"You are late."
The woman's narrowed eyes scanned Yesu head to toe, as though searching for flaws.
Yesu's hair was ruffled from the wind, strands breaking away and rging unevenly at the sides.
The woman's gaze shifted to the empty space on Yesu's shirt where the gold-plated na tag was supposed to be.
She frowned
Yesu managed a smile under the scrutiny.
"Sorry. It took a while to find my way here."
"Hm." The woman's tone suggested the excuse barely passed.
"Co with ." She said then turned and started walking away, hands still behind her back.
Yesu let out a breath and followed.
***
The sound of their footsteps echoed as they climbed up the stairs.
Through the glass walls, Yesu saw the outside world, and the stairs dropping away beneath her feet.
The woman moved gracefully, not at all in a hurry.
Yesu stared at her back, trying to figure out what it was about the woman that had made her uneasy.
The woman turned onto the fourth floor.
She walked down the wide hallway, not glancing back once at Yesu.
She stopped in front of a huge double door at the end of the hallway, knocked once and gently pushed one side of the door open.
"Professor, Kaelitha has arrived."
Professor Wakefield, a big plump man, sat before his large desk, flipping through a file.
"Send her in." He said without looking up.
Yesu entered the grand office.
"Good morning, sir."
"Morning. Sit." Professor Wakefield gestured at two long sofas facing each other close to his desk.
Yesu sat on the left sofa.
There were shelves filled with multiple awards. Academy of the Year awards, Intellectual awards, Sports awards, Trial awards…
"Glad to have you with us, Kaelitha."
Professor Wakefield finally looked at her fully.
"Although the circumstances that led you here are… not exactly ideal, I can assure you that every student fortunate enough to pass through Echelon Academy is already one step ahead."
He smiled faintly
"Doesn't matter if you're late."
He pulled a file from beneath his desk and flipped it open.
"I see your status was recently updated to Rank One—Initiate."
Yesu blinked.
"Quite low for a junior year student… but we can work with it. If you're determined, you could at least graduate as a Specialist."
He noticed Yesu's blank stare.
"Rank three." He explained, thinking she hadn't understood.
But she had stopped listening after the first sentence. Only one word mattered now.
Rank.
She was now a Rank.
Professor Wakefield checked his watch.
"It's already the third period. You may go. Miss Heaven will take you to class."
Yesu turned.
Miss Heaven was waiting by the door, watching her in silence. Sa cold, assessing gaze.
The kind that didn't look at people, but at errors.
There was absolutely nothing heavenly about the woman.
Yesu rose and walked to the door.
"And Kaelitha," Professor Wakefield added as she was about to leave.
"Do well to make use of your abilities for the benefit of the school. Only."
Yesu paused briefly.
Then nodded.
***
In class 11-D, a single word was written boldly in capital letters on the marker board.
STUDY
No one did anything related to it.
Two boys argued over rock-paper-scissors beside a small can of juice.
Near the window, a group of friends laughed while licking lollipops that stained their tongues blue.
From the back of the room, a boy stretched his tongue across the class like elastic and stole a lick from a girl's candy.
She shrieked.
A boy in the middle row, reading a dirty magazine, raised a hand without looking up.
The stretched tongue snapped back instantly, slapping its owner across the face.
The class laughed.
At the far end, a boy knelt in front of a girl with a rose, chocolates, and a card.
"Be my girlfriend."
The room erupted. So cheering, others protesting.
A sharp voice cut through everything.
"Quiet."
The reaction was instant.
Students rushed to their respective seats, abandoning everything. Not even needing to look to know who had co in.
Miss Heaven stood at the front of the class.
Hands behind her back.
Her eyes moved slowly across the room, not counting students… but mistakes.
"You seem to have forgotten where you are."
No one answered.
A pen dropped sowhere.
It sounded like a gunshot in the silence.
She walked to the board and tapped it once.
STUDY.
The word looked even more ridiculous now.
Then she turned.
"Continue breathing quietly."
Sothing broke in the room.
A few students exhaled too loudly and imdiately regretted it.
Miss Heaven's gaze shifted toward the door.
She paused.
"We have a new student."
That sentence alone changed the atmosphere.
Not excitent.
Not curiosity.
Calculation.
A few students straightened. Others frowned.
"Co in." Miss Heaven said, her voice barely a tone higher.
Yesu entered.
Dozens of eyes locked onto her imdiately.
"Introduce yourself," Miss Heaven said.
Yesu looked around.
"My na is Yesuin Kaelitha. But since we're classmates, call Yesu." She said with a friendly smile.
Her friendliness went unreturned as her new classmates just stared at her, as if they had just been shown an alien.
"Sit." Miss Heaven said.
Yesu strolled toward the last row by the windows.
There was an empty seat at the back.
She sat, opened her bag, and began searching. She brought out a notebook.
And paused.
"Shit."
No pen.
She glanced at the seat opposite hers.
The boy on it was asleep. One hand supported his head, and the other loosely held a pen over his notebook.
Shoulder-length hair covered most of his face.
Yesu tapped his desk.
"Hey."
The boy stirred.
"Hey, do you have an extra…"
He lifted his head.
Slowly.
Like he already knew what she was going to s
ay.
Hair slid back from his face.
And the mont his eyes settled on her, the air in the room shifted.
"Finchkin?"
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