"You can't run from your past.But sometimes, it hides behind someone who won't stop smiling at you."
Scene: Ironvale Academy – Morning, Courtyard
The sky was pale with the memory of rain.Birds returned to the rooftops. A soft breeze scattered golden leaves across the courtyard stone paths.
Alina — no, Aeris, now veiled behind her alias again — walked quietly toward her morning orientation checkpoint. Her uniform was crisp. Her gaze, unreadable.
Yet even with a calm face and healed hands, the rooftop last night echoed in her blood.
She hadn't slept.
And she wasn't sure she wanted to.
Rin (from behind, too loudly):
"Alinaaaaa~!"
Aeris flinched slightly, not from fear—but from sheer exhaustion.
She turned halfway as Rin skipped up beside her, holding a bag of breakfast buns and a thick folder of club applications.
Rin (grinning):
"I saved you a bun! It's red bean. Not mysterious meat like yesterday."
Aeris (quietly):
"I didn't ask."
Rin:
"You're welcome."
She handed it to her anyway.
They walked side by side for a few moments.
Rin (chatting without filter):
"So… funny thing. After the club meeting, I heard something weird.Apparently, some of the high-tier clubs were watching the student footage.Y'know, like, surveillance review?"
Aeris (blinking):
"Surveillance?"
Rin (nodding):
"Yeah! Like, scouting. Or maybe they're just bored.Anyway, they kept rewinding your combat footage. From yesterday. The inspection spar."
Aeris (calm):
"Why?"
Rin (grinning):
"Because no one else brings a Cold War rifle and takes down an advanced drone barehanded, Alina. You're basically an urban legend now."
Aeris stopped walking.
Rin noticed the stillness. She tilted her head.
Rin:
"Too much?"
Aeris (flatly):
"Stop making me sound interesting."
Rin (softly):
"I'm not the one making you interesting."
They stood at the garden crosswalk, sunlight hitting the dew-wet stone.
Suddenly—
A hover car passed above, bearing the crest of Orbital Crown.
The tinted window glided past—
And inside, Viora looked down.
No smirk. No expression.
Just her gaze.
Aeris didn't look back.But she felt it.Like a glass shard beneath skin.
Rin (noticing her freeze):
"Alina?"
Aeris (regaining posture):
"It's nothing."
She started walking again.
Scene Shift: Classroom Hall
Aeris took her seat beside the window.
Rin flopped into the chair beside her, still juggling three club flyers.
As the lesson began, Aeris rested her hand on her desk, staring quietly at her reflection in the glass.
Her fingers twitched once.
The same hand that cracked the wall last night.
It looked calm now.But it wasn't.
Aeris (internal):
I can't stay invisible much longer.
They're watching.
And one by one…I'll have to face them all again