Yurei Kurobane, a 26 years old woman. Shaggy pitch black hair framed her face, a wolfcut long to the end of her spine. Her pupils glowed a vibrant green, lengthy dark eyelashes fitting with those almond-shaped eyes, as the blue light on the screens bathed her entire face. Hood of her cloth— pulled up. Mysterious and intriguing. Hands looked delicate—looking like she never picked up a bag, but moved at a sickening speed. Each movement calculated and precise, typing various codes on the multiple screens in front of her. Noodle boxes surrounded her, the only decoration in the room. Cables everywhere, the room gloomy, the only source of light coming from the glowing interface.
That guy was sharp. She guessed from his "exams" file that something bigger would be in it. A student, then. A student hiding behind a mask. And catching on all the hints of that supposed "normal" file, leading her to a link, another enigma.
The look in Yurei's eyes. Filled with ecstasy. For once in her life, that hacking was... perplexing. She was walking on dangerous lands, even if she already did. But that land... was new, and amusing. Entertaining. Coding was her way of finding the world fun, the speed, maths, and the fucking dopamine of trespassing rules. That was a rush of excitement for the black-haired Japanese, a drug. Her eyes widened, a grin on her lips. She chuckled, that guy she was hacking was... damn competent.
— "Ha!" a laugh came from her. The rush in her blood made her almost high.
That shit's... too interesting. And sick. Nuclear bomb research? Stolen blue-prints of deadly viruses that could cause a pandemic? Location of organizations and military forces? Well, I already hacked the locations but… Goddamn. That "student" was... something. My gaze moved to another document. The answer to my questions... Pearl. Wait, what? I froze, that was actually the literal danger. How does he know about Pearl? I hurriedly click on the file, my eyes reading the script.
"O child, your blood runs cold and thick,
Fingers torn, and bones that stick.
You clawed at flesh, ripped out your eye,
Swallowed screams to learn to fly.
Pearl forged in the marrow's crack,
A bleeding gift, no turning back.
From shattered skin and dripping veins,
You bind your soul with burning chains.
The price? Your heart—gnawed, crushed, and torn, graveyard where your hope is shorn.
The pearl feeds on your rotting core,
Devouring light forevermore.
O child, now you wear the curse,
Each breath a scream, each step—worse.
Power born in agony's well,
A bloody prison, your own hell."
Yurei paused, her fingers stopping on their tracks. Her eyes widening for a slight moment, then narrowed. That guy knows something about Pearl. And even more about this poem.
A sigh left her lips, that soon morphed to a smirk, a devilish smirk. Horns nearly appeared in her shadow, cracking her fingers before starting the funniest part. Multiple codes reappeared in front of her, and she messed with it. All the files were randomized. Overwriting file headers, making the system glitch. The PC was a mess, nothing understandable. Then left a message:
"Kiss my ass, dawg."
My fingers typing swiftly on the keyboard, but still maintaining a correct pace, the door opens to reveal another student. Average boring student, nothing special. Tilting my head up to feign curiosity, the young man in front of me finally speaks up. Could you give me tips on backing up files? My laptop crashed.
— "Hey Sora," he goes. "any tips on backing up files? My laptop crashed just before the exams..." He stays up, a worried look on his face. As always, my guesses are correct. I've already prepared the script in my head to answer this question. Bleh. A sparkle in the eyes, repeating the script in my head.
— "Damn, I'm sorry for you dude. Well, upload it all in a drive, Google Drive, Onedrive, whatever. Or upload it in a USB key if you're getting white hair after that... incident." I answer, a sympathetic smile appearing on my lips instinctively.
The student lets out a sigh, closing his eyes and trying to relax after the stress he got from that boom. His butt finds the blue chair in front of my desk, a hand in his hair.
— "You're saving me, God. I nearly collapsed at the crash. The motherboard lost life after my darling slipped from my hands..."
— "It doesn't surprise me, you did broke your phone that slipped in your hands last time." I mock, rolling my eyes playfully.
Disgusting. I'm just lying to them. For the great cause, of course. My gaze goes back to Aoi, a software engineering student. Average grades. For me? A dumbass.
— "Anything interesting outside? Quite bored of staring at a screen all day." my voice adds, looking at Aoi with the same look. But my peripheral vision was already scanning him, the sigh, tension in his jaw, slight dark circles under his eyes, the hand in pocket. Everything. Typical behavior before exams.
— "I would've already been depressed if I was you. And for the tea? Hm..." he starts, thinking while spinning in his chair, a childish habit, then stops suddenly. "Ah! There's this guy: Rin. He's getting real popular for his looks. I don't even know how girls can pay attention to others before exams... He must be hot."
Rin? Probably has everything in the looks and nothing in the brain. Hm... I'll probably mess with his data at night. I can't wait for it and all the drama it'll cause.
— "Hm? What was that? Aoi suddenly found interest in guys now? You should've told me earlier, I'm your friend after all." I answer, deciding to tease the other.
That was clearly a joke, Aoi has a girlfriend after all. A girlfriend that's obviously not cheating on him. It was evident, the way she was being protective with her phone, and saying she has to study or have a family event even on the most important days. Not that I care, he'll find out for sure. With how she began distancing herself, but coming back all clingy and soft. Bleh. Teasing him wasn't that amusing, just a part of my acting for a "normal" life.
— "Hey! Quiet down a bit or the others are gonna hear—"
A tall figure appeared in the doorway, cutting Aoi. Aoi turned in his chair to look at the newcomer, and... from his expression, that guy was Rin. He looked above 185 centimeters, at least a good 10 centimeters taller than me. He wore a long silvery coat, as a result of the cold air outside. Underneath that coat was an oversized white shirt, accompanied by a cherry red tie. His amber eyes scanned my figure, I catched on that calculated expression of his. My eyes narrowed a slight bit in guard as I catched on something else— his expression. It was nonchalant, the curve of his soft lips, to his jaw completely loose. His eyes held an aura, a new opponent.
I couldn't read this guy. At all.
He seemed to catch the slight narrowness of my eyes, which was quite impressive for me. And a small amused smirk pulled on his lips, the corner of them reaching up a slightly. Enough to show me that damn smirk. Though, my face stays expressionless, morphing back to my usual one. The kind and chill guy, just doing his life. Nothing else. Nothing else. I carve that in my head.
— "Were you talking of me? IT student." he starts after the silence that felt like 5 minutes, but actually lasted 2 seconds. His voice was slightly playful, but I could sense the cunningness. Dangerous. Unreliable.
— "Oh, didn't notice you here." I remark, and I actually didn't notice him. "We were just talking about your... peculiar looks." Aoi nearly curses at me when I say that. But my midnight black eyes were on Rin, scanning him from that same peripheral vision a last time. Clearly the stylish one. But I didn't find him as hot as those rumors said. And that inability to read him is probably because of me being exhausted. I probably did stay up too late. Right?
He finally stops sticking to the doorway, walking towards the both of us, his steps at a normal pace, the noise of the floor tapping being... almost too normal. Too controlled. That raised my suspicions too. But only 2%. 98% of him was just another normal student. To look like a typical friendly guy, I guessed his major. Normally I would. But now... I couldn't guess his major. Fuck. I might be a bit too tired.
— "This is quite unusual in this place, isn't it?" he asks, the sentence more of a clarification than a question. "But beauty is superficial, they say..."
At that, Aoi gulps. He didn't really catch on to that silent tension, but was clearly uncomfortable with Rin being here. Really uncomfortable.
— "Ah, I forgot my phone in class!" he exclaims. "I'll go back there. See ya Sora."
I just watch him, the same expression. He could've made a better excuse, that guy isn't even that pretty— fair skin, like the moon, elegant. Slim and tall, he might've got model applications jobs. His style, classy, elegant. His eyes were slightly upturned, adding a feline aura around him... sharp jawline, soft lips— Hm, maybe a bit handsome than I imagined. But what attracted me was... how intriguing he was.
1 foot away from the desk I was leaning my elbow on, Rin spoke up. The way his lips moved carefully... as if he was playing a script. A script...
— "The printer in the psych building's fried. Can I use the office's one?" he asks casually, a hand in his pocket, the other lightly touching the edge of the desk, his touch almost caressing it. Tryin' to taunt me and drag me in.
The printer's dead. Again. Either it was their USB keys or printers. I get up and get the keys to the spare room behind me.
— "Alright, wait here for a second, I'll go prepare the things ready."
The key in the keyhole, my wrist turns, taking some steps in the dimly lit room. I turn on the lights, the door behind me closing. My fingers press on the TURN ON button, putting on a new stack of blank paper. Blank like that hot persona of his.
Rin Shiranui
Target 2 disappeared. I slipped to the IT's laptop. Swiftly, silently. Sora, hm? He had an unusual aura around him. He definitely isn't just that random student. I quickly got my USB-key in hand, the digital key already uploading everything. Be fast. If he finds out? No shit. I'd just have to pull an excuse. Already sharpened that skill—especially after what happened the last few days... annoying. Anyways. Four, right?
I'll surely kiss your ass next time.
I felt nothing around me, Sora was probably adjusting the printer. Alright, 15 seconds left, the script that I created works fabulously. Then, my instinct called out. Someone. Someone's here. My eyes narrow in slight guard as I quickly glance back.
...
— "Ah, you done? Here's the files I need to print." I say, handing out the files, x20 written behind them with my usual clean handwriting.
I was sitting on the opposite chair, legs crossed while leaning back, same nonchalant expression on my face. God damn it, I almost got caught. Almost. That guy was good. Too good. How couldn't I predict that he would come now? Only FOUR outsmarted me like that the last few days.
— "20? Is it for a project?" He asks, those eyes of him never showing anything. There was no sparkle in his eyes that showed the truth. But neither a lie.
— "Yeah, a project. About microexpressions." I answer, showing a hint of a smile to show my slight gratitude for the print, clearly having a deeper meaning. And from Sora's expression, he might've caught it. "Oh, I didn't tell you, I'm majoring in forensics psychology."
The brown haired-boy takes the files and puts them in the printer, pressing another button and waiting here, leaning on the wall with crossed arms.
— "Any job in particular you want? Finals are catching up." He asks, gaze unbothered as the mechanical sound of the printer echoes.
— "Clinical Psychologist—" that IT student cuts me, a small smirk shifted on his face. As if his demeanor changed.
— "Liar." Sora teases, his gaze narrowing in slight amusement. And this time, he actually sounded amused. Nah, he is.
And it amused me too, not gonna lie. That guy caught me red-handed, making me forced to say something else:
— "Alright, alright." I ran a hand in my hair, letting out a sigh. One of my arms was leaning on the desk, supporting some of my weight. "You got me— interrogation consultant. No judging."
At that, Sora's expression paused for a moment, but didn't change it. The same, almost too normal to be normal.
— "Quite the sadist. Didn't peg the hottie of the school would be into that." he adds, the smirk on his face vanishing slightly as he took the files that were printed, handing them to me. "Well, I'm encouraging you. And don't take too much pleasure in that."
—"Thanks. I'll keep your tip in mind."
I took the files gently, nodding with a smile. That one was amusing, slightly more than my other classmates.
He suddenly interrupted me:
— "You must love it when they don't even yank the leash." he muttered loud enough for me to hear, a small smirk creeping on his face.
That just made me grin. And I have an idea he could've said worst.
— "Definitely."
Nah. He wasn't just amusing. Looks like the pawn managed to be promoted to bishop. And definitely hiding something. Though, he also knows I'm hiding something. Was I too obvious? I turned on my heels, holding a hand up, on the verge of saying goodbye.
— "Didn't catch your name." I interrupted. Of course I knew it from when I got on his laptop. But I wanted his answer.
— "Name's Sora, Sora Takeda. In cybersecurity course." he says, mimicking me and holding his hand up.
With that, I left a bye and closed the door. Sora Takeda...
I'll keep an eye on him.
Sora Takeda
My eyes narrowed as soon as Rin left. He's dangerous. And left me feeling challenged— too clean, too chill. It was exactly as being watched from an X-ray. The moment I came back and saw him on the chair, I knew something was happening. I just knew. The way his clothes were crippled, his sleeves especially, and how he had a hand in pocket- holding it out just now. Even if he leave anything in my sight, not even one, I knew. He's the type of guy to commit a perfect crime, no evidence, no fingerprints….
… Rin Shiranui, I'll erase you before you know too much.
With a shift of behavior— Sora mode on, I landed on my chair, rolling to my laptop and powering it up.
"Welcome back, User." I've learned to not put much importance to this message I always get, even if I tried to research anything for years- no answers.
My gaze lands on the clock at the bottom of the screen. 4PM. Most of the students have class at that time. I could peek on that guy- Rin. One last glance at the door, no one here. Even if there was someone, they could believe me if I told them a lie. Lying merely requires practice. My hand on the mouse, I drag the cursor to the students files, typing "Rin Shiranui.".
What. The. Fuck.
First, there were the usual files. Lessons, timetables, projects. A psychology student. But the more I checked, this popped up:
Shiranui Rin's device ID: located
Firewall: engaged
Encryption layers: 7 active.
7 layers. And a firewall. Uni students don't stack 7 layers. Nah- what kind of psych student does that? Tsk. Annoying. Reanalyzing the screen. A bit too long than usual. I would understand it better if he was in a cybersecurity major like mine— Still not, 7 layers is some kind of extreme paranoia. He must hide some real stuff there. An ex-military? I decoded one of the layers— easy, the second— easy, third-
> Layer 3 – Active
> Decoding...
> Attempting bypass...
>
> ACCESS DENIED.
>
> System: Intrusion detected. Logging activity.
The hell? My eyes narrowed, rereading the screen in front of me, brushing my hair back, sitting up to take a better look. I was correct, that guy is indeed dangerous. When was the last time I failed hacking? Let me remember… 5 years, 5 actual years ago. And me being outsmarted by another college student? That would be hilarious to my older sister, and impossible. Wait, wait a fucking minute.
A trace bounce. Shit.
He knows, he knows someone tried to hack him. But not who.
... That security system seemed oddly familiar. No— way too familiar. The guy I hacked 2 days ago. The security system was more advanced than this one— of course it would be more advanced if it's him. This time, it can't be just a coincidence.
Rin. Who are you?