I left the empty classroom and started walking. No real destination in mind. Just needed to move instead of staring at quest tirs that kept counting down like a bomb nobody else could see.
Building B was mostly admin offices and conference rooms. Quiet. The kind of quiet that felt expensive, like the silence itself cost money to maintain. My footsteps echoed off polished floors that probably got cleaned three tis a day by people who made more than most provisional heroes.
I turned a corner near the stairwell and walked straight into soone carrying a stack of papers.
Papers went everywhere. Floated down like defeated surrender flags.
"Shit. My bad."
Aurora Fitzgerald sat on the floor surrounded by what looked like committee reports. Her dark hair had those gold highlights catching the overhead lights. Green eyes looked up at , startled.
"I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going and—"
"You’re apologizing for walking into you?"
"I should have been paying better attention to—"
"I literally crashed into you. Stop making this your fault."
I offered my hand. She took it. Her palm was warm, her grip solid. The kind of handshake that belonged to soone who actually trained instead of pretending.
She stood up and imdiately started gathering papers. I crouched down to help.
"You really don’t have to—"
"It’s my fault they’re on the floor. Just let help."
We worked in silence for maybe thirty seconds. Her movents were quick, organized. Everything got sorted back into neat stacks without her even looking. Muscle mory from soone who spent a lot of ti dealing with paperwork.
"Free period?" I asked.
"Student council prep work. I’m not actually on the council, but Cheon helps coordinate hero club activities and they need soone to deliver these to—" She stopped. "Sorry. That was way more information than you asked for."
"Nah, it’s good. ans you’re not rushing off sowhere."
"I have about forty minutes before my next class."
"Sa."
I handed her the last stack. Our fingers touched for a second. The contact sent a small pulse through the drain. Not strong. Just enough to register. Her Essentia felt bright. Clean. Like standing in good weather.
She pulled her hand back and adjusted the papers against her chest. The movent made her uniform shift. The blazer sat open, the white shirt underneath pulled tight across curves that the academy’s tailoring departnt probably had nightmares about fitting properly.
Not as dramatic as Hae-Won’s proportions. Not as deliberately displayed as ra’s confidence. Just Aurora being Aurora, which sohow made it worse because she clearly had no idea.
"I got lost on the road of life for a second there. Sorry for the collision."
She laughed. Genuine and surprised. "Did you just quote Katashi?"
"Maybe."
"That’s such a bad line."
"Worked though. You laughed."
"That doesn’t an it was good."
"Didn’t say it was good. Said it worked."
She shook her head but she was smiling. The kind of smile that probably made Nolan forget his own na on a regular basis.
"I should get these to the office."
"Nolan waiting for you sowhere?"
The smile flickered. Just for a second. "He has Applied Physics this period."
"So you two must be close."
Her cheeks went pink. "No! Nothing like that. We’re just good friends."
"Sure."
"We are!"
"If you say so."
"I’m serious. We’ve known each other since prep year but that’s all it is. Just friends."
She said it too fast. Defended it too hard. The kind of overcorrection that scread the exact opposite.
Interesting.
I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. Watched her hold those papers like they were a shield between us.
"Well. If you’ve got nothing to do after dropping those off and I’ve got nothing to do for the next forty minutes, want to grab coffee?"
She blinked. "Coffee?"
"Yeah. That thing people drink when they’re tired or want an excuse to sit sowhere."
"I know what coffee is."
"Then the question stands."
She looked at . Really looked. Her eyes tracked the marks on my neck, the way I was standing, sothing in my expression I couldn’t na. Whatever calculation she was running took longer than expected.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to get coffee with ?"
"Because I’m bored and you seem like decent company."
"That’s it?"
"What other reason would there be?"
"I don’t know. You barely know ."
"We’re in the sa horoom. Sa Hero Studies class. I’ve seen you shoot photon beams out of your fingers at training dummies. That’s more than I know about half the people here."
"Still."
"Still what?"
"You walk around with ra and Hae-Won like you own the place. People talk about you constantly. Now you want to get coffee with and I’m just supposed to assu it’s because you’re bored?"
"You’re overthinking this."
"Am I?"
"It’s coffee. Not a marriage proposal."
"I know that."
"Then what’s the problem?"
"There isn’t a problem."
"Great. Coffee?"
She shifted the papers again. Her nail beds had that faint crystalline quality her Essentia gave them. Permanent modification from her palms. The orbs embedded there probably pulsed when she was nervous.
"Okay."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. But just coffee."
"What else would it be?"
"I’m just clarifying."
"Consider it clarified."
We walked toward the main office. She dropped off the papers with so administrator who looked thrilled to have more paperwork to process. Then we headed toward the campus café that served overpriced drinks to students who thought caffeine could replace sleep.
The walk took maybe five minutes. Aurora kept a careful distance between us. Not hostile. Just aware. Like she was waiting for to do sothing that would confirm whatever theory she’d built in her head.
"So," she said finally, "those marks on your neck really from training?"
"That’s what I told Nolan."
"That’s not an answer."
"Sure it is."
"A real answer."
"Training covers a lot of activities."
"Ro."
First ti she’d used my na directly. It ca out softer than expected. Almost amused.
"What?"
"You know exactly what I’m asking."
"Do I?"
"Yes."
"Then you already know the answer."
She bit her lip. "I shouldn’t have asked. That was rude."
"Wasn’t rude. You’re just direct."
"Is that a complint or criticism?"
"Haven’t decided yet."
We reached the café. The lunch rush was over but there were still enough students scattered around to make the space feel occupied. Most of them looked up when we walked in together. I heard whispers start imdiately.
The coffee here was garbage but it was hot garbage, which made it marginally better than nothing. I ordered black. Aurora got so complicated thing with vanilla and foam that probably cost twice as much.
We found a table near the windows. The afternoon light ca through at an angle that turned her hair into actual gold in places. She sat across from and wrapped both hands around her cup like she needed sothing to hold onto.
"Can I ask you sothing?" she said.
"Just did."
"A real question."
"Go ahead."
"What’s your deal?"
"My deal?"
"Yeah. Titan gives you her personal number. You’re walking around with two girlfriends. You’ve got abilities nobody can explain. Everyone’s talking about you constantly. What’s your actual deal?"
I took a sip of terrible coffee. "That’s a big question."
"I’m genuinely curious."
"Why?"
"Because you don’t act like anyone else here."
"That a bad thing?"
"I haven’t decided yet."
Fair.
I leaned back in my chair. "My deal is I’m trying to graduate top five so my father doesn’t give the company to my sister. Everything else is just logistics."
"That’s it?"
"That’s it."
"And the girlfriends?"
"What about them?"
"How does that work exactly?"
"They are my good friends."
"That’s not what I ant."
"Then what did you an?"
She looked down at her cup. Her thumbs traced the ceramic edge. "Don’t you feel guilty?"
"About what?"
"Having two people at the sa ti. Doesn’t that feel like you’re cheating on both of them?"
"Only if soone’s getting lied to. Nobody’s getting lied to."
"But you’re still with two people."
"Yeah."
"At the sa ti."
"That’s generally how it works."
"And they’re okay with that?"
"Ask them yourself if you don’t believe ."
"I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I’m just trying to understand how that’s supposed to work long term."
"Why do you care?"
The question ca out sharper than I ant it. She looked up. Those green eyes t mine and held.
"Because I don’t understand people who can just do that without feeling sothing about it. Without guilt or conflict or anything."
"Who said I don’t feel anything?"
"Do you?"
"Yeah."
"What?"
I took another sip of garbage coffee. "I feel like I’m managing a situation that would’ve exploded in my face if I’d tried to keep it hidden. I feel like I’m being honest with people who deserve honesty. I feel like this is working better than any alternative I could’ve chosen."
"That’s very practical."
"You say that like it’s an insult."
"It’s not. Just different from what I expected."
"What did you expect?"
"I don’t know. Soone more... predatory, I guess."
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