Mia's eyes went wide—not the cartoon kind, but the real sort, where you can see someone's entire defense system short-circuiting in real time. Her ears burned crimson, like she'd been caught stealing something she didn't even know she wanted.
"I—I have a boyfriend." The words came out strangled, half-plea, half-reminder to herself. She took a step back, nearly tripping over her own feet. "I can't just—"
Raze didn't move. Didn't blink. Just watched her with that maddening stillness, like he had all the time in the world and she was the one running out.
"Funny how selective memory works," he said quietly.
Her brows knitted. "What?"
"The promise, Mia."
"What promise?"
A ghost of a smirk touched his lips. "The one you made right after I broke that guy's nose for you. Middle school. You remember—the one who thought grabbing you in the hallway was funny?"
Her breath caught.
"You grabbed my sleeve, crying so hard you couldn't talk. Then you said—*I'll do anything. I promise. Just keep protecting me.*"
The color drained from her face.
"I asked what 'anything' meant." His voice stayed level, surgical. "You said a kiss. One day. When things were safer."
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Her hands trembled at her sides.
"That was before you confessed to me," Raze continued, voice softening just enough to twist the knife. "Before the incident. Before you decided Kail was the safer bet."
The wind outside picked up, rattling the ancient window frames. Dust motes swirled through slanted moonlight like tiny, restless ghosts.
"But hey," he shrugged, turning slightly, "kid stuff, right? Can't blame you for forgetting."
"I didn't forget."
He stopped.
Her voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through the silence like a confession at gunpoint.
"I just... I didn't think you'd remember. Or care."
"I don't hate you for it, Mia."
Her head snapped up, eyes searching his face for cruelty, for mockery—finding neither.
"I just don't forget promises people break when they're scared."
"Raze..." Her voice cracked. "If I could go back—"
"Don't." He waved it off, almost gentle. "You don't owe me anything. Not really. If you don't want to do it, then don't."
She bit her lip, fingers twisting together like she was trying to strangle her own guilt.
Then, so quietly he almost missed it—
"...I want to."
Raze's expression didn't change, but something shifted behind his eyes.
*Interesting.*
The air thickened as Mia took one step forward. Then another. Her face was burning, but her gaze stayed locked on his—stubborn, determined, like she was trying to prove something to a jury only she could see.
Her palm came to rest on his chest, feather-light, trembling.
Then she started to lean in.
Raze's smirk surfaced—not for her.
For the shadow three aisles over, breathing too loud, heart hammering loud enough to shake the shelves.
*Gotcha, you insecure bastard.*
He'd felt Kail the moment the conversation started. The weight of jealousy was a physical thing, thick and choking, vibrating through the air like a plucked wire ready to snap.
And Kail was *unraveling.*
Perfect.
Mia's breath ghosted across his lips, warm and unsteady. Her eyes fluttered closed.
Raze slipped two fingers between them.
She froze mid-motion, eyes flying open, confusion flooding her face like cold water.
"That's enough," he said quietly.
"What—why?" The hurt in her voice was raw, unfiltered. "I thought—"
"You don't owe me anything, Mia. I just wanted to see if you were still carrying that guilt around like a anchor."
Her expression crumpled, but she tried to smile through it—fragile, cracked at the edges. "That's... kind of cruel."
"Maybe." His gaze flicked briefly toward the shelves. "But if you really want to do something for me, there's one thing."
Her eyes lit up, desperate for absolution. "Anything."
"Stop being weak."
She blinked.
"Your draw's sloppy. Your aim drifts when you're nervous. And you flinch every time someone raises their voice." He met her eyes. "Fix that. Get stronger. Then maybe you won't need people like me cleaning up your messes."
For a heartbeat, she just stared—stunned, hurt.
Then something fiercer kindled behind her gaze.
"I will." Her hands balled into fists. "I'll get better. Strong enough to protect *you* for once."
"Didn't ask for that," Raze muttered, turning back toward the shelves. "But sure. Whatever gets you moving."
Behind the stacks, footsteps retreated—quiet, controlled, trembling with volcanic rage barely held in check.
Raze didn't look.
Didn't need to.
The trap had already sprung.
The fuse was lit.
---
Morning arrived with all the subtlety of a boot to the ribs.
Sunlight bled across the training yard, turning frost-slick stones into a blinding mosaic. The summoned students shuffled into ragged formation, most still half-dead from sleep.
Except Kail.
He stood rigid as a fence post, eyes locked on Raze like a sniper waiting for the perfect shot.
Seraphina Vale stood at the front, arms crossed, crimson hair catching the light like a warning flare. Her silver armor didn't gleam—it *accused.*
"Listen carefully," she said, voice sharp enough to fillet. "You're not guests here. You're not on vacation. You're weapons. And if you can't sharpen yourselves, the demons will break you the first time they swing back."
Leon straightened reflexively. Tamao stared into the middle distance. Mia fidgeted with her bowstring, sneaking glances at Raze like she was checking if he'd vanished overnight.
"Now." Seraphina's gaze swept over them like a blade testing for rust. "Show me what you've got."
Leon went first—naturally. His sword erupted in golden light, carving through a training dummy like it was made of smoke and regret. Suzu stepped up next, healing a shallow cut on her own arm with soft green luminescence. One by one, they demonstrated. Fire. Wind. Barriers. Runes crackling like broken neon.
Then silence.
Raze hadn't moved.
Kail's voice slithered out, cold and venomous.
"What's the matter, *extra?* Power run dry? Or are you just stalling because you know you don't belong?"
Raze didn't answer. His eyes stayed half-lidded, bored, like he was mentally cataloging paint drying.
Kail stepped forward. Frost crept outward from his boots in thin, spiderweb patterns—delicate and vicious.
"Think you're clever? Dropping Borden with a lucky grab?" His voice dropped lower, intimate with threat. "Try that shit on me. Let's see what happens."
Raze sighed, long and theatrical. "You really don't know when to quit, do you?"
The temperature plummeted.
Ice spread across the stones in jagged veins, crackling like frozen lightning.
"Kail, *stop!*" Mia's voice cracked with panic.
He didn't even glance her way.
"And stay the *hell* away from Mia," Kail hissed, frost climbing his arms like living armor. "I saw you last night. Don't think I didn't."
Raze tilted his head, expression unreadable—almost amused.
"Oh? You saw, huh?"
Kail's jaw clenched so hard it looked like his teeth might shatter.
"Then I guess..." Raze's smirk surfaced, slow and deliberate. "...you saw the kiss too?"
The air *shattered.*
Frost exploded outward in a violent wave, coating the ground in crystalline fury. The wind howled. Students stumbled back, boots skidding on ice.
"You *son of a bitch!*" Kail roared, voice breaking with rage. "You think you can just—"
"Kail, it's not what you think!" Mia rushed forward, desperation bleeding through every syllable.
Leon stepped between them, sword already half-drawn. "Both of you—*enough.*"
"Get out of my way," Kail snarled.
"This isn't—"
"I said *move!*"
Kail's blade materialized—a jagged shard of ice, translucent and cruel, edges sharp enough to split light.
Leon's sword ignited in golden response.
They collided.
But it wasn't a brawl.
It was a *vivisection.*
Leon fought like a trained knight—footwork precise, deflections efficient, conserving energy. But Kail wasn't fighting to win points.
He was fighting to *destroy.*
Every swing carried the weight of humiliation, jealousy, rage sharpened into something almost tactical. He feinted high, struck low. Used the ice beneath Leon's feet like a chessboard, freezing footholds mid-step.
Leon stumbled—just for a heartbeat.
Kail's blade snapped upward, catching him across the forearm.
Blood sprayed across white frost like ink on snow.
Kail stepped back, breathing hard, eyes burning with savage satisfaction.
"Looks like the golden boy bleeds after all."
Silence.
Seraphina's voice cut through it like a guillotine.
"Not bad, But if that's your ceiling, demons won't bother killing you. They'll just let you bleed out and use your corpse as bait."
Kail turned away, but his gaze found Raze one last time—molten, murderous.
Raze met it evenly.
And gave a small, deliberate nod.
*Good. Stay angry.*
The necklace against his chest pulsed—warm, alive, almost approving.
*This is just the beginning.*
---