Keifer's POV
The explosive tension of the plaza slowly ebbed away, replaced by the mechanical routine of a school trip. It was eerie how quickly things felt "normal" again—at least on the surface.
The Holy Saint students kept their distance, moving like shadows along the edges of the corridors, while Section E walked with a new, jagged sort of confidence. We were the intruders, but Jay had made us the kings of the mountain in under five minutes.
Sir Alvin eventually led us away from the marble buildings toward the edge of the academy's forest grounds. The camping site was a wide, grassy clearing bordered by ancient, towering pines.
All the sections were gathered there, a sea of different colored uniforms trying to figure out how to pitch tents without looking like total amateurs.
My mind kept drifting. I wasn't looking at the trees or the tents; I was looking at Jay. She was standing near a cluster of supply crates, flanked by Jane and Cin. For the first time since the bus ride started, she looked... light
The rigid set of her shoulders had softened, and she was actually listening to Cin's nonstop chatter without looking like she wanted to jump off a cliff.
We were all gathered in a loose circle, discussing the sleeping arrangements, when Cin's inner demon took over. With a mischievous cackle, he lunged forward and snatched Jay's phone right out of her hand.
"Catch me if you can, Jay-Jay! No depressing playlists allowed during tent assembly!" Cin yelled, sprinting toward the tree line.
"Cin! Give it back!" Jay shouted, a genuine spark of life returning to her voice. She took off after him, her boots kicking up dust.
She was fast, but the terrain was uneven. Just as she gained on him, her foot caught on a gnarled tree root. I saw her ankle turn, her body jolting forward as gravity took over.
My heart skipped a beat—my body moved before my brain could even process the threat. I was a blur of motion, lunging across the grass and catching her just inches before she hit the dirt.
Her weight settled into my arms, solid and warm. Jay's eyes were squeezed shut, bracing for an impact that never came. Slowly, she opened them.
Up close, the world seemed to go silent. I'd seen her eyes a thousand times, but never like this—wide, startled, and framed by thick lashes. They were deep, swirling pools of honey and amber, reflecting the sunlight in a way that made my breath hitch. Why haven't I noticed them earlier? How could I have missed that they were this beautiful?
"Jay, you okay?" I muttered, my voice sounding rougher than I intended.
"If you two are done with your drama, some of us actually want to finish this trip today," Freya's voice cut through the air like a knife. She was standing a few feet away, clapping her hands with a bored, condescending expression. "Move it."
Jay's gaze snapped away from mine, a flash of irritation replacing the vulnerability. She rolled her eyes, pushing herself up and out of my arms. "I'm fine, Keifer."
She brushed the dust off her pants, the "normal" mask sliding back into place, though I noticed she avoided looking at me for a few seconds longer than usual.
Sir Alvin walked over, looking at the map in his hands. "Jay, since you're the expert on this place... is there a river nearby? The itinerary mentions a nature walk, and the students need a break before we start the bonfire."
Jay nodded curtly. "There's a tributary about ten minutes through that trail. It's secluded."
"Lead the way," Alvin commanded.
Jay and Jane took the lead, moving through the dense foliage with a familiarity that spoke of hundreds of hidden afternoons spent there a year ago. When we finally broke through the trees, the sight was breathtaking.
The river was crystal clear, rushing over smooth stones with a peaceful, rhythmic roar. The sun hit the water, creating thousands of tiny diamonds on the surface.
But peace and Section E don't exist in the same zip code for long.
Within minutes, the boys—Cin, Felix, and the rest—started their daily chaos. They were skipping stones, shouting, and daring each other to jump in. The other sections were busy clicking pictures for their social media, posing against the greenery and talking in hushed, excited tones.
Then, a sudden, heavy SPLASH echoed over the sound of the rushing water.
We all turned at once. My blood went cold.
"Jay-Jay!" Cin screamed.
Jay had fallen into the river. She was sitting in the shallow, rocky edge, the water swirling around her waist. She looked stunned, gasping as the cold hit her.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she coughed, waving us off as she slowly pushed herself to her feet.
But as she stood up, the silence that followed wasn't because of the fall.
The white fabric of her shirt was completely soaked, turning transparent against her skin.
And there, stretching across the expanse of her back, was a massive, intricate tattoo.
I couldn't move. I couldn't even blink.The world around us—the shouting boys, the rushing water, the snide remarks from the Holy Saint crowd—all of it faded into a dull hum. My entire universe narrowed down to the sight of Jay standing in that river, her back turned to us.The white fabric of her shirt was plastered to her skin, turning into a translucent second layer.
And beneath it... God, beneath it was something I never expected.It wasn't just a "tattoo." It was a masterpiece of ink and pain. A massive dragon, dark and intricate, coiled around her spine like a guardian. Its scales were detailed with a precision that made it look alive, its claws digging into the floral patterns of peonies that bloomed across her shoulder blades.
It was beautiful, but it was also terrifying.Why would someone like Jay—someone who spent every second trying to blend into the shadows and stay invisible—get something so loud? So permanent
Then my eyes adjusted, looking past the beauty of the art to the reason it existed.Through the gaps in the ink, I saw them. Faint, jagged lines that the dragon's body couldn't quite hide. They were old scars, long and pale, crisscrossing the skin of her back like a map of a war zone. The dragon wasn't just there for show. It was coiled around her trauma, protecting the places where she had been broken.
(Check comment)
My chest felt like it was being crushed by a physical weight. Every time I'd called her "tough" or "rebellious," I had no idea. She wasn't just a girl with an attitude; she was a survivor who had literally branded herself to keep the world from seeing her wounds.She looked so fragile standing there in the water, yet so incredibly dangerous with that ink on display.
I wanted to run into the water, wrap my jacket around her, and hide her from the prying eyes of these vultures. I wanted to punch every single person who was whispering and pointing.But more than anything, I realized I didn't know Jay at all. I was falling for a girl who was made of secrets and dragon scales, and for the first time in my life, I was genuinely scared—not of her, but for her.
"Look away," I growled, my voice low and vibrating with a threat that silenced the students nearest to me. I didn't care if I looked crazy. I wouldn't let them stare at her like she was an exhibit in a museum.Jay finally started walking toward the bank, the dragon on her back moving with every step she took, its eyes seemingly watching all of us.
She looked like a queen returning from a battle no one else was brave enough to fight.I reached out as she stepped onto the grass, my hand hovering near her arm, but I stopped myself. She didn't need my help to stand. She was the dragon.
The whispers started instantly.
"Is that... a tattoo?" a girl from Section B gasped.
"Since when does Jay have a full back piece?"
"It's huge... look at the detail. It looks like it's covering something."
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Yuri's POV
Jane and I had been standing slightly apart from the madness, watching the way the light played off the water. For a moment, it felt like the weight of Holy Saint had lifted. Jane looked relaxed, her hand grazing mine as we talked about the scenery.
Then the splash happened.
We turned just in time to see Jay standing up in the river. My eyes widened, but not because of the water. The tattoo on her back was impossible to miss. It was a masterpiece of shadow and line, but it felt heavy—like a secret that had finally been dragged into the light.
Jay didn't look embarrassed. She looked murderous. She waded out of the water, her eyes locked onto Freya, who was standing suspiciously close to where Jay had slipped.
"Don't play those tricks on me again, Freya," Jay said, her voice dripping with a cold venom that made the other girl flinch. "Next time, you're the one going in. And I won't be so gentle."
Aries stepped forward then, his face a mask of confusion and growing anger. He looked at his sister like she was a stranger.
"Jay? What the hell is a tattoo doing on your back?" he demanded, his voice echoing. "Since when do you—"
"That's none of your business, Aries," Jay snapped, not even stopping. She grabbed her bag and walked straight past him, her head held high even as the water dripped from her hair.
Cin looked at her as she passed, his usual grin replaced by a look of intense, quiet understanding. "You know, right, Jane?" he whispered, but she didn't answer.
Aries turned to Jane, his brow furrowed with genuine concern—a look that was rare for him when it came to Jay. "Jane, what is that? Why would she do that to herself?"
Jane looked at the trail where Jay had disappeared, her eyes filled with a sad, protective light. "It's not my story to tell, Aries," she said softly. "But I can tell you this... it is for hiding the scars of the past."
I stood beside Jane, the weight of her words sinking in. I looked at the ripples in the water where Jay had been. That tattoo wasn't just art. It was armor. It was a beautiful, ink-stained lie designed to cover a truth that was too painful to show the world.
I looked at Jane and realized how much these two sisters had carried alone. My grip on her hand tightened. Whatever those scars were, they weren't going to have to hide them forever.
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Aries' POV
I stood by the riverbank, the sound of the water suddenly feeling like white noise. I didn't want to care. I spent every day telling myself that Jay was the problem, the "trouble" of the family, the one who ruined my life.
But seeing that ink... seeing the way she looked at Freya... something in my chest tightened.
I looked at Jane, wanting to scream, wanting to demand answers. To hide the scars? What scars? What had happened in this hellhole of a school that required my sister to cover her skin in permanent ink just to feel whole again?
I watched the way the Section E losers followed her, their loyalty unquestionable. They knew. They all knew things about my own sister that I didn't.
I don't want to care for her. I want to stay in my lane, stay the "perfect" Prince,the "royal" of Section A. But as I stared at the spot where she had stood, dripping and defiant, I realized I couldn't stop the nagging, hollow feeling in my gut.
The "Jean" hadn't just come back to Holy Saint. She had come back carrying the weight of a war I hadn't even realized she was fighting. And for the first time in my life, I felt like the one who was truly lost.
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Jay's POV
The cold water of the river was a shock to my system, but it was nothing compared to the sudden, suffocating silence that followed the splash.
I sat there for a second, the current swirling around my waist, my breath hitching in my throat. I didn't even have to look down to know what had happened. I could feel the heavy, wet weight of my shirt clinging to my skin like a shroud. I knew exactly what everyone was seeing.
The dragon. The flowers. And the jagged, silver ghosts of the past that they were meant to bury.
I felt a surge of pure, white-hot fury. I didn't even need to see the smirk on Freya's face to know she'd tripped me. It was a classic move—petty, cruel, and designed to humiliate. But as I slowly pushed myself to my feet, the humiliation didn't come.
Instead, a cold, hard shell settled over me.
I turned around, and for a moment, the world was just a blur of wide eyes and hushed whispers. I saw Aries looking at me like I was a monster he'd just discovered in his own house. I saw the Holy Saint students recoiling, their faces a mix of horror and fascination.
Then, my eyes found Keifer.
He wasn't whispering. He wasn't pointing. He was standing on the bank, his jaw set so tight I thought it might snap, his eyes burning with a protective rage that actually made me pause. He looked like he wanted to burn this entire forest down just because people were looking at me.
"Look away," I heard him growl, and the authority in his voice sent a strange, unfamiliar shiver down my spine.
I waded out of the water, every step feeling like I was walking through lead. As I passed Freya, I let the venom drip from my voice, promising her a nightmare she wouldn't wake up from. But inside, I was shaking. Not from the cold, but from the sudden
exposure. That tattoo was my armor. It was the only thing that made me feel like the scars didn't own me anymore. And now, it was a spectacle.
"Jay?"
It was Keifer. He had followed me as I headed toward the trees, away from the prying eyes. He didn't try to touch me, which I was grateful for, but he was there. He was a solid, grounding presence in the middle of my mental storm.
I stopped, my back still to him, my wet shirt translucent against the ink. "What, Keifer? You want a better look at the freak show?"
"Stop it," he said, his voice unusually soft. "I'm not looking at a freak show, Jay. I'm looking at you."
I finally turned around, hugging my arms across my chest to hide the front of my shirt. I expected to see pity in his eyes. I expected to see the same confusion Aries had shown.
But Keifer just looked... wrecked. Like seeing the dragon had hurt him more than it hurt me.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, stepping a bit closer.
"Because it's not a bedtime story, Keifer. It's a map of everything I failed to survive," I muttered, looking at my boots.
He didn't say anything for a long moment. Then, I felt something warm and heavy settle over my shoulders. I looked up, startled. Keifer had stripped off his own dry hoodie and draped it over me. It was huge, smelling of his cologne and woodsmoke, and the warmth of it seeped into my skin, chasing away the chill of the river.
"You don't have to explain anything to anyone," he said, his gaze steady and intense. "Not to Aries, not to those pricks at Holy Saint, and not to me. But don't you dare think for a second that this makes you anything less than the most incredible person in this place."
My heart did a strange, fluttering somersault in my chest. It was a warmth that had nothing to do with the hoodie. For years, I had felt like a ghost, a shell of a girl held together by ink and spite. But looking at Keifer—seeing the way he looked at me, not with pity, but with a fierce, genuine respect—I felt... seen. Truly seen.
It was terrifying. It was warmer than any bonfire we were going to build tonight.
"Thanks," I whispered, pulling the hoodie tighter around myself.
He gave me a small, lopsided smirk—the first real one I'd seen since we arrived. "Don't get.used to kindness , Jay-Jay."
I huffed a small laugh, the tension in my chest finally loosening. As we walked back toward the site, I realized that for the first time in a very long time, I wasn't just fighting to survive.
I was fighting for the people who actually saw the girl behind the dragon. And as my hand brushed against Keifer's in the shadows of the trees, I realized that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't walking through this fire alone anymore.
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