Chapter 11

  After the intense incident in class, Rei was sitting quietly on a bench in the courtyard, eyes lost in the distance.

  Sera, after looking around the academy for him, finally found him—but didn’t say a word. Instead, she silently sat beside him.

  “Already concerned about your future husband, huh?” Rei said, not in his usual careless tone—but softer, more vulnerable.

  “Hmph! I only came to check on you since you're important for the upcoming secret mission,” Sera replied, her cheeks blushing faintly.

  But then, her tone changed.

  “…Jokes aside, you looked really uncomfortable… and guilty, when you spoke about the Chakraview incident,” she said, a sadness in her voice.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Unbeknownst to them, two familiar faces were hiding behind a nearby bush, trying to listen in.

  “Hey, scoot over! It’s cramped here,” the delinquent whispered, annoyed.

  “Shhh! We can’t hear properly because of your loud voice,” Serena hissed. “Just bear with it!”

  Back on the bench, Rei’s expression turned solemn.

  “It was that war… that took all my comrades from me—people I fought beside for two years. And it was that war… that turned me into the monster I am now.”

  Sera looked at him, deeply moved. “I’m sorry for making you talk about it… But Serena, the delinquent, and I—we’re all worried about you. So don’t shut us out and make us worry like that, okay?”

  Rei chuckled slightly, his usual lazy tone returning. “Heh… don’t worry. Talking to you made me feel a little better. Let’s just enjoy this peaceful sunset… while we still can.”

  Sera smiled warmly. “That’s so like you, Rei…”

  He smirked. “Of course, we would enjoy this sunset alone together—if not for the two eavesdroppers behind that bush.”

  Thud.

  Both Serena and the delinquent tumbled out of the bushes in pure comedy timing.

  Serena, blushing furiously: “E-Eek! Why were you two listening in?! I thought we were waiting for them!”

  The delinquent scratched his head, smirking. “Hehe… We just didn’t wanna miss any action, that’s all.”

  Serena looked away, flustered, but nodded in agreement.

  And under the golden-orange hue of the setting sun, all four of them burst into laughter—something warm, something genuine… a memory to hold onto before the chaos yet to come.