First day as a Resident II

A few whispers rippled through the gathered students.

"Wait, are they about to fight?"

"Well, his mistress seemed unhappy with Murasame for some reason."

"Uwah! They're really staring!"

…Mind your business, gossipers!

But before I could continue analyzing her—

"Morgana! What are you waiting for?!"

Hana's voice rang out, still shaky from earlier.

"Morgana"—who was still wearing a boy's uniform, mind you—finally moved.

Calling her Morgana, Hana, are you even trying to keep your butler's identity a secret?

Also, why didn't she just wear a normal girl's uniform?!

Akira's expression had darkened.

She was glaring daggers at Morgana, lips pressed into a thin line.

Was she pissed off at the butler?

Maybe she found her impudent?

Then, my gaze flicked to Kowai—standing silently near Akira, as unshakable as ever.

…Mhm.

Expressionless.

Emotionless.

But there was one thing.

Something I couldn't put my finger on.

Morgana and Kowai…

They were both empty.

Somehow…...

…Oh, God.

Trying to understand all this supernatural crap is frustrating.

What I meant was—those two had no Auras. At all.

And the only reason I could tell they weren't normal was because their spiritual energy was far, far below that of a human's.

On the level of an inanimate object.

I knew this because I had been observing people on my way to school.

Everyone—though some more than others—had a certain baseline of spiritual energy. From what I could tell, this was the standard amount a regular human should—or could—have.

Their energy was unstable, chaotic—like the flickering of a dying bulb. It drew attention, like a signal flaring in the dark.

But I figured I'd get used to getting distracted by it soon.

Morgana was tampering with her spiritual energy and Aura somehow.

Kowai, though…

Yesterday, when I had just awakened, her energy had been in sheer uproar—flaring up so wildly that I feared it might start a spiritual wildfire right there in the park.

I couldn't have expected her to control all of it—it was too vast.

Still, compared to that, the energy of these humans was so tiny.

I was unconsciously keeping mine under control, while concealing most of it within me.

This confirmed my theory:

Unawakened people can't even perceive their own spiritual energy, let alone control it.

But what was that about, last night?

Akira had pointed out my change, calling it an Elevation.

Maybe she was more sensitive than normal humans.

I mean, she almost caught me in that big chase yesterday, and I was running at 40 km/h.

And actually… Akira and Hana are also very strange, honestly.

I wasn't too bothered—after all, I'd only just awakened. There were probably a lot of things in this world I didn't understand yet.

But here's the thing—

Akira and Hana don't have spiritual energy at all.

I can't see, nor feel, it.

Understand this; people like me, Misumi-san over there, and even Kowai—while we keep most of our energy sealed inside, we can still vaguely sense what's stored in our bodies.

It's like knowing a pot of boiling water is hot even without lifting the lid. You might not know exactly how hot, but you know it'll burn.

But Akira and Hana…

Nothing. No energy.

Which was just… weird.

Spiritual energy is like life force, right?

So how were they "alive?"

Even inanimate objects have some trace of this energy.

Yet these girls had none.

And if that wasn't disturbing enough…

They still had Auras.

Small ones, but they were there.

Allow me to use the pot analogy again:

Ahem...

HOW IN THE WORLD CAN A POT, THAT'S NOT ON A STOVE, PRODUCE STEAM?!

It's like a battery-powered device running without a battery!

ISN'T THAT BONE-CHILLING?!

And their Auras… were identical.

Don't tell me, are they from the same womb?!

If I had to describe their Aura, they carried the color of Conquer or Domination.

…Okay, nothing too out of the ordinary there, I guess.

But still—something didn't add up.

I'd ask Kowai about it later.

Maybe Akira and Hana ran on a different type of energy, something I just wasn't capable of perceiving yet. I mean, I'd only just become a Resident.

I shook the thoughts aside for now.

Classes would start soon, but here we were, still standing in the hallway.

It'd be bad if a teacher spotted us.

I turned to Misumi-san—

And immediately tensed.

She was exuding something I could confidently identify as bloodlust.

It was dark. Menacing. Intertwining with her Aura like a living, breathing entity.

It's surprising, the lot of things I couldn't see before but only perceive.

Her Aura had been screaming danger ever since I saw her this morning, but now…

Was it just me, or were her deep blue eyes glowing faintly?

A light blue, almost ethereal shimmer—

…Nah.

Probably just my imagination.

Akira was saying something, but honestly, I wasn't listening.

My attention was elsewhere.

Specifically—

On Kowai.

Oh, damn. She's cute as a button. Like a baby bunny.

If I tried to cup those pink-shaded cheeks of hers, would she get mad and punch me?

...Probably.

I wasn't sure if I was still in love with her, but I did know one thing—

I wanted to take her home, put her in a cage, and feed her snacks every day.

"Hey, Ma-chan, are you listening at all?"

Akira's pout barely registered before—

A voice cut through the air.

A boy's voice.

Deep. Confident. And a little too casual.

"Kowai, there you are. We have to talk now. Hinata, you too."

Ara...

A boy's voice, huh?

I turned—

And froze.

A huge threat stood a few feet away from us.

Yes.

Definitely a threat.

A threat to my divine appearance and good looks!!

This guy—this menace—could easily claim to be a movie star, and it would make perfect sense.

His face looked Asian, but his irises were a deep, mesmerizing green. His hair was an even deeper green—so dark it almost looked black unless you looked closely.

His bangs barely covering his strikingly sharp eyes.

And I hate to admit it—but those eyes were annoyingly well-shaped.

Let's not even talk about his physique.

Because I lost in that category. Completely.

He wasn't bulky or anything, but his toned muscles showed through his uniform—

Which wasn't even from our school.

Ours had long, striped blue trousers for boys and a white shirt.

His had black trousers. White shirt. A different high school jacket.

And worst of all—

He was slightly taller than me.

Damn it!

Who's this Mr. Perfect?!

"L… Look, isn't he handsoooome?"

"Y-Yeeeeeah, and his uniform's different. Is he from an acting school or somethiiiiing? He looks like an idol!"

"He must be the most handsome guy even in our schoooool."

A million curses upon all those blabbermouths!

But… they were probably right.

Craaaaap!!

Never have I felt so threatened and humiliated before.

And let's not even start on his presence.

Unlike me, this punk wasn't even trying to conceal his spiritual energy. It flooded the space around him like a damn tidal wave.

Shouldn't that be dangerous?!

Maybe he hated the suffocating, stoned feeling that came with suppressing it?

And his Aura?

It practically screamed: "I'll punch you, then you'll die."

Oh, and—

Why was he talking to Kowai so casually?!

Put "San" when speaking to her, you handsome jerk!

And it's Gojo-san, not Kowai!

…GASP!!!

Wait—could it be…?

I-I-I-I-Is he… her boyfriend?!

Damn it.

They'd look so good together, it's actually stinging me.