"Hey! Come back here!"
A voice echoed from down the hall.
Axel was heading toward the lavatory when he heard the shout. Before he could turn the corner, a black-haired boy crashed into him and fell flat on the floor. Axel stayed upright, barely shifting, looking down at the boy. He could've avoided the collision easily but didn't bother.
"Sorry! I stepped on your shoes. I'll clean them right now."
The boy scrambled on his hands and knees, rushing to wipe Axel's shoes.
"It's fine, you don't have to—"
But the boy wasn't listening. His hand was already reaching out when something in the air changed. A strange breath brushed over him. He froze.
Then he lifted his head.
He wasn't in the school hallway anymore. Axel was gone.
Standing over him were two towering, humanoid beings.
The first looked like a living constellation. His body shimmered like crystal lit from within, and his eyes glowed with an ancient, brilliant light. He was three times the size of a human giant, with a physique that felt both divine and overwhelming. His entire form resembled a night sky pressed into flesh.
The second being matched his size but radiated a different power. His hair was made of black flames, flickering and flowing like a lion's mane caught in a breeze. His eyes, slitted like a predator's, burned straight through the boy's soul. His umber skin carried shifting undertones, and when the starry being's glow brushed across him, his body flashed like polished scales and faint tiger stripes.
The pressure of simply existing before them crushed down on the boy. His bones felt ready to shatter and his body couldn't endure anymore.
Back in the real world, Axel crouched beside him, shaking him gently.
"Hey. Wake up."
The boy didn't respond. Axel sighed, lifted him onto his back and started walking toward the infirmary.
"He's in my class. Fourth desk, fourth column," Axel muttered as he adjusted his grip. His good senses made him recognize anyone he'd seen even if it was just once in an instant.
Three boys stepped out from the same hallway the boy had come from, blocking Axel's path.
"Please move. I'm taking him to the infirmary," Axel said, trying to stay polite.
"Oh, so that's the trick? You two pretend he passed out so you don't have to deal with us?" George Ashton grinned, his tone dripping with trouble.
"I'd rather not be slowed down," Axel replied. His voice was calm, but something dangerous lingered under the surface.
"Oh? The class clown wants to play the hero now?" George chuckled.
"Should we teach him the school's first lesson?" Stanley added, stepping closer.
"Yeah. Let's teach him," Kenny followed.
Just as they were about to grab him, Axel looked at them.
One stare was all it took.
A shiver shot down their spines and their feet froze.
"I'll say this once. I'm not someone you want to mess with."
He flashed a cold smile and walked past them. Even George couldn't move. Their hands trembled just at the sight of the smile Axel had walked past them with.
---
The boy woke up in the infirmary, confused. Axel stood by the window, arms folded, staring outside. The instant the boy's eyes landed on him, his instincts screamed one thing: danger.
"You're awake. Good. I'll get going," Axel said, leaving before the boy could speak.
Outside the infirmary, Kade, Jalen, Aria and Siena were waiting like they had been summoned.
"You still didn't follow my conditions," Axel said with a tired smile. "You can go."
They all left without arguing.
"I can't afford to have friends anymore," Axel murmured to himself, glancing back at the infirmary doors.
The boy suddenly ran out and stopped in front of him.
"I'm Rin Taro."
Axel blinked, caught off guard. He wasn't ready for this. Rin's expression made it feel like he was trying to form a bond Axel didn't want to accept.
"If you're here to apologize, I already forgave you," Axel said. He turned to leave.
"I'm not worthy of a new friend."
The words echoed only in his mind.
Rin pressed him nonstop, following him all the way until they were almost inside their class.
With his real speed, he'd be gone in a heartbeat, but he held back. Revealing his true strength was the last thing he wanted.
The tragedy that struck on the day he formed the contract with the divine being was something he could never forget.
"As long as I have no friends around me, that is never going to happen to me again." Axel muttered.
Axel stopped at their classroom door for a moment.
Rin didn't move. Even as Axel began to walk past their class, he followed, not with confidence, but with a kind of nervous determination, like someone fighting his own instincts.
"Wait," Rin said. "I… I don't know what happened back there. But I know you saved me."
"You passed out," Axel replied without turning. "That's all."
Rin shook his head. "No. Something else happened. I saw… shapes. Giants. And the pressure… it felt like I was dying."
Axel stopped.
For a moment, the hallway was painfully silent.
"You imagined it," Axel said quietly.
His tone wasn't dismissive. It was the voice of someone used to lying for survival. Rin didn't buy it, but he also wasn't stupid enough to push harder.
"Still," Rin said softly, "thank you."
Axel said nothing. Gratitude was harder to face than hostility.
Before either of them could speak again, the hallway lights flickered. A cold ripple swept across the school as if something unseen passed through the walls.
Rin shivered. Axel didn't.
He felt it, like a claw tracing his spine. Something old. Something that recognized him.
A whisper crawled through the air, so faint only Axel heard it.
Found you…
Axel's expression tightened. It wasn't fear. It was annoyance.
Rin noticed the shift in his face. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," Axel said and kept walking.
Rin followed.
They turned a corner and nearly bumped into Kade. He stood there panting, sweat trickling down his face even though he didn't look injured.
"Axel," Kade said, voice trembling a little. "The barrier around the school… it cracked."
Rin blinked. "Barrier?"
Axel put a hand on Kade's shoulder to steady him. "Where?"
"West wing. Near the old gym."
Axel closed his eyes for a second, as if listening to something far away. "It's not fully broken yet."
Rin stared at both of them. "What barrier? What's going on?"
Kade gave Axel a questioning look.
Axel shook his head.
"Don't involve him."
Kade nodded immediately.
But Rin stepped forward. "If something dangerous is happening, I want to help."
Both Axel and Kade turned to him.
For the first time, Rin saw Axel's full gaze—calm, cold and impossibly deep, like someone who'd already lived a hundred lifetimes.
"You can't help," Axel said. "Not with this."
Rin opened his mouth to argue, but Axel cut him off.
"Go back to class, Rin. Before you get dragged into something you can't escape."
He walked past both boys, heading straight for the west wing.
Kade followed silently.
Rin stood alone in the hallway, heart pounding.
He didn't know why, but something in him refused to listen to Axel's warning.
If I walk away now… I'll regret it.
He clenched his fists and took a step forward.
Then another.
He started walking after them.
What Kade and Rin didn't notice was the faint shadow slipping along the ceiling behind them… watching.
And smiling.