Rivalry?

Katsu pulled back his curtains, sliding open the old, warped window. "Yo."

"Yo." Rei stood on the narrow ledge, golden cloak catching the moonlight, his breath turning silver in the chill.

Katsu arched an eyebrow, keeping his voice low.

"You're knocking on my window like a thief, and Sydney's nowhere in sight. I'm supposed to be flattered, or worried?"

Rei shrugged, a half-smile glinting through the dark. "Sydney's locked down in the Keahi quarters. Easier to talk without her burning the place down. I needed to talk to you, anyway. About more than missions."

Katsu snorted, but the edge of worry crept in. "Since when do the rules let you wander at midnight, Dravantiir?"

Rei leaned in, eyes sharp as ever. "Since I'm not the one under house arrest. And since you're apparently still clueless about how things work around here, prodigy."

Katsu's mouth twitched, part annoyance, part amusement. "...Right."

Rei's gaze narrowed, taking in Katsu's rumpled clothes and the faded bruise at his jaw. "Get your cloak. The Winter Solstice will freeze your arrogance right off if you don't. I'd think an ice mage would remember that."

Katsu hesitated, watching Rei for a beat. "You always this motherly, or is that new?"

A ghost of a smirk crossed Rei's lips. "Only for the ones who haven't figured out what they're up against."

Katsu turned, grabbing his cloak from the hook by the door. As he pulled it on, he caught the glint of gold outside, the weight of a thousand unsaid things lingering in the hallway shadows. The dorm was silent behind him; the world outside was colder, bigger, full of rules he still didn't know.

But tonight—at least for tonight—he'd face them with his eyes open.

He slipped out the window, landing beside Rei, both of them shadow-wrapped in moonlight and expectation.

"Lead on," Katsu muttered, bracing for whatever came next.

Rei just smiled, sharp as frost. "Try to keep up."

And together, they vanished into the cold.

—————

Lightning crackled along Rei's boots as he sprinted up the trunk, nimble and sure. He plucked a fruit from a branch, tossing it down to Katsu.

Katsu caught it one-handed, eyeing Rei warily. "You never said what this was about, Dravantiir."

Rei dropped back to the ground, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Dravantiir, huh? Is that what we're doing now? Should I call you Nori, or just your father's name? Call me Rei. You know me better than that."

Katsu flinched, looking away. "...Right."

"You say that a lot," Rei said, grabbing a fruit for himself. "Listen. The reason I brought you out here is simple—I have questions. I laid glyphs all around this clearing, set a bubble over it that nobody can breach. Only those I approve can get in."

"...Right?"

Rei bit into the fruit, chewed quickly. "Yesterday—after your ranking test with my glyph—your aura changed. I saw it. Sydney didn't. I thought maybe she was just blind, but nobody else seemed to notice either."

Katsu's grip tightened around the fruit.

"Your vision's bad or something?" he tried, half-hearted.

Rei's eyes narrowed, insulted. "My vision's perfect. Better than perfect. I saw you out of breath when you answered the window—like you'd just run a mile, or like someone else was in there with you." His voice went dry. "Or maybe you were just keeping yourself busy. But that's not my point—"

A ripple of laughter flickered through Katsu's mind. The Leviathan. He ignored her.

Rei continued, unfazed. "Look, I'm not just another student. I'm the Dravantiir heir—the only one left, actually. Closest living blood to the Founder. No siblings. If I ever had them, they're gone—dead or given away. That's what the Houses do to threats."

Katsu glanced up, confusion plain on his face. "Why are you telling me this, Rei?"

Rei exhaled, shoulders dropping as the tension settled between them.

"Because, Katsu, the difference between me and everyone else I asked about your aura is simple. I'm Dravantiir. Royalty, in every way that matters. I see things other people can't—and the Houses make sure of it."

He met Katsu's eyes, really met them this time. The air sharpened, old magic and old secrets humming just beneath the frost.

He's smarter than he lets on, Katsu.

Levii's voice coiled in the back of his mind, equal parts warning and intrigue.

What are you getting at, Levii?

Katsu's patience frayed. "Rei, just spit it out. What are you trying to say?"

Rei's gaze hardened. He set his fruit aside and stepped in close, the space between them crackling with things unspoken.

"House Velthra—" Rei said, voice dropping, "almost never takes new blood. One, maybe two, sometimes three students a year. That's it. And first years? Forget it. Most don't get picked until they've proven themselves, after Selection. Doesn't matter how strong they are."

He flicked a finger at the Velthra crest stitched to Katsu's cloak. "But you? You walked in, day one. Like you belonged. Like the House itself bent to make room."

Katsu's jaw clenched, but he didn't break the stare.

Rei shook his head, something like respect—or envy—tangling his words.

"Your father was General Shizune Nori. People still whisper his name. He's the reason Aelbyrn isn't flying Brotinn's banners. A global hero—until he wasn't. Until he was exiled for leaking classified intel to the World Government. Until King Asher ended up dead and everyone needed someone to blame."

A hush fell between them, the wind whispering in the branches overhead.

For a second, Katsu's breath caught.

Caught on the edge of his father's memory, on the legend and the wound he carried in equal measure.

Rei's eyes softened, just a fraction.

"You wear that House's mark like it's armor. But what you don't realize is that it's also a target. You're not just some first-year prodigy. You're a test case. A gamble Velthra is making—against every old rule."

He let that sink in, his voice almost gentle.

"So I have to know, Katsu. Why did the House choose you? Was it your magic, or something older? Something no one else can see?"

The Leviathan's presence twisted inside Katsu's mind, waiting for his answer—hungry for the truth, and whatever came next.

Katsu glanced down at the crest, then back at Rei, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't know," Katsu said, voice flat. He couldn't find any other truth.

Rei watched him for a long, unsettling moment. Longer than anyone else ever did—like he was reading something written under Katsu's skin.

"...Katsu."

The world narrowed—branches, moonlight, old frost all falling away until it was just the two of them, shadowed and exposed.

"Your life's on the line and you don't even see it. You're being thrown into things no one should face alone. That aura of yours—there's something about it. I feel it too, sometimes. No one else does. They couldn't even see it if they tried. But it's there."

Katsu's hands tightened at his sides.

"Even back in Wildglow," Rei pressed, voice dropping, "when you moved on that monster? That wasn't simple Flash Step. And when you caught Master Kairos off guard—no one else has ever done that. What you're doing is something different, Katsu. Something older."

He leaned in, voice nearly lost to the wind.

"My theory? You're not just the next prodigy. You might be the legend—the rumor Velthra's been waiting for. The Selection saw something in you that even I can't. And if teaming with you means I get to see what that is—then I want that. I want to fight beside you, not just against you. When I first saw you on the battleground, I knew you were different. But I want to know… can you fight with me now, Katsu? Can you let go of whatever came before, and—"

"Done," Katsu interrupted, voice sharp. He tilted his head, meeting Rei's stare without flinching.

Rei blinked, thrown off for once. "...What?"

Katsu's mouth quirked, a shadow of a real smile.

"You don't have to ask twice. Whatever happens next, I'm with you."

For a second, the mask slipped on Rei's face—surprise, then a reluctant, honest grin.

"Guess that settles it," he said quietly. "Looks like neither of us is going down alone."

Katsu looked up at the moon, the mark on his palm burning faint and cold.

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

A lone bird called somewhere beyond the trees. The faint shimmer of Rei's protective glyphs flickered, then dissolved into nothing. Katsu and Rei lingered in the hush, trading a look that said more than either would admit.

"So," Rei started, hands in his pockets, "should we go collect the cat-ear cloak girl, or—"

"You mean your wife?"

"My wife?" Rei snorted. "Please. If I had to pick, she'd be my last option. Too much fire. I'd go for someone who doesn't threaten to incinerate me every other conversation."

Katsu barked out a laugh—real, sharp, cutting through the last of the tension.

"Sure. Deny it all you want. The way you look at her says everything."

Rei rolled his eyes, but his mouth quirked with a reluctant smile. They started back toward the path, shoulders bumping in easy camaraderie, laughter trailing behind them.

A quiet fell, softer now, as if the forest was listening.

After a beat, Katsu glanced at Rei. His voice was almost careful.

"Rei."

"Yeah?"

Katsu hesitated, searching for the words.

"When you're in real danger… do you ever get the feeling there's something inside you—a switch, or a lever, or… I don't know. Not something you control. More like… an internal panic button. Something that flips, or maybe… protects you, even if you don't understand it?"

Rei stared straight ahead. For a moment, his expression closed off, unreadable.

He shrugged, voice light but distant.

"No idea what you're talking about, Katsu."

But the silence that followed lingered—thick with things neither of them were ready to name.