"Hey… has anyone managed to talk to her?"
Kiana's voice was low—almost too quiet for someone known for being a human burst of sunshine. She walked between Victor and Yuzuki, her arms crossed behind her head but her steps heavy with unease.
"Mei?" Yuzuki asked, knowing full well who she meant. Kiana only nodded.
All three sighed—slow, frustrated, and strangely synchronized. The past week had stretched long and thin, each failed attempt to reach Mei leaving behind a little more doubt, a little less hope.
Kiana had tried first—lunch invitation, big smile, casual. Mei had smiled back, said she'd "think about it," then never showed.
Yuzuki tried during class, his tone a little softer, his approach more subtle. Mei answered with a polite maybe—and disappeared the moment the bell rang.
Victor, ever the steady one, made his attempt during cleanup duty. He kept it short. Simple. Direct.
Mei's reply?
"There's nothing between us. You're all just imagining things."
She hadn't even looked at him when she said it.
"...We really need to do something about those guys," Kiana grumbled, chewing at her thumb like she wanted to bite a hole in the universe.
Yuzuki offered a hand on her shoulder to calm her before she combusted. But even he looked sideways—toward Victor, who had said nothing for several seconds too long.
His fists were clenched.
His jaw taut.
The calm mask was cracking.
"...Hang on," Victor said flatly. "I need to hit the bathroom."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned away.
The hall was mostly empty, late sunbeams stretching across the corridor like golden bars. Victor walked past the curious, the fearful, the ones who dared whisper and the ones who didn't.
He ignored them all.
Until he walked into the restroom. And heard them.
"Heh, that Mei girl sure is cute, huh?"
Victor stilled.
The sink dripped. The tile echoed.
"Too bad about her scandal. She'd be a great catch otherwise."
"You kidding? With a rep like that, we could blackmail her into all kinds of things—"
"Don't be stupid. They say she's close with that Eden-favorite transfer guy—what was his name again?"
"Eh, he's got Lady Eden already. I bet that bitch is just whoring herself out so he'll prote—"
___________________________________
Mei exhaled slowly, the breath catching in her throat like a sob half-remembered. The hallway stretched endlessly before her, tinged in hues of soft orange and fading gold. Outside the tall windows, the sun dipped low, casting long shadows across the school fields. It should've felt peaceful.
It didn't.
Her fingers curled faintly at her sides as her shoes tapped against the floor—rhythmic, hollow, like footsteps in a dream she hadn't chosen to walk.
Three people…
She remembered the warmth. The safety. That fleeting, fragile moment when Kiana beamed, Yuzuki joked, and Victor silently stood between her and the world.
Three people who didn't hesitate to stand by her side.
Even when the whispers clung to her name like rot.
Even when she had nothing to offer them but silence.
And that was the problem, wasn't it?
They were kind… kind to someone like me.
She didn't deserve them. Not when their reputations were being blackened by hers. Not when her mere presence drew hate like a flame to moths. Better to leave. Better to cut the thread before it tangled and strangled.
Still… she held onto the memory.
She clutched it tightly, deep in her chest, like a dying ember.
That had to be enough.
It had to be.
"W-Wait up!"
"Someone get a teacher—!"
Voices cut through the quiet like blades. Mei blinked, turning slightly as students rushed past her—running, shouting, some laughing in disbelief, others gasping in horror.
She was about to turn away.
Until Kiana and Yuzuki barreled toward her.
Both out of breath. Both pale.
"Mei!" Kiana called.
She stopped. "What's wrong?"
"It's Victor," Yuzuki said grimly.
"What about him—"
"He's being stupid!" Kiana interrupted, eyes wide.
___________________________________
The scene was chaos incarnate.
Victor stood at the center of the hallway—a storm wearing human skin. One student lay crumpled behind him. Another was dangling midair in his fist, struggling to breathe. A third was slumped nearby, groaning softly.
Victor's expression wasn't angry.
It was empty.
Dead calm.
And far more terrifying.
His voice was low—soft enough that students closest had to lean in just to hear it.
"Go on. Say it again."
The boy in his grip whimpered.
Victor slammed him into the lockers, the clang echoing like thunder. He dropped the other by his collar without a second thought and advanced.
"Say it again," he hissed. "Say what you said about her."
The crowd had gathered in full now, watching—but no one dared intervene. Fear choked the air.
"You think I care what any of you think of me?" Victor said, voice rising. "You think I care about what rules I break? What lines I cross?"
He grabbed the third student—already dazed—and dragged him forward.
"You talk about her like she's some thing. Some gossip to pass around."
His knuckles clenched. The sound of bone grinding against bone was audible.
"She's kind,caring and she's hurting. And you treat her like she's filth because it's easy. Because you think no one will stop you."
Victor pulled his fist back. Eyes wide. Breath shallow.
"Well I'm here now."
"And I don't care about the consequences."
"Because Iam the consequences."
His fist blurred forward—
"STOP!"
Two sets of hands clamped down on Victor's arms, just before his fist could fall.
Yuzuki on the left, Kiana on the right—desperate, trembling, pushing back with every ounce of strength they had left.
"Victor—please," Yuzuki breathed, voice shaking as he tightened his grip. "That's enough!"
"You said not to do this!" Kiana hissed, her voice cracking. "You said this wasn't how we fix things!"
Victor froze.
Chest heaving. Eyes wide. His arms quivering—not from exhaustion, but from everything behind them. His breath was ragged. His knuckles ached. And then—
"Victor."
Her voice.
Soft.
Strained.
Mei.
She was there, breaking through the crowd that had parted without knowing why. Her steps were quiet. Uncertain. Each one slower than the last, like her body was moving forward while her heart begged her not to.
"What are you doing?" she asked, barely audible. Her eyes shimmered, but no tears fell. Not yet. "Why are you like this?"
Victor turned, meeting her gaze—and for a moment, all the fury melted away like ice cracking under sunlight. Not gone. Just... no longer sharp.
She reached for his arm—not to stop him, but as if reaching for something alreadyslipping.
Her fingers brushed his wrist. Cold. Trembling. Still trying to seem like they weren't.
"Stop," she whispered. "You don't need to do this."
She pulled at his arm gently, almost afraid it would lash out at her.
"You don't have to care."
Another tug. Her voice broke.
"Please. Stop… caring about me."
Victor didn't answer.
She stared at him harder—this time with something closer to anger, or maybe guilt pretending to be anger.
"Why?" she whispered. "Why won't you just leave me alone?"
The crowd around them flinched as Eden entered without a word. The tension in the air folded in on itself like the sudden stillness after a storm. Her gaze swept over the damage. The boys. The blood. The silence.
She reached Victor's side, brushed his sweat-damp hair from his brow.
Her voice was gentle—melancholic.
"That's enough, my dear. You've done enough."
From behind her, Elysia appeared, stepping softly into the space between them.
She didn't smile.
She didn't joke.
She leaned close to Victor's shoulder and whispered, "There are things more important now. You know that."
Her eyes flicked toward Mei.
Mei still held his arm, knuckles white.
Still trembling.
Still pretending she didn't care.
"Why couldn't you just walk away?" she whispered. "Why did you all have to pull me back?"
Victor looked at her, his expression unreadable.
And then, with a long, slow breath, he let go of the tension inside his chest. His fists uncurled. His body sagged slightly in Yuzuki and Kiana's grip.
He whispered—not to her, not to the crowd, but to the quiet between them.
"You don't deserve to be."