"...Why did you help me?"
Raiden Mei's voice barely carried over the hum of distant students as she stood beside Victor in the quiet hallway outside her classroom. Her arms folded lightly in front of her, not to create distance—but to keep herself from shaking. Her eyes stayed fixed on the polished floor, avoiding his gaze entirely.
"If you're expecting something in return... I don't have anything," she continued, her voice subdued but steady. "No favors. No gratitude. Just... nothing."
Victor blinked, caught off guard by the weight of her words. "Eh?"
Elysia giggled beside him, leaning forward with her hands on her hips like a mischievous cheerleader. "That's your cue to say something charming~"
Victor scratched his cheek, shifting awkwardly as he turned back to Mei. "I… didn't know you had to pay someone for not being awful. Is that how it works now?"
Mei blinked, her expression twitching with confusion.
He gestured clumsily. "Like—do I give you a receipt or something? 'One incident of not being a jerk'?"
She stared at him.
Then, softly—very softly—Mei exhaled through her nose. It wasn't quite a laugh, but it was close.
"I see," she murmured, voice dropping again. "So… you're just stupid."
Victor shrugged with a flat stare. "I've been told worse."
She finally looked up at him, and for a brief moment, he caught a flicker of something—curiosity, maybe.
"Did you… not help me because of my family?" she asked, quieter now.
Victor tilted his head. "Your family?"
"The Raiden name," she said, her tone flattening slightly as if bracing for judgment. "You must've heard of it. I figured that's why they were targeting me. Or maybe why you stepped in."
Victor squinted, brow furrowing. "Is that a famous name or something?"
Mei stared at him like he'd just claimed the sky was green.
"You really don't know?"
"Nope. I'm still figuring out how doors work," he replied, deadpan.
Elysia snorted. "He's not kidding. He walked into a closet earlier today, thinking it was a bathroom."
Mei blinked again, startled—but then, without meaning to, she smiled. Just a little.
Victor didn't push her. He simply stood there beside her, hands in his pockets, gaze somewhere between thoughtful and clueless.
"I don't care who your family is," he said at last, softly. "I just don't like seeing people being treated like that. No one deserves it."
There was a long pause.
Then Mei, gaze lowered once more, murmured, "You're strange."
Victor chuckled. "Good strange or bad strange?"
"I haven't decided yet."
"Fair enough."
Elysia beamed. "She's smiling! I saw it!"
Victor didn't call it out. He simply nodded. "Well, strange or not, if anyone gives you trouble again—let me know."
Mei didn't reply, only stared as if trying to figure out if he was sincere or not. Then, after a while, she heaved a sigh and shook her head with a smile. "You really are strange.."
"I'm glad to see you're making friends," came Eden's melodic voice, graceful and composed as ever.
Both Victor and Mei turned as she approached. Her stride was effortless, her presence drawing attention like sunlight through glass. Her eyes scanned Victor's uniform with practiced ease, then paused.
"Your tie is crooked," she sighed, stepping in to fix it with fluid, deliberate movements.
Mei blinked, surprised—not just by Eden's closeness to him, but by how natural it seemed.
"Yeah… I don't know why, but it's like I never really learned how to do it," Victor admitted with an awkward laugh.
"Elysia's been laughing at me all morning because of it."
"I can't blame her," Eden said with a small smile, straightening his collar with a motherly air. "We both told you not to worry about little things like that. We always said we'd handle them for you, remember?"
"Is that so?" Victor chuckled lightly, his gaze shifting between the two—Elysia giggling beside him, invisible to the rest of the world, and Eden nodding as if echoing her sentiment.
Mei's expression shifted. What had been simple observation turned into something sharper—curious… cautious.
"...Eden," she murmured, her voice quieter, but firmer. Her brows furrowed slightly as her violet eyes locked on Eden with new weight. "My fa… someone I know once mentioned a shareholder who made it nearly impossible to negotiate school access last year. Was that you?"
Eden blinked, then offered a perfectly measured smile. The lightness in her posture straightened into something poised. "Ah. Mr. Raiden's daughter. It's an honor to finally meet you," she said, stepping back with practiced elegance.
"And yes, that would be me. I own a significant share of Chiba Academy… as did your father."
"I see," Mei murmured, her voice tightening ever so slightly. Her gaze flickered between Eden and Victor now, suspicion laced beneath her cool façade. "And why would someone so important suddenly appear now?"
"Oh, nothing mysterious," Eden replied, still smiling—but now with the grace of a practiced diplomat. "I requested Victor be enrolled. He's one of three transfer students under an exchange program I'm sponsoring.
Just here to see it through."
She gave a small curtsy and turned to the classroom door, slipping inside as gasps echoed from the students already seated within. Her name—Eden—rippling through them.
Victor didn't follow immediately. He stood silently, watching the sunlight cascade through the window nearby.
"So it's your first day," Mei said softly, arms crossed, her expression unreadable now.
"I guess so," Victor replied, voice low. "Though I'm not sure why it feels like I've been here before."
They stood there for a moment, until a gentle whisper reached his ear.
"Can you imagine how happy we could've been… if our love started in a place like this?" Elysia murmured, her voice brushing against his soul like a forgotten melody. Her head rested on his shoulder, warmth he couldn't explain lingering on his skin. "Eating together every day, walking home together… studying late into the night... Doesn't that sound nice?"
Victor smiled, slow and soft, a tinge of sadness behind it.
"Yeah," he whispered. "Going to school with you… might be the best thing that could happen to me. I hope we can enjoy our time together here."
Mei's breath hitched. She froze—his voice had been so gentle, so intimate, filled with affection that she hadn't heard from anyone in so long. The words struck her unexpectedly deep.
"W-Wha—?" she stammered, face suddenly flushed as she stumbled to process what she thought was directed at her. "I… I'll see you around, then," she mumbled, quickly looking away to hide the blooming pink across her cheeks as she hurried into the classroom.
Victor blinked, confused. "Hmm?"
"Ho-ho~ A third~?" Elysia teased with a knowing smile. But just as she leaned closer to continue her teasing, she stopped. Her grin vanished, replaced with wide-eyed stillness.
Victor's gaze had shifted.
Someone stood at the far end of the hall.
A figure with hair the color of the deep sea under moonlight—dark, rippling, endless. Eyes that held the silver shimmer of the stars above, distant and solemn.
They didn't speak. They didn't move.
They simply stared back at Victor, the same emptiness mirrored between them. And then—
A single tear slid down the stranger's cheek.