The base felt a little colder that morning. Not in temperature, but in energy. Something unseen coiled through the hallways like smoke, unseen by most but felt by the few who paid attention.
Kazu was one of them.
He had barely gotten out of the infirmary, yet his senses were sharp—perhaps sharper than ever. The residue of danger clung to his skin like a second layer. He walked through the corridors with purpose, but not without caution.
Meanwhile, Unmei was tense.
Reina had been popping up too often again. She wasn't subtle—at least, not to him. She always smiled too wide, stepped too close, asked too many questions about his patrol routes and powers. Shiro had noticed too. And Unmei could feel his boyfriend's jealousy flaring like wildfire.
"You okay?" Shiro asked him one afternoon, when the two of them were outside under a tree. "You've been distant."
Unmei sighed and nodded. "It's Reina."
Shiro's expression darkened instantly. "She's still following you?"
"She's stalking," Unmei corrected. "She waits outside the training room. I've seen her near my dorm. Even Kazu noticed."
Shiro's eyes narrowed. "I don't like her. She doesn't look at people—she measures them."
Later that night, Reina's intentions started to crack.
Kaku was walking back to her office when Hanzo caught her near the courtyard.
"She's going to make her move soon," he said bluntly.
Kaku blinked. "Reina?"
He nodded. "I checked the logs. She's been accessing restricted archives. And she's been slipping fake training requests into the schedule. Ones that place her near Unmei or Kazu."
Kaku clenched her jaw. "That entitled brat…"
Hanzo added, "She's strong, but she only respects power. And right now, she's aiming for something more than approval."
Kaku crossed her arms. "Then she's about to learn this place doesn't tolerate snakes."
Reina sat on the edge of her bed that night, brushing her long, dark hair and staring into the mirror. Her eyes weren't full of warmth—they were calculating.
"So close," she whispered. "So close to finding it. The secret that makes Kazu special… and Unmei's darkness… if I could just control it—"
The mirror behind her suddenly shifted.
A second reflection appeared behind her own. Glowing red eyes. A faint smirk.
Unmei's curse.
Reina blinked and turned around quickly—but there was no one there.
Yet on the mirror, words had been burned into the surface with invisible fire, only visible in the faint moonlight:
"Keep playing, little mouse. I bite."
The next day, Kazu noticed Reina was quieter. Not gone—but rattled.
Unmei stood beside him and muttered, "He warned her."
Kazu glanced at him. "The curse?"
Unmei nodded, then added with a strange smile, "He's really starting to like you."
Kazu blinked. "Oh… should I be scared?"
Unmei just laughed, the sound dry and amused. "Maybe."