief, and despair. Someone that evil—the gods themselves will oppose. Fate must be against him. No obstacle will stand in my way."
----------
Back in the male dorms in Sector 11, Sirius dragged Kieran by the leg behind him.
"I'm going to kill you now because I hate you. Like I said, don't blame me in the afterlife, okay? Fate is annoying to deal with, and I'll be cursed forever because of you," he said, heading toward the elevator, but stopping in front of it.
"But where should I kill you?… The guard downstairs will see me if I go this way… I think the hallway cameras caught us too, so we are probably fucked ul. Even though I didn't use my skill, I'll still be punished because of you. You really do deserve to die," Sirius said, turning to Kieran with a smile that sent a shiver down his spine.
"Shit, if he kills me here, I'm done for… I have to escape. Aria, please, help me!" Kieran pleaded in his thoughts, tears welling in his violet eyes.
At that moment, both Sirius and Kieran heard the creak of a door opening. Sirius turned toward the source to see his friend Neriah rubbing his eyes, still groggy from sleep, as he walked toward them.
"Neriah?" Sirius asked, surprised, releasing his grip on Kieran.
"Sirius, what the hell are you doing?" Neriah asked worriedly, having noticed Kieran collapsed on the floor, blood dripping from his broken nose and tearful eyes pleading for mercy.
"You can't hurt him like this for no reason. Come on, let the boy go," Neriah said, his tone not entirely serious—but it was enough to plant hope in Kieran.
"...Someone's going to save me! Thank the gods!" Kieran praised the heavens and looked at Neriah with innocent eyes.
"But Neriah, he broke into Noey-kun's room. What if he tried to hurt him?" Sirius asked, pointing accusingly at Kieran.
"Let's kill him!" Neriah said with a straight face. And the moment those words left his mouth, the hope Kieran had clung to shattered.
"N-No! You can't kill me! I didn't even try to hurt the kid! I didn't do anything wrong!" Kieran begged for his life, accepting the coming humiliation and forgetting all about dignity.
"Oh, technically he's right. Sirius, we've already talked about this—you can't hurt someone unless they've actually done something wrong, let alone kill them. Let him go," Neriah said, quickly changing his stance.
"What's wrong with these people?! They talk about killing like it's a casual thing! What kind of monsters are they?!" Kieran thought to himself, trying to inch away from Sirius and Neriah.
"You say that like breaking into Noey-kun's room isn't a big deal," Sirius pouted, his cheeks puffed out.
"You have a point. But you can't kill this guy. He's Kieran Rhydan, the genius of the famous Rhydan family and also the student council's treasurer. If he suddenly vanishes, people will start looking for him. They'll find out you were the one who did it eventually. You'd be sent to Sector 10—to prison. So stop, or Noah will be sad knowing you killed someone because of him," Neriah explained calmly, trying to reason with Sirius.
"Noey-kun wouldn't be sad that I killed someone for him," Sirius replied flatly.
"But he would be sad if you went to prison. He might even cry," Neriah added, trying to prevent an unnecessary murder—but he had forgotten something important about Sirius.
"…Sad? Cry?..." Sirius muttered to himself, then looked down at the floor.
Sirius pictured Noah on the floor, tears streaming down his face, with a pained and heartbroken expression, clutching his chest in sorrow. Of course, a scene like that would never happen—but Sirius felt a rush of excitement and thrill.
"Ah, just imagining Noey's-kun expressions makes me feel tingly all over," Sirius said, raising his hands to his blushing cheeks and smiling a wide,ill smile.
"Ah shit, I forgot this bastard's a total psycho… Still, it's been a while since I've seen him this excited. He must've seen something about Noah he's not telling us," Neriah thought to himself, then sighed in annoyance and looked at Kieran, who was behind Sirius, overwhelmed with a chaotic flood of fear, confusion, and dread.
"Oi, get out of here. I'll stop this maniac before he kills you," Neriah said, signaling to Kieran that it was time to leave.
"H-Huh?! A-Alright!" Kieran agreed, backing away from Sirius and stumbling to his shaky feet.
"You'll stop me? You? Where'd that confidence come from, Neriah?" Sirius chuckled mockingly, not out of arrogance—but from experience.
"Yeah, you're stronger. But I'll still win… Anyway, Treasurer, run. Also, don't you dare tell anyone what happened tonight—or I'll come for you myself," Sirius warned coldly.
The moment Neriah gave the signal, Kieran ran, stumbling from the pain, but quickly managed to escape.
"These lunatics are insane! I need to get out of here—and I will get revenge later! Damn it, damn it, damn it! To think these monsters serve another monster like hounds! Fuck it all!" Kieran thought, filled with panic and fear as he fled.
In the hallway, Sirius and Neriah now stood facing each other in silence.
"He's gone… anyway," Sirius said, a faint smile forming on his lips.
Sirius lunged at Neriah, throwing a quick punch. Neriah dodged by tilting to the side, grabbed Sirius's arm, lifted him off the ground, and tried to slam him in the other direction—but Sirius swung his claw-like hand toward Neriah's neck. Feeling the threat, Neriah threw him away toward the wall.
Sirius flipped mid-air to reduce his momentum and landed before hitting the wall. He dashed straight back at Neriah, launching a kick at his neck. Neriah ducked low to dodge and jumped back, putting distance between them.
"Neriah, you've gotten stronger. Have you been secretly training to rematch me?" Sirius asked, tone surprised but with a hint of sarcasm.
"I'm still weak compared to you. If we weren't friends, you wouldn't hold back… Anyway, how about we settle this with rock-paper-scissors? If I win, you leave the boy alone. If you win, I'll help you kill him," Neriah proposed. Most of their arguments usually ended with a game like this, so he knew Sirius wouldn't refuse.
"Rock-paper-scissors?... Even though you know I suck at it… Fine. But I want something even if I lose," Sirius replied. He knew he'd lose—but wasn't planning to walk away empty-handed.
"Sure, whatever you want. Who knows, maybe you'll win," Neriah joked, then raised his hand toward Sirius.
"Rock…"
"Paper…"
"Scissors…"
Both of them threw different signs—Sirius showed scissors, Neriah showed rock. Neriah won.
"Look at that. I won, just as expected. Will you keep your promise?" Neriah asked, making sure Sirius would honor the deal.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to the boy… Anyway, about my request…" Sirius said with a slight grin.
"Yeah? What is it?" Neriah asked, confused.
"Help me again to find out who painted that graffiti on Noey-kun's room. You helped me once before, but that person's still out there," Sirius said with a cheerful smile.
"You're still looking for them?... Who am I to judge? A promise is a promise. I'll help," Neriah agreed easily, without hesitation or pressure.
"That's great," Sirius said, shaking Neriah's hand to seal the deal.