The day seemed no different on the surface.
The same classroom, the same low hum of chatter, the same faces that had grown familiar.
But for Ilara, something had quietly broken since yesterday—a feeling she could not name, yet sensed every time she sat near Leon.
He was no longer just "the new student."
He was present more than he should be, and silent more than was comfortable.
He sat beside her as always. He did not lean in, did not try to draw attention, yet… she felt him.
His mere presence was enough.
— You seem distracted — he said quietly, without looking directly at her.
She was startled. She hadn't realized she had been staring at the same page for minutes.
— Maybe — she said, smiling lightly — it's been a long day.
— Long days don't start in the morning.
She laughed, a small, genuine laugh.
Then a comfortable silence fell, neither pressing nor demanding.
Across the classroom, Adam watched.
He wasn't angry yet… just uneasy.
The unease of men who feel that something familiar is slipping away, without knowing why.
During the break, he tried to catch up to her.
— Ilara, wait.
She stopped and turned to him.
— Yes?
— You… seem distant lately.
It wasn't an accusation, just a quiet complaint.
— I didn't notice — she said calmly — maybe because we haven't talked much recently.
— Because of this new guy?
She glanced at him, then down at the floor.
— Don't turn everything into jealousy, Adam.
He paused, then said in an attempt at a softer tone:
— I just… don't feel comfortable with him.
— Just because he's quiet?
— Because he watches too much… and doesn't speak.
She smiled lightly.
— Sometimes, silence isn't a threat.
He did not answer.
But for the first time… he felt he wasn't the only one who noticed her.
At the end of the day, Leon left school without glancing back.
The girls still watched.
The whispers about him did not stop.
But he saw none of it.
In the car, his real name returned to the air between breaths: Kyle Noir.
— It has begun — Raven said, driving.
— Begun what?
— The distance.
Kyle looked out the window.
— I haven't touched anything.
— That's the dangerous part — Raven replied — you were just there.
He said nothing.
That night, a brief news report aired.
New movements in the criminal world, sudden silence, the absence of a name that had terrified everyone.
The anchor said:
"It seems that the Ghost Who Rules… is merely watching."
Kyle turned off the screen.
— Good — he said quietly — let them get used to absence.
Then he added in a lower voice, as if speaking to himself:
— Some battles… are won before they even begin.
In her room, Ilara sat on her bed, thinking.
About Adam… whose voice had grown louder than her feelings.
And about Leon… who asked for nothing, yet was present more than necessary.
She did not know that this fragile balance
was only the last calm
before the rose falls from the hand.