The night was calm.
Soft cicadas buzzed faintly in the distance, and warm light from the penthouse spilled lazily through the glass windows. Just a short distance away, beneath the garden archway, Gendai sat alone on a bench, her hands trembling in her lap. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it carried the weight of everything she'd been holding in.
Gendai: "I knew it… It's my fault."
Tears quietly traced her cheeks.
Gendai: "I had so many chances to speak to him. So many moments where I could've said something. But I didn't. I couldn't. I just… kept hiding."
Her eyes stared down at the ground, as if searching for a reason, an answer—anything.
Gendai: "I never thought Angelly… would be the one looking out for me. I always thought I was alone in this."
Her voice broke a little.
Gendai: "I just wanted him to notice me. But I'm not like her… Riah's fearless. Strong. She knows who she is, and she's not afraid to show it."
Her shoulders slumped forward.
Gendai: "And me? I'm just someone pretending to grow. Barely making progress… dragging my feet. What's really holding me back? What do I even need to do to be seen?"
A voice spoke from behind her, calm and unshaken.
Kazimir: "Nothing."
She gasped softly, spinning around. Her tear-streaked face lit up with surprise and confusion.
Gendai: "Kazimir…?"
Kazimir: "You weren't exactly hiding. I heard you talking to yourself. Loud enough to make me worry."
There was no anger in his tone. Just that same unreadable calm that made him impossible to read.
Gendai: "Then… tell me the truth. How do you really see me, Kazimir? What… what am I to you?"
He walked closer, and for a moment, she could feel her heart racing. Maybe this was the moment she'd always waited for—maybe he would finally say something kind. Something different.
He looked at her, not unkindly, but without softness.
Kazimir: "How I see you…? You're someone trying her best. Someone who wants to rise above what she was born as. Someone trying to prove she's more than her past. That part? I respect."
Her eyes lit up with cautious hope.
Gendai (softly): "So… you do see me that way?"
Kazimir: "Yeah. That's what I see when I look at you."
He paused. She waited for more—something gentle.
But instead, his voice turned sharp.
Kazimir: "But that's not what you are to me."
She froze.
Gendai (uncertain): "Then… what am I?"
His next words pierced like needles.
Kazimir: "You're someone who stays in the background. Someone who only moves when someone else does first. You're scared to stand alone. Confident only when someone's beside you. You lean on others because you're afraid of falling."
He looked her straight in the eyes.
Kazimir: "You're a parasite."
Her world crumbled.
Kazimir: "Without someone like me… you wouldn't even know how to take the first step. That's how I see it."
Her breath hitched. Her knees felt weak.
Kazimir: "You said you want to grow without relying on your succubus powers. You said you want to be stronger. Then prove it. Stop waiting for validation. Stop hiding. Otherwise… you're just betraying your own words."
Her tears flowed freely now, silent and unrelenting.
Kazimir didn't say another word. He stood there in silence as she broke down in front of him.
Ten minutes passed.
Ten minutes of quiet sobbing under the still sky.
Finally, he spoke.
Kazimir: "…Are you done?"
She wiped her eyes with trembling fingers, nodding slowly.
Kazimir: "The others are waiting. We should go back."
She didn't respond. She just followed, her footsteps dragging behind him, like something inside her had been left behind in that garden.
When they returned to the penthouse, the lights were warm. The laughter had died down. Kazimir walked in without looking back.
Raijin: "Everything good?"
Kazimir: "…We talked. Nothing serious."
Gendai quietly disappeared to her room.
There, in the dim silence, she lay down on her bed, eyes staring at the ceiling, blank and unfocused.
And then she whispered—barely audible, but heavy with pain.
Gendai:
"I really thought… out of everyone… you'd be the one who saw me as something different."
Her voice grew stronger.
Gendai:
"But I was wrong."
She sat up slowly, wiping her eyes, a trembling fire growing in her chest.
Gendai:
"Fine. I'll prove it. Not to get your attention. Not to make you care. But because I want to stand without needing you."
She looked toward the window, toward the stars hidden beyond the haze.
Gendai:
"I'll become stronger. I'll become me. And this time… I'll do it without you."