"Everyone up! Last ferry leaves in forty minutes, and I’m not paying for hotel rooms because you idiots missed the boat!"
Skylar stepped back. Tucked a strand of indigo and pink hair behind her ear. The vulnerability I’d glimpsed monts ago vanished behind her usual mask of boredom. In the half-light of the balcony, her flushed skin took on an almost otherworldly glow. She straightened her dress with a single motion that sohow conveyed both indifference and perfect awareness of how good she looked.
"Well," she said. Voice deliberately casual. Fingers tracing her collarbone in an unconscious gesture. "That was... educational."
I smirked. "High praise from soone who hates school."
"Don’t push it, Stray Dog." But there was no venom in her words. She reached for her purse and pulled out her headphones. Let them dangle around her neck rather than imdiately placing them over her ears. A subtle invitation to continued conversation that didn’t escape my notice.
We rejoined the others as Carn herded everyone toward the exit. The woman operated with the skill of a drunk sheepdog. Her eyepatch was slightly askew. She kept pointing at an imaginary watch on her wrist. Despite her intoxicated state, there was sothing endearing about her determined shepherding.
Juan looked half-dead. His eyes glazed over with the thousand-yard stare of a man who’d experienced true psychological torture. His usually immaculate card tricks had devolved into simply clutching the deck in a death grip.
"If I have to stand for five more minutes," he muttered as we filed out onto the street. Shoulders slumped like the weight of existence itself pressed down on him. "I might actually develop an Aspect that lets sleep while walking."
"That’s the spirit," I clapped him on the shoulder. Enjoyed the way he winced at the contact. "Always thinking of new ways to be lazier."
Hikari bounced ahead of the group. Her orange dress was a beacon in the darkness. The fabric caught the neon lights from surrounding signs. Her endless energy defied all laws of physics and common sense. "That was so fun! We should do this every weekend! Maybe next ti with karaoke! Or matching outfits! Or a the night where we all dress as our favorite S-Rank Hunter!"
Juan made a sound like a dying animal. Sothing between a whimper and a groan that perfectly captured the essence of existential dread.
Raphael, walking beside Marco, just grunted in disapproval at everything and everyone. His spiky blonde hair seed to bristle with each suggestion from Hikari. Like an angry cat’s fur.
I felt soone watching . That distinct sensation of being targeted. I turned to find Natalia’s purple eyes boring into my skull with enough intensity to trigger an aneurysm. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. Her entire body radiated fury wrapped in ice. When our eyes t, she mouthed sothing that looked suspiciously like "dead man walking" before turning away with a perfect hair flip. Sohow communicated murder, disdain, and possessive rage all in one elegant motion.
Yeah. I’d be paying for that later.
The thought sent an inappropriate thrill through .
As we walked through streets painted in neon and shadow, the buildings rising around us like sleeping giants, I noticed Skylar had fallen into step beside . She wasn’t clinging to my arm like Emi might have. Wasn’t strutting possessively like Natalia. Just there. Close enough that our arms occasionally brushed as we walked. Close enough that I caught the faint scent of her perfu. Sothing with notes of blackberry and vanilla. Undercut with a hint of clove that perfectly matched her contrarian personality.
Her headphones rested around her neck rather than over her ears. A small detail. But significant. Skylar’s headphones were her shield against the world. Her way of saying "don’t talk to " without words. But now, they hung unused. She was listening. To the night. To our companions.
To .
We didn’t talk much during the walk. A few sardonic comnts about Carn’s state. ("Five drinks past professional, two drinks shy of hospital.") A shared eye-roll at Hikari’s suggestion for group matching t-shirts with "Onyx Hounds 4 Life" emblazoned across the chest. The real conversation happened in the negative space between us. The way she didn’t flinch when I got too close. The way I angled myself slightly toward her when we walked. The almost imperceptible lean of her body toward mine when we paused at a crosswalk.
The others noticed. Of course they did.
Emi kept glancing back at us. Her antenna-like strands drooping with each look. Tiny blue wilting flowers. Her smile seed brittle. Forced. Like porcelain on the verge of cracking. Each ti she turned back around, her shoulders slumped a little more.
Akari watched with a predatory gleam in her erald eyes. Like she’d just spotted an interesting new ga piece on the board. She whispered sothing to her sister. Hikari’s reply was too loud: "But they don’t match at all!"
Soomin clutched her purse to her chest. Pink hair falling forward to hide her expression. I caught the mixture of longing and disappointnt that flashed across her delicate features before she hid them. Her knuckles were white against the leather of her bag.
Natalia... well. If looks could kill, I’d be a pile of ash on the sidewalk. Her gaze burned hotter than any fla my Aspect could conjure. Violet eyes promising retribution in exquisite detail. She walked with Marco and Raphael. But her attention never truly left . I could feel her watching even when she appeared to be engaged in conversation.
The ferry terminal was deserted when we arrived. A ghost station of empty benches and flickering overhead lights. The last boat of the night waited like a ghost ship on the dark water. Its silhouette stark against the cityscape behind it. Its lights cast long, wavering reflections across the harbor. Golden pathways that broke and reford with each gentle swell of the water. Most of our group shuffled inside imdiately. Half-dead on their feet and desperate for sowhere to sit.
Carn lingered at the gangplank. Swaying slightly despite her white-knuckle grip on the railing. The night breeze ruffled her ssy black hair. Revealed then concealed her eyepatch in an unintentional ga of peek-a-boo. She shot a knowing wink that was probably ant to be subtle but ended up looking like she had sothing large and unpleasant stuck in her eye.
"Don’t stay up too late, kids," she slurred. Then attempted to tap her non-existent wristwatch with such force she nearly toppled over. "Ferry leaves in fifteen minutes. With or without... whatever parts of you aren’t on board." She snickered at her own joke. Swaying dangerously before staggering inside after the others. Humming a lody that bore no resemblance to any known song.
I stood at the gangplank. Looked back at the city. The neon lights reflected off the water. Made everything look like a fever dream. Like reality had gotten drunk right along with Carn.
"You coming?" Skylar asked. She’d paused halfway up the gangplank. Looking back at with those violet eyes.
"Yeah." I started walking. "Just thinking."
"Dangerous pasti."
"I live dangerously."
"Clearly." She waited for to catch up. Then we walked onto the ferry together.
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