I stared at Aurora’s text.
The words sat there on my screen. Innocent. Casual.
You free after classes?
This was a trap.
Not the "she’s trying to kill " kind of trap. The "she’s interested and I’m already drowning in romantic disasters" kind. Aurora was Silver-tier. Ranked twenty-three. Second year with actual combat experience and an ability that could make taste colors or see sounds if she wanted.
And she was hot.
Like objectively, scientifically, unfairly hot.
Orange hair that caught light like fire. Green eyes that read people like books. That beauty mark above her lip. The way she moved like every step was choreographed to ss with your head.
But.
But.
Naomi wasn’t talking to . Belle wanted to stab with her crossbow. And I had exactly six days and change before my lifespan ran out again.
Adding Aurora to this disaster would be like pouring gasoline on a dumpster fire.
I typed back.
: nah I’m busy saving the world
Aurora: sha
Aurora: guess I’ll bother soone else then 🦊
I pocketed my phone. Crisis averted.
Jordan looked at over his pasta. "Who was that?"
"Aurora."
"The second year who can scramble your brain?"
"That’s the one."
"What’d she want?"
"To hang out."
"And you said no." Jordan tilted his head. "Are you stupid or dying?"
"Both probably."
"She’s literally offering you ti with a ranked Silver. That’s networking. That’s connections. That’s how you climb."
"I’m aware."
"Then why—" Jordan stopped. His eyes widened slightly. "Oh. You actually like Naomi."
"What gave it away?"
"The guilt. The moping. The fact that you turned down Aurora Fitzgerald." He ate another bite of pasta. "You’re screwed."
"Thanks for the analysis."
"I’m just saying. If you’re choosing the pink-haired girl who won’t look at you over the orange-haired girl who wants your attention, you’re in deep."
He wasn’t wrong.
I finished my chicken. The rice. The vegetables. All of it tasted like regret.
My phone buzzed again. Different contact this ti.
Misato: training at 4. east field. be on ti or I’m making you run laps until you puke.
Great.
I showed Jordan the text.
He read it. Then laughed. "She’s gonna kill you."
"Probably."
"Good luck with that." He stood up. Grabbed his tray. "I’m going to nap until Ecology. You coming?"
"Yeah."
We dumped our trays. Headed toward Building A.
The hallways were crowded. Students moving between classes. Guild kids in clusters. Lottery winners scattered throughout. Everyone wearing their house colors like uniforms.
I spotted Hikaru in the distance. Black hair. Red eyes. Perfect posture.
She saw .
Turned around imdiately. Walked the opposite direction.
Cool. My roommate still hated .
Jordan noticed. "What’d you do to Tanaka?"
"Nothing."
"Nobody runs from nothing."
"Long story."
"Everything with you is a long story."
We reached the lecture hall. Obsidian on the left. Sapphire on the right. The usual division.
Naomi sat with Belle in the middle row. They’d claid seats together. Deliberately away from everyone else.
Sending a ssage.
I sat in the back corner. Jordan collapsed in the seat next to . Closed his eyes imdiately.
"Wake when class starts," he muttered.
"What if I don’t?"
"Then I’ll haunt your dreams."
Dr. Cross entered at exactly noon. Purple hair catching the light. That modified uniform that should’ve gotten her fired years ago.
Every conversation in the room died.
She smiled. Walked to the front desk. Set down her tablet.
"Good afternoon future corpses."
Soone laughed nervously.
Cross’s smile widened. "Today we’re covering dungeon topography and environntal hazards. The fun stuff."
She pulled up a hologram. A massive cave system. Twisting tunnels. Vertical drops. Water features.
"This is a C-rank dungeon outside Phoenix. Standard layout. Three entry points. Five confird boss chambers. Average clear ti is four hours with a professional squad." Cross zood in on a section. "Notice anything interesting?"
A Sapphire student raised her hand. "The water system connects to multiple chambers."
"Correct. Which ans?"
"Flooding risk."
"Exactly." Cross switched to a different angle. "Last year a B-rank squad attempted this dungeon during monsoon season. They ignored weather patterns. The tunnels flooded in forty minutes. Three drowned. Two escaped. The guild lost half a million in recovery costs."
She let that sink in.
"Environntal hazards kill more hunters than monsters. Rember that."
The lecture continued. Cave-ins. Gas pockets. Temperature extres. Bioluminescent plants that paralyzed on contact.
I took notes. Not because I enjoyed the material. Because Friday we’d be evaluated on this.
And according to Misato, our performance mattered for house rankings.
Cross moved on to vertical dungeons. Tower structures. Gravity-defying architecture.
"These are rare but deadly. You’re fighting upward against monsters that know the terrain better than you. Fall damage is real. Stamina managent is critical."
She showed footage of a squad clearing a tower dungeon. They moved floor by floor. Careful. thodical.
Then a Crawler dropped from above. Landed on the healer. Killed her instantly.
The whole squad collapsed after that.
"Plan for ambush," Cross said. "Always."
Naomi shifted in her seat. Belle whispered sothing. Naomi nodded.
They were still avoiding looking back here.
Jordan snored softly beside .
Class ended at 12:55. Cross dismissed us with a reminder about Friday’s practical exam.
"You’ll be entering a real E-rank gate," she said. "Groups of five. Standard clear procedures. Don’t die."
Everyone filed out.
I nudged Jordan awake. "Class is over."
"Already?"
"You slept through the whole thing."
"Good. I needed that." He stretched. Yawned. "What’d I miss?"
"Everything."
"I’ll read your notes later."
We left the lecture hall. The afternoon sun hit us as we stepped outside.
Jordan split off toward his next class. I headed back to Building C.
I had an hour before Misato’s training. Enough ti to shower. Change. ntally prepare for whatever hell she’d planned.
The apartnt was empty when I got there. Hikaru’s door closed. No sound from inside.
She was either gone or pretending I didn’t exist.
Both worked for .
I showered quickly. The hot water helped my sore muscles but didn’t fix anything else.
My phone sat on the bed when I got out. Another text from Aurora.
Aurora: btw Blair is looking for you
Aurora: sothing about Friday’s assessnt
Aurora: she seed mad
I stared at the ssage.
Blair. Looking for . Mad.
That couldn’t be good.
: why would Blair care about ?
Aurora: no idea but she ntioned your na twice
Aurora: figured you’d want a heads up 🦊
I put the phone down. Processed that information.
Blair Davenport. Elite Ten adjacent. Rich as hell. Ice queen personality. Dating Marcus Steele or whatever their complicated thing was.
Why would she care about so nobody lottery kid?
Unless.
Unless it was about Misato.
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