The moment Kaito stepped through the university gate, he felt the eyes on him. Not one pair. Dozens.
Students filled the courtyard like any other morning—some walking toward lectures, others laughing with friends, a few sitting under trees with coffee cups—but something shifted the second he entered.
A conversation nearby stopped.
Two girls whispering suddenly lowered their voices. A group of boys glanced at him, then quickly pretended to look at their phones. One student lifted his phone slightly, the camera pointed a little too directly at Kaito.
Kaito kept walking, pretending not to notice.
Across the courtyard, Nagato stood at a small coffee stand inside the campus. The coffee machine hissed as steam escaped.
The man behind the counter handed him a cup—but paused halfway. His eyes lingered on Nagato's face, as if trying to remember where he had seen him before.
Nagato noticed immediately.
The man's gaze stayed there too long.
Nagato reached forward and took the cup before the silence became awkward. As he took it, a drop of hot coffee spilled onto his hand. It stung slightly, but he didn't react.
Instead, he paid quickly and stepped aside.
That was when he noticed the whispers.
Two students behind him were staring. One leaned closer to the other and murmured something while glancing at him again.
Nagato looked down at his coffee.
"This is going to take a while."
Just then Nagato noticed someone walking past the stand.
Kaito.
Even from a distance, Nagato could see the stiffness in his shoulders. The looks people were giving him were impossible to ignore.
Nagato stepped forward and tapped Kaito's shoulder.
"Kaito."
Kaito flinched slightly and turned around quickly. For a moment his eyes looked tense—then they relaxed.
"Oh… Nagato," he said. "Have you registered yet?"
Nagato shook his head.
"I was just heading there."
He glanced around the courtyard again.
"Well," he muttered quietly, "looks like the rumors really did their job."
Kaito followed his gaze. Several students quickly looked away.
"At least they're only staring," Kaito said calmly. "No one's throwing stones yet."
Nagato smirked slightly.
"It'll take some time for things to cool down."
They walked toward the STEAM university building together.
Inside, the hallway echoed with student chatter, footsteps, and the faint ringing of a bell from another building. Posters for seminars and student clubs covered the notice boards.
But the attention followed them inside.
A group near the lockers suddenly stopped talking as they walked past.
Another pair whispered behind their backs.
Nagato exhaled slowly.
"I still can't believe last night."
Kaito glanced at him.
Nagato continued, "Perfect CGPA. Full marks in all three courses. What kind of connections does that Raizen guy have to pull something like this?"
Kaito frowned slightly.
"Honestly… I'm not even surprised anymore after what I witnessed with my own eyes."
Nagato looked at him curiously.
"By the way… you only attended one exam, and somehow you ended up with perfect results in three courses."
Kaito glanced at Nagato and smiled faintly.
"I know. And you didn't even attend the exam, yet your results are the same as mine."
Nagato's expression turned serious.
"I wonder just how powerful Raizen and his 'connections' really are."
Kaito looked ahead as they continued walking.
"No need to worry about it. He seems like a good guy to me."
Nagato raised an eyebrow.
"Well… that's exactly how you are. Always trusting people too easily."
Kaito laughed lightly as they kept walking down the hallway.
"So," Nagato asked after a moment, "did you get the email last night?"
Kaito looked confused.
"What email?"
Nagato pulled out his phone.
"The university sent me an apology email."
Kaito blinked.
Nagato continued, scrolling slightly on his phone.
"They said the police visited the campus and apologized. Apparently they 'mistook someone else for you.'"
He gave a faint, sarcastic smile.
"Maybe they sent you the same email too."
"They probably did," Kaito replied. "But it's a very convenient way to cover things up."
He shrugged slightly.
"I figured something like that would happen."
They soon reached the registration office.
Inside, keyboards clicked rapidly as students registered their courses. Several people waiting in line turned their heads when Kaito and Nagato entered.
A few whispered quietly.
But no one said anything.
After finishing the registration process, they stepped toward the schedule screen.
Nagato leaned closer to the monitor.
"…Wait."
He stared at the screen for a moment.
"What? Both of our courses are the same… and the classes too?"
Kaito laughed softly.
"Wow, that's a surprise."
Nagato sighed.
"Looks like you're stuck with me again."
He shook his head.
Kaito looked at the screen again.
"You're a Business Studies student, and I'm Computer Science," he said.
He stared at the monitor, confused.
"How do we even share this many classes?"
Nagato sighed.
"That's actually normal," he said calmly. "You're a BBA student and I'm a CSC student, but both departments require some shared courses. Business students need basic tech skills, and computer science students need some business knowledge."
He shrugged.
"That's probably why many of our courses overlap."
Kaito gave him an impressed look.
"Wow… you know a lot about course structures."
Nagato didn't reply. Instead, he pulled out his phone and checked the class schedule.
A second later his eyebrows lifted slightly.
"…Surprise after surprise."
Kaito leaned closer.
"What do you mean by that?"
Nagato turned the phone toward him.
Kaito stared at the screen for a moment.
Then his face twisted into irritation.
"Who even makes schedules like this?" he complained. "Classes on registration day?"
Nagato let out a long breath.
"What can we do?" he said. "The class starts at four o'clock. We'll have to wait about five hours."
Kaito's expression turned dramatic. He made an exaggerated angry face and threw his hands in the air.
"AAAH… stupid university! I should've just dropped out!"
Several students nearby turned their heads.
Nagato looked completely unfazed.
"Relax," he said lazily. "It's probably because today is the last day of enrollment."
Kaito groaned.
"How do you stay so calm all the time?"
Nagato slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"Easy," he replied casually.
"Let's just walk around. Time will pass faster."
Students continued moving through the hallway around them. Some still glanced at them. Others whispered quietly.
Suddenly Kaito's eyes caught a flash of silver hair from a girl passing by while scrolling through her phone. The face looked familiar.
He leaned forward slightly and called out loudly, "Hey! Is that you?"
The girl stopped and turned to her left.
When she noticed Kaito, her eyes widened in surprise.
Kaito smiled in disbelief. "What a surprise. I never thought I'd see you here."
Emika looked just as surprised.
"I knew you studied here," she said. "Rika mentioned it before. But I didn't think I'd run into you this soon."
She adjusted the ID card hanging from her neck.
"By the way," she added casually, "I'm majoring in English Literature. Final year."
Kaito noticed the university ID on her neck and looked slightly more curious.
"Wait… I'm a final year student too," he said. "And I've never seen you around before. That's pretty surprising."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Did you transfer here or something?"
Emika's expression hardened immediately.
"In this university there are around ten thousand students," she replied in a firm tone. "That doesn't mean you know everyone on campus."
Kaito's confident expression quickly turned awkward.
Emika continued, still sounding slightly irritated.
"We might have passed each other on campus before. Maybe we even shared the same class once. But we didn't notice because we were strangers."
She crossed her arms slightly.
"And we've only known each other for a few days."
Kaito and Nagato both stayed silent, feeling the awkwardness settle in the air.
Emika glanced at her watch.
"Anyway, I have a class at 11:30," she said. "Bye."
She walked past them and disappeared down the hallway.
Nagato slowly turned toward Kaito with a strange smile on his face.
"She seems like a perfect match for you," he said.
Kaito immediately looked annoyed.
"Perfect my foot," he replied. "I've never liked her attitude since the first time I saw her."
By the time the clock was nearing four, Kaito and Nagato were walking along the third-floor corridor toward their classroom.
The hallway had grown quieter compared to the busy morning. Most students had already settled into their afternoon classes, and the faint sound of lectures could be heard behind closed doors.
They stopped in front of a classroom door.
Kaito pushed it open.
Inside, the room was arranged neatly. A projector hung from the ceiling facing a clean whiteboard at the front of the room. Beside the board stood a small desk with a teacher's chair and a card-punching machine for attendance.
Rows of chairs were arranged in straight lines—almost fifty of them—each attached to a small foldable table.
The room smelled faintly of marker ink and fresh air from the open windows.
A few students were already inside.
Some were leaning back in their seats, scrolling through their phones. A couple of students near the back were quietly gossiping. Others sat impatiently, occasionally glancing toward the door as if waiting for the teacher to arrive.
Kaito and Nagato stepped inside.
Their entrance drew a few quick glances, but most students quickly returned to whatever they were doing.
They began walking toward a pair of empty seats near the middle row.
Then Kaito's eyes suddenly stopped.
A familiar face sat a few rows ahead, leaning back lazily in his chair while scrolling through his phone.
The moment Kaito recognized him, irritation crept onto his face.
Why is he here… of all places?
He looked away immediately and kept walking.
Nagato noticed the slight change in Kaito's expression but didn't say anything.
As Kaito passed by the row, the boy sitting there finally looked up from his phone.
His eyes landed directly on Kaito.
A slow smile spread across his face.
A voice suddenly cut through the quiet classroom.
"It has been a while since i saw you."
Kaito stopped mid-step.
The boy sitting a few rows away slowly lifted his head from his phone. A crooked smile spread across his face as he leaned back in his chair, eyes locked on Kaito.
"How did get out form jail .Did you get out on bail?"
A few nearby students froze. Someone stopped typing on their phone.
Masato slowly stood up.
"And Who bailed you out?"
The classroom fell silent.
Every conversation died instantly.
Students turned in their seats, some leaning slightly to see better.
Kaito slowly turned his head.
Their eyes met.
Masato's smile widened, but his eyes stayed cold.
"How unfortunate," he said casually. "I heard you beat up an innocent pharmacy shopkeeper."
Whispers immediately spread across the room.
"Isn't that the guy from the video?"
"Yeah… that's him."
"He attacked that shopkeeper…"
"Why is he even here?"
Kaito's expression hardened.
His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
He simply turned back toward the empty seat.
Masato's voice followed him.
"Wait."
Kaito stopped again.
Masato tilted his head slightly, watching him like a predator studying prey.
"Did you beat that shopkeeper because he refused to give you money?"
A few students gasped quietly.
Masato took a slow step forward.
"Or was it because you were desperate?"
The air in the room felt heavier.
Kaito's fingers slowly curled into fists.
Several students leaned forward in their chairs.
Masato continued, his voice calm and precise.
"I mean… rumors say your semester payment was overdue."
He folded his arms.
"And strangely enough…"
He leaned forward slightly, his smile sharpening.
"…the night you attacked that shopkeeper…"
A pause.
"…the very next morning your tuition fees were suddenly paid."
The classroom erupted into whispers again.
"Wait… seriously?"
"So he really did it for money?"
"That's messed up…"
Kaito suddenly turned halfway around.
Anger flashed across his face.
Before he could move—
Nagato's voice came quietly from behind him.
"Don't."
Kaito froze.
Nagato didn't even look at Masato. His eyes remained on the desk as he spoke calmly.
"He's baiting you . if you react now it will ruin your image".
Then a sharp voice came from the corner of the first row.
"You seem to have a habit of accusing innocent students and placing false blame on them."
Her voice caught Masato's attention.
"Who is that?" he muttered.
He turned around and locked eyes with her.
Kaito moved his head slightly and looked toward the source of the voice. It was Emika.
He was shocked. What is she doing here?
Nagato already focused on her speech.
Everyone in the class shifted their attention toward Emika.
Emika continued in a sharp, confident tone.
"You are fully aware that it stains their reputation. Tell me… does it amuse you? Do you actually feel a sense of satisfaction watching people struggle under accusations they never deserved? Or is it the power you enjoy—the quiet thrill of knowing you can ruin someone's name with nothing more than a few careless words?"
After hearing those words, Masato let out a quiet laugh. A faint smile slowly spread across his face.
"What are you even talking about?" he said calmly. "Why would I accuse someone for no reason?"
He tilted his head slightly, his voice lowering.
"Have you seen what is happening across the country lately? Crime rates rising every day… people getting killed for nothing."
Masato took a slow step forward.
"I simply want to live in a place where crime doesn't exist. A place where my classmates feel safe , a place where they feel no fear , a place where they can come and go without felling haunted by someone."
Then he slowly raised his hand and pointed directly at Kaito. A dark smile appeared on his face.
"That guy," Masato said softly, "beat an innocent man so badly he ended up in the hospital… and he did all that just for money."
He paused for a moment, letting the tension settle.
"And what if next time he doesn't just beat someone… what if he kills someone?"
Masato's eyes locked onto the others.
"What if one of the students in this class becomes his next victim. ?"
His voice became colder.
"Then who will take responsibility?"
"Will you take responsibility for that ?"
"Will you stand there and accept the blame for defending him ?"
Masato slowly lowered his hand and gave a quiet shrug.
"I'm not doing anything cruel. I'm simply protecting my classmates. Maintaining peace in this class… that's all."
A heavy silence filled the room.
Nagato and Kaito were completely shocked after hearing those words. Nagato took out an angry breath and slowly felt uneasy because of his words. The. He mumbes
"That guy… he's terrifying".
"The way he speaks… slow, deliberate… each word like a blade cutting through your thoughts".
"Even his lies… they almost feel real. The way he emphasizes certain words, stretches a pause, leans on the sentence just enough—it makes you question your own senses".
"He is really something else."
Masato's words carried deep weight, making everyone in the class focus even more on them.
But meanwhile, after hearing those words, Emika smiled. She sharpened her eyes and said in a confident voice,
"You said you want to make your classmates feel safe, right?"
Masato's eyes sharpened.
With a deep tone, he replied.
Masato's eyes narrowed, cold and piercing. His voice dropped, measured and deliberate, each word carrying a shadow of menace.
"Don't you want your classmates to feel safe?" he asked slowly, letting the syllables hang like a guillotine.
"Don't you want them to reach home… without fear… without trembling at every step?"
He stepped closer, the silence thickening, almost suffocating.
"Or… do you want them to suffer… to bleed… like the shopkeeper did?"
Emika's eyes narrowed. A hint of anger flickered across her face as she replied in a cold, steady voice.
"Don't you dare twist the topic," she said, her voice low but sharp, each word cutting through the tension.
"Did you really think that sprinkling lies with a little emotion… a little drama… would make them feel like the truth?"
She paused, letting the words sink in.
"You are good at manipulating conversations, at turning doubt into belief. I'll give you that."
Her eyes narrowed, his voice dropping further.
"But no matter how much you spread your lies… however carefully you weave them… the truth… always finds a way to surface."
Masato's smile widened, sharp and almost unsettling.
"You're only saying that because… right now, you have nothing to throw at me," his voice is calm but charged, every word dripping with certainty.
"You're scrambling, grasping at excuses, trying to cover yourself… trying to save your own skin."
He let the pause hang in the air, allowing the words to settle like a heavy weight over the room.
Emika's eyes sharpened further. Her expression slowly changed—no longer irritated, but cold and serious. The faint smile that had been on her face disappeared completely.
When she spoke, her voice was low and icy, every word slow and precise.
"You mentioned earlier… that you wanted to make your classmates feel safe."
She took a small step forward, her gaze never leaving Masato.
"Let me ask you something."
The classroom remained completely silent.
"Someone who beats classmates until they tremble… someone who threatens professors to steal marks… someone who sabotages group projects so only their work stands…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"…does a person like that even deserve to speak about safety?"
Masato's confident posture stiffened slightly.
Emika continued, her voice calm but cutting.
"You talk about protection, Masato… but all I see is fear."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Fear you create. Fear you feed on. Fear you wear like armor."
The students around them watched without moving.
"When you say you want to make people feel safe…"
Her voice lowered even more.
"Tell me, Masato…"
A small pause.
"…who are you lying to?"
Her gaze pierced straight through him.
For the first time, Masato's expression faltered.
The smile on his face disappeared for a brief moment.
His eyes flickered.
The confidence that had been shining there earlier wavered slightly.
Masato cleared his throat, forcing his expression back under control.
But his voice came out a little less steady than before.
When he spoke, his voice was quieter… not as steady as before.
"Do… do you have any proof that I did that?" he asked, forcing the words out.
He swallowed, trying to regain his composure.
"Besides… you're only saying all this because you have nothing else to accuse me with. You're just throwing lies at me now… hoping something will stick."
For a brief moment, the tension in his voice betrayed him—like he was trying very hard to sound confident, but the cracks had already begun to show.
Emika steadied herself. The hesitation in her voice vanished, replaced by a cold, controlled confidence.
"Last month," she said slowly, "outside the main gate… behind the small restaurant across the road from the university."
Her eyes locked onto Masato.
"You dragged a guy there and beat him half to death… just because he refused to pair up with you for a team assignment."
She paused.
"But what you didn't notice… was the CCTV camera mounted high on the back wall."
And all of a sudden the focus shifted towards masato .