By the fourth day, life had become… interesting.
I had a fire-wielding assassin as my roommate.
My ceiling was still broken.
And somehow, she had claimed the corner of my bed as "mission HQ."
School was no different. She blended in… sort of. Mostly because she glared at everyone suspiciously.
And everyone wisely stayed away.
During lunch, my best friend Riya finally cornered me.
"You've gone completely insane," she whispered. "Somehow you're now friends with… what? A girl who fell through your ceiling and calls you the Dark Sovereign?"
"She's not my friend," I said quickly, shoving a sandwich into my mouth. "She's my enemy."
Riya raised an eyebrow.
"Uh-huh. Sure. Your 'enemy' just saved your physics notebook from literally catching fire this morning."
I froze.
Okay, maybe she wasn't entirely the enemy…
After school, she dragged me into the empty courtyard again.
"Training," she announced.
I groaned.
"Can we at least go somewhere safe this time? Last time I almost drowned in fire extinguishers."
She ignored me.
"Your powers are… awakening," she said, voice calm. "And you don't even know it."
"What?" I asked, confused.
She took a deep breath, then glanced away, like she didn't want me to see something.
"In my world… the Dark Sovereign's power is terrifying. You… are that power. And if it fully awakens, it could destroy everything I care about."
I felt a chill.
"So… basically… you're babysitting me until I become… the world's biggest villain?"
Her eyes softened for a second.
"Yes," she whispered. "And I… I've failed before. My world… I can't afford to fail again."
I stared at her. Something about the way she said it… made her seem smaller. Vulnerable. Human.
Before I could respond, she suddenly lunged — training mode back on.
I barely dodged her punch.
"Focus!" she snapped.
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. "Focus while you nearly punch my face off."
But when she paused, out of breath, she looked at me. Not with anger… with concern.
And I noticed for the first time — she wasn't just a killer. She cared. About me.
We stood there, breathing hard. I didn't know if I was supposed to fight her… or hug her.
She looked down at the ground.
"I… never wanted to live among your world's rules," she said quietly. "But if I must stay here… then I must understand your world. And you."
My chest tightened.
I swallowed.
"Yeah… me too," I admitted softly.
Suddenly, her wrist marking glowed faintly — just for a second.
"Your power… it's reacting to me," she whispered.
I glanced at my hands. Nothing.
But I could feel something… strange. Warm. A pull.
And then she did the most dangerous thing she could possibly do.
She smiled.
Not the full, confident, assassin smile. Just a small… human smile.
I didn't know whether to be terrified… or completely hopeless.
Because the girl who came to kill me… was slowly becoming the girl I couldn't imagine living without.
And that… terrified me more than any fireball ever could.
To be continued… 🔥