The morning at the Academy was a blur of unwanted noise. With his hair pushed back by his glasses and his face fully visible, Yuki had inadvertently set the hallway on fire. The whispers followed him like a physical weight—girls stopping mid-sentence to stare, and the glares from the male students turning from mockery to sharp, jagged jealousy.
"Is that Yuki Kinatarou? He looks soo majestic today."
"He's like an idol."
"I wish my boyfriend looked just like that."
"I wish he was my boyfriend. I don't care if he's weak."
Yuki could hear their comments and it only made him uncomfortable. He hated it. He felt exposed. The moment he reached his desk, he pulled his glasses down, letting his bangs fall forward to shield his eyes. He didn't want to be a spectacle; he had a mountain to climb, and he couldn't do it if the whole world was watching.
Throughout the morning, he looked for Seri, but she was a ghost. Every time he caught a glimpse of her green hair in the distance, she would sharply turn a corner or hide behind her circle of sycophants. She was following Lord Genji's command to the letter, but her stiff posture betrayed her. She wasn't ignoring him because she wanted to—she was ignoring him because she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't.
Lunch break brought the inevitable. As Yuki splashed cold water on his face in the restroom, the door swung shut with a heavy click.
Six students, led by a second-year with a grudge and a Fire Kizo, surrounded him. "Think you can just change your hair and act like a Prince, Kinatarou?" the leader spat. "A Zero like you belongs at the bottom of the food chain. Let's remind you where you sit."
"Listen, I seriously don't want to do this right now." Yuki turned off the tap and put his glasses on. "I'm conserving my energy. And besides, six against one isn't fair."
"Oh you think this is a fight? No! It's a one sided beat down." The leader yelled.
"What did I even do to any of you?" Yuki asked out of pure curiosity.
"Isn't obvious, Yuki? It's jealousy. And humans like to trample over weaker beings." Kira's voice sounded in his ear. He always kept the earpiece on at all times, while he left her main body; the black box at home with Luna. This way he'd be informed if he someone tried to enter his home.
"We're doing this because we can!" The leader yelled.
"A stupid answer from a stupid person." Yuki said while scratching his ear.
"Who are you calling stupid?!" The leader yelled, his voice loud and deep.
"You're too loud, would you mind shutting that hole in your face?" Yuki was sick and tired of people looking down on him, now he was the one looking down on them.
The leader enveloped his fist in flames and threw a punch directly at Yuki's face and successfully landed a hit. Yuki stumbled backwards a bit before he was able to stabilize himself.
He rubbed his cheek and noticed it was a bit burnt. The leader smiled knowing he had successfully landed a hit, he felt it would be easy to beat Yuki.
"Haha, you're weaker than I....." Before the leader could complete his sentence a fist rammed directly into his face totally breaking his nose and a few teeth. He was sent flying backwards, his body forcefully crashed into a wall and fell to the ground. He was out cold.
The other boys looked at their leader with wide eyes, his face totally disfigured. They couldn't even recognize him anymore. They all looked back at Yuki who stood there with a fist that was stained with their leader's blood.
The fight was a symphony of dull thuds and breaking tiles. Yuki was outnumbered and outranked. He took a lightning-enhanced fist to the ribs and a stone-shattering kick to the thigh. He didn't have a flashy technique to save him, so he relied on sheer, stubborn grit. He took three hits just to land one. He did it all without using his Kizo, preserving it for Tetsu
Ten minutes later, Yuki walked out. Behind him, six Kizo users were groaning on the floor. Yuki looked significantly worse—his lip was split, his uniform was torn, and his ribs felt like they had been put through a meat grinder. But he was the one walking out.
He ran into Seri near the courtyard. She was alone, tucked away in a stone alcove, clearly trying to avoid the main crowds. When she saw him, she instinctively looked away, her hands clutching her books so tightly her knuckles were white.
"Kinatarou-kun..." she started, her voice a forced, cold whisper. "I told you, I cannot speak to—"
She stopped. Her eyes finally drifted to his face. The sight of the deep bruise on his jaw and the blood staining his white shirt made her heart lurch. The "Royal" mask she wore shattered instantly. She took a step toward him, her hand trembling as it reached for his shoulder, before she remembered her father's face and froze.
"What happened to you?" she breathed, her eyes shimmering with a mix of fury and heartbreak.
"Just a few scratches, Seri. I've had worse" Yuki rasped. He didn't hide his face from her this time. He gave her a tired, resolute smile. "Don't worry. I'm still going back today. I'm not letting a few scratches stop me from reaching that wall."
Seri bit her lip so hard it nearly bled. She wanted to heal him, to scream at whoever did this, to tell him to stay home. But she couldn't. She just stood there, caught between her father's shadow and the boy who refused to break.
"You're a fool, Yuki," she whispered, her voice breaking as she forced herself to walk past him without another word.