Conversation in the hall stuttered.
The honor students stepped out first, calm, composed, barely winded, the faint scent of heat and ozone still clinging to their uniforms.
For half a breath, the corridor was silent.
Then the applause started.
Not loud at first. Just a few students near the walls. Then more. Palms striking together in uneven rhythm until the hallway filled with it, cheers, whistles, voices calling out their names.
They didn't react immediately.
Plum walked near the center of the group, posture loose but assured, as though this were expected. Her expression held a small controlled smile, not arrogance, not humility. Simply certainty. Her tail swayed once behind her, slow and deliberate.
She felt at home here.
The applause followed them down the corridor like a wave parting around something inevitable.
"This means we'll be heroes," Xiu said, half-laughing, eyes shining.
"Maybe not heroes," Einstera replied, calmer. "But closer to freedom."
Plum nodded, her smile softening.
"Yes. And then..."
She paused, eyes drifting somewhere far away.
"...I can finally have my dream."
Xiu leaned in immediately.
"What dream?"
Students gathered around them, arms wrapping tight, voices overlapping with laughter and congratulations. The space that once felt tense now buzzed with warmth, hands on shoulders, quick squeezes, proud smiles from every direction.
Later that evening, they moved to a restaurant Ken had arranged in advance. The owner had reserved the entire place just for them. Tables were pushed together, lights dimmed to a soft golden glow, and the atmosphere shifted from celebration to something more intimate, a private moment carved out in the middle of a long journey.
Xiu "So Plum, what did you say your dream was again?"
Einstera answered without hesitation.
"To have a family."
Plum shook her head.
"That's one of my dreams."
Einstera blinked.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"...Then what is the other one?"
Plum hesitated, just for a second.
"Chocolate cake."
Silence.
"Chocolate... cake?"
"That's surface food."
"I heard it doesn't exist anymore."
Plum shrugged, unbothered.
"They say its a desert so delicious not even a syctherian can ignore its wonder, one bite and you become a goddess."
Burajiru stared down at the cieling.
Chocolate cake.
That's definitely surface-world stuff. But from my understanding something like that doesn't exists anymore or at least it's a mythical food that never existed at all.
He glanced at Plum from the corner of his eye.
She doesn't exaggerate.
If she wants it that badly... it's probably real.
At some point, the conversation shifted. He wasn't sure when.
Xiu turned toward Yusuke, who stood just outside the circle of students, hands in his pockets.
"So, what was it like being with the Empress?"
The air changed instantly. Bodies leaned in. Voices sharpened.
"Was she kind?"
"Is she really like the broadcasts?"
"Did she say anything about the war?
Yusuke answered calmly, his voice steady, never rising above the noise.
"She's quieter in person."
Einstera smiled at him.
"Still... getting that role. That's amazing."
Yusuke met her eyes and smiled back.
Her cheeks flushed.
Burajiru watched for a moment, then stood.
No one noticed.
He stepped outside, sat on the curb, leaned back against the wall.
"Man," he murmured to himself, staring at the sky,
"times like these make me just want to sleep."
And he did.
Almost instantly.
A tablet pen pressed into his cheek.
Once.
Twice.
He groaned and cracked an eye open.
Yusuke sat beside him, legs stretched out, looking ahead instead of at him.
"Didn't mean to wake you," he said. "But sleeping through celebrations is kind of impressive."
Burajiru shrugged.
"It's easier than pretending I belong."
Yusuke didn't respond right away.
They sat in silence.
After a while, Yusuke asked,
"What's bothering you?"
Burajiru stared at the pavement.
"I feel... weird."
He searched for the words, then gave up halfway.
"Like I'm happy. But also like I made things complicated."
Yusuke nodded once.
"Plum."
"Yeah."
Burajiru rubbed his hands together.
"She's Scytherian. Her scythe only eats my Abi. That's how she gets stronger."
He swallowed.
"And if she goes beyond the Iron Wall... what if she needs me? What if the parasites are too strong?"
His voice dropped.
"I won't be there."
Yusuke leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
"I grew up in the ghettos," he said quietly. "Places where kids searched for bones because there was nothing else to eat."
Burajiru listened.
"My older brother was the only other person who noticed me when I came to Dragon Hive."
Burajiru "I didn't know you had an older brother?"
Yusuke "He was like an older brother, his name was Wukon, a Chinese man apart of a gang called the Owls. They rebelled against the current Empress."
A pause.
"He always told me they would come for him."
Yusuke's hands tightened slightly.
"They did, but i wasn't strong enough to stop them."
He exhaled.
"You're strong Burajiru."
The silence stretched.
"Even if you don't believe it yourself."
Burajiru didn't speak.
"Remember those dream we shared about being on the moon?"
Burajiru "Yeah, I remember, I still get them."
Yusuke "We both received power from the God joy, as I walk through the valley of death-
BUrajiru "No weapon against me shall prosper, I remember those words but I don't recognize where or who they came from, I don't remember this joy but I do remember despair."
Yusuke "You don't have to remember right now, perhaps one day it will all make sense, but right now I think the dreams are real and me and you were given power beyond what others could imagine. You don't have to watch something you love slip away."
Burajiru frowned.
"I don't know what to do."
"You do" Yusuke said. "Just don't sleep."
He stood, stretching.
"Anyway."
A small smile.
"Care for a race?"
Burajiru smirked faintly.
"...Yeah why not."
They stood at the curb.
A beat.
Then they were gone, two blurs cutting through the street, the city swallowing the sound behind them.
Inside, the celebration continued.
And Burajiru was already gone.