After lunch, the corridor slowly filled with students returning to their classrooms.
Mystic and Luna moved through the crowd without any intention of joining them, their footsteps carrying them farther down the hall.
Luna's arm remained wrapped around Mystic's waist, her body pressed comfortably against his side.
From a distance, they could have passed for childhood best friends who had simply grown inseparable. To Luna, however, her grip seemed to mean something more.
Her fingers tightened whenever another student passed too close, as though she were quietly reminding the world who he belonged beside.
"So how you feeling lately, that missing organ causing you any trouble? I don't want you to be sad or upset, that will make me sad if you feel that way. It's like having a part of your heart taken away and making yourself bleed out because of it." Luna asked, tilting her head toward him.
Her smile remained gentle, but her arm never loosened. Instead, her fingers slowly curled into the fabric of his uniform, holding it between them.
"I am feeling okay Luna really. I just feel a little sick sometimes but it's nothing that a few drops of medicine can't heal. You don't have to cling on too tight." Mystic answered, glancing down at the arm around his waist.
He tried shifting forward, but Luna moved with him so naturally that he barely noticed the adjustment.
Luna's smile widened but rather than releasing him, she slid her arm tighter around his waist and rested her cheek against his shoulder for a moment.
Her eyes followed the students ahead of them, watching each one until they disappeared around the corner.
Once the corridor cleared, she relaxed again, her attention returning entirely to Mystic.
"That makes me glad, you know if you died I would die too. You're my whole world, my everything, my reason to live." she explained, her voice soft enough to almost disappear beneath the noise of the hallway.
Her fingers stroked the side of his uniform as she spoke, and the pleasant expression on her face never faltered.
"You really shouldn't joke about all that stuff; you really could freak someone out with all that crazy talk that you're doing." Mystic said with an awkward laugh.
He rubbed the back of his neck, treating her words like another one of Luna's strange jokes. The smile on her face did not change.
Luna stopped walking as for several seconds, she simply stared at him.
There was no embarrassment in her eyes, no trace of amusement, and not even the hesitation someone might have after realizing they had gone too far.
Her hand remained locked around his waist while the students continued flowing around them. Then, as though nothing unusual had happened, she gently pulled him closer.
"It's not a joke; I really will do it. I will do anything to keep you mine. Anyway, I am glad I was by your side at the hospital bed. Being around you really made me feel safe. I wouldn't let anyone hurt my senpai" She explained as her voice softened toward the end, almost affectionate, while her grip remained firm.
Mystic felt a bead of sweat slide down his temple at the word she had used, but Luna only smiled as though she had said something completely ordinary.
The word lingered in Mystic's mind as they continued walking. Senpai. He had heard that word before, spoken by the yandere who had killed someone.
For a brief moment, the memory surfaced, followed by Luna's face, he glanced sideways at her, searching for some connection between the two but nothing seemed to fit.
Luna was strange, clingy, and undeniably crazy at times, but she had never killed anyone. At least, as far as he knew.
"What did you call me." He asked, turning his head toward her.
Luna's lips parted, ready to answer, but the sudden crackle of the intercom drowned out whatever she was about to say.
The speakers above them hissed before a voice echoed throughout the shallow, overcrowded hallway. Students slowed and looked toward the ceiling as the announcement rang through the corridor. Luna didn't look up.
Her eyes remained fixed on Mystic, and the moment the announcement finished, her arm tightened around his waist again.
"Luna Frost and Mystic Fire. Please come to the principal's office at once. This can't not wait." The announcement echoed a second time through the speakers before cutting into silence.
Mystic blinked and looked toward the staircase, while Luna's expression remained strangely calm.
With little choice, they turned toward the stairs leading to the second floor. Mystic walked ahead, thinking about what the principal could possibly want from them. Luna followed close enough that their shoulders brushed with every few steps.
Whenever someone approached from behind, she shifted closer to Mystic without saying a word, her hand still securely fastened around him.
The crowded staircase eventually emptied as they reached the second floor. Sunlight spilled through the tall windows, stretching pale rectangles across the polished floor. Mystic glanced toward the principal's office at the end of the corridor, then continued forward.
Luna stayed beside him, humming quietly under her breath.
Her eyes briefly wandered toward the students passing them before returning to Mystic. Each time someone looked at him for longer than a moment, her expression flattened.
The instant their attention moved elsewhere, her smile returned.
Mystic noticed none of it. His thoughts remained fixed on the mysterious summons and the strange word Luna had almost explained.
At last, they reached the principal's office. Mystic slowed near the door and raised his hand toward it. Luna stood beside him, still holding his waist, her cheek nearly resting against his shoulder. Behind her gentle smile, her fingers curled possessively into his uniform once more as she waited for him to knock.
The moment Mystic and Luna stepped into the principal's office; the atmosphere pressed down on them. The usual sounds of the school seemed distant behind the closed door.
Harold stood near the principal's desk, his police uniform slightly dishevelled, while the principal sat stiffly behind his desk.
Neither man looked toward them with the expression of someone delivering ordinary school business.
Mystic's eyes immediately settled on Harold.
The sight of the police officer made his stomach tighten, especially after everything surrounding the yandere killer case. Luna remained beside him, her hands hanging quietly at her sides as she watched the adults without saying a word.
"Harold why are you here, is this something to do with the yandere killer case again." Mystic asked, taking a step farther into the room, his eyes moved between Harold and the principal, searching their faces for some indication of what had happened.
Harold drew a slow breath. His shoulders rose and fell beneath his uniform as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. Whatever urgency had brought him there seemed to have followed him into the room.
"Yeah but you should listen to your principal before I start explaining what happened." Harold said, lowering himself into one of the chairs, his breathing remained heavy, and he kept his eyes lowered as though he were gathering himself before speaking again.
The principal folded his hands together on top of the desk and for several seconds, he stared at the papers in front of him without touching them.
The silence stretched between the four of them, broken only by the faint ticking of the clock on the wall. Mystic shifted uneasily while Luna stood perfectly still beside him.
"As I was saying, the reason I called you two in here is because something tragic happened, something that really affects what's going to happen with the rest of the school year." the principal tried to explain, his fingers tightened against one another, and his eyes briefly flickered toward Luna before returning to Mystic.
"Wait what happened." Mystic asked. His voice came out quieter than before, he looked toward Luna, but she was already staring at the principal, her face unreadable.
No one answered immediately as Harold's breathing slowed, but the silence somehow made the room feel heavier. Mystic's gaze moved from the principal to Harold, waiting for one of them to finally break it. Luna's fingers slowly curled into the fabric of her skirt.
Harold finally lifted his head. The exhaustion in his eyes had been replaced by something far heavier. He looked directly at Luna, hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then spoke.
"Luna, your father is dead."