*The Quiet Before the Cut***
*Some deaths are decided long before blood is spilled.*
The infirmary smelled like clean cloth and quiet lies.
Kairo lay on the bed, one arm bandaged, a faint bruise blooming across his ribs like spilled ink. He laughed it off—because that's what Kairo did—but his rhythm was off. Aru could hear it now, a subtle hitch between beats.
The bond had changed.
Not broken.
**Warned.**
"You should've seen their faces," Kairo said, grinning weakly. "Nobles nearly choked on their own dignity."
Aru sat beside him, hands clenched.
"They tried to kill you."
Kairo's grin faded.
"They tried to scare us."
Aru shook his head.
"No. That wasn't fear. That was practice."
Kairo studied him, then sighed.
"…You saw him too, didn't you?"
Aru nodded.
Soren Blackfall.
Watching like a man memorizing angles.
---
## **THE DECREE**
By evening, the Conservatory was buzzing.
An official notice spread through the halls like a controlled fire:
**Due to unsafe resonance instability, the pairing of Aru and Kairo is hereby restricted.
They are forbidden from performing jointly until further review.**
Kairo laughed when he read it.
"They think they can separate us?" he scoffed. "That's adorable."
Aru didn't laugh.
Because the restriction wasn't about safety.
It was about **isolation**.
And isolation was how predators hunted.
---
## **THE VISIT**
Night fell.
Too smoothly.
Aru paced his room, unease crawling under his skin. The shadows felt thicker tonight—like they were waiting for permission.
A knock.
Soft.
Polite.
Aru froze.
Another knock.
He opened the door—
Commander Veyra stood there, expression grim.
"You need to listen to me," she said quietly. "And you need to do exactly what I say."
Aru stepped aside.
She didn't sit.
"They're moving faster than expected," she continued. "The Nobles. Blackfall in particular."
Aru swallowed.
"What do they want?"
Veyra met his eyes.
"Kairo."
The word landed heavy.
"He's a liability," she said. "Unregistered lineage. Unbound rhythm. And—"
Her jaw tightened.
"—blood ties to House Blackfall."
Aru's breath hitched.
"Blood ties…?"
Veyra looked away for half a second.
"Soren Blackfall is his elder half-brother."
The world tilted.
Aru whispered, "Does Kairo know?"
Veyra shook her head.
"No. And if Soren has his way, he never will."
---
## **THE WARNING**
Veyra stepped closer, lowering her voice.
"They won't move publicly," she said. "It'll be quiet. Clean. No struggle. No witnesses."
Aru's pulse roared.
"Then stop them!"
"I can't," she replied. "Not directly. The Crown would call it interference."
Aru's nails dug into his palms.
"Then what can I do?"
Veyra hesitated.
"Stay with him," she said. "Tonight. Don't let him be alone."
Aru didn't hesitate.
He was already moving.
---
## **THE SHADOW ON THE ROOF**
Aru found Kairo on the dormitory rooftop, sitting cross-legged under the stars, tapping a soft rhythm against the stone.
"You okay?" Kairo asked without looking. "You're pacing loud."
Aru sat beside him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Aru asked quietly.
Kairo blinked.
"Tell you what?"
"That you're a Blackfall."
Silence.
Kairo laughed once, short and sharp.
"Man, I don't even know what that means."
Aru's chest tightened.
Before he could speak—
A feather drifted down from the darkness above.
Black.
Perfect.
It landed between them.
Kairo frowned.
"…That's new."
The air went cold.
Too cold.
Aru stood.
"Kairo—get up. Now."
A voice echoed from the shadows behind them.
Smooth.
Familiar.
"I was hoping for a private moment," Soren Blackfall said as he stepped into the moonlight.
His smile was calm.
Regretful.
Deadly.