He Better Stay in That Pool

The world seemed to pause. The air thickened. Tension simmered—slow, unbearable.

Then—

The man with Despair etched on his mask finally moved. With each step, the world seemed to dim. Shadows deepened—thickening, curling. Black wisps began to seep from them, like smoke from a dying flame.

Aika pocketed her hands and tilted her head—just enough to see him.

Her mist-gray eyes peeked out from behind her red sunglasses.

Then—

Mist stirred.

It began to coil around her ankles, seeping in from everywhere: the lake behind her, the trees that bordered the park, even the cracks in the pavement.

Soft at first. Then denser. Hungrier.

The air cooled. The world grew quiet.

The man paused. Then tilted his head, eyes narrowing behind his mask.

"That voice," he murmured. "And the mist…"

A beat passed. The shadows around him writhed.

"You are Silence."

Aika didn't respond. Her expression remained unreadable, half-lidded eyes veiled in mist.

The man's voice broke the silence again.

"Why?" he asked, low and disbelieving. "Why are you interfering in my execution, Silence?"

Aika exhaled slowly—a tired, visible breath of frost curling from her lips. Then, finally, she turned. Her gaze drifted to Ren, slumped and unconscious by the tree, blood matting his hair.

"He's under me," she said flatly. Her voice was cold—detached—but with weight behind every syllable. Mist flowed out with each breath, coiling around her like a warning.

She glanced down at the crumpled body at her feet.

"Your Trial Shadow crossed the line."

Despair's gaze shifted—first to Ren, then back to Aika.

"Then you should've kept a closer watch on him," he said. His voice was calm—too calm. "He interfered with my execution."

A pause. His head tilted slowly.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't erase him right here."

Aika sighed through her nose, already tired of the exchange. She ran a hand through her jet-black hair, fingers slow with irritation.

"A reason, huh?"

She tilted her head just enough to meet his stare, red sunglasses catching a glint of the thickening fog.

"Hear me, Despair," she said, voice quiet, cold. "You are far from your element."

Mist began to rise faster—curling up from the ground, from the water behind her, from the trees, blanketing the park like breath held too long.

"I," she continued, "am standing in mine."

A pause. The silence dragged, pressing inward.

"If you make a move—"

Her tone sharpened like a blade sliding from a sheath.

"I will kill you."

For a moment, no one spoke.

Despair's gaze drifted past Aika, settling on the still lake behind her. Then up—toward the sun, blazing defiantly in the sky.

He exhaled slowly… then let out a quiet chuckle.

"You're right," he murmured, voice low—laced with something that wasn't quite humor.

"I'm not in my element right now."

He looked at Aika again, something colder flickering in his gaze.

"If it were night..."

His eyes glinted beneath the mask.

"Things would be different."

His gaze fell to the broken man crumpled at Aika's feet.

"I'll let this matter slide—for today. Think of it as thanks… for sparing my Trial Shadow."

As his words faded, thick black tendrils began to unspool from beneath his coat. Smoke-like, they slithered toward the unconscious figure, wrapping around him like a cocoon before lifting him silently into the air.

Despair turned to leave—then stopped, his back still facing Aika.

"Keep an eye on him," he said, voice quiet but sharp. "Next time he gets in my way… I'll declare him Null."

A pause.

"And I won't stop until he's dead."

Then—without a sound—inky wings began to form behind him, feathered like a crow's, vast and gleaming with shadow.

One swing, and he vanished into the sky, swallowed by light and mist.

Aika stared at the spot where Despair had stood a moment longer, her mist already beginning to fade. She sighed, turned lazily toward where Ren lay unconscious, and began walking to him like someone who'd had enough of this godforsaken day.

***

Sami's Apartment. 

——

'What is it with me and passing out? That's the second time this week.'

Ren exhaled slowly. Then opened his eyes.

Bubbles rose from his lips in lazy spirals, drifting upward. For a while, he just watched them, wrapped in silence like a second skin. Then, without thinking, he took another deep breath—underwater.

'Wait. Where am I? Why am I underwater?'

He glanced around. The space was wide but shallow—familiar.

'A pool? Is this… Sami's place?'

The last thing he remembered was Aika's voice. Then everything went black.

'Did she save me?'

Ren looked down at himself. Then patted his chest, ribs, limbs. Everything was intact. No pain. No bleeding. No cracked skull.

He let out a quiet sigh, then allowed himself to drift underwater for a moment.

'Just like that… I almost died. And I don't even know why. Who the hell were those people? Why did they kill that family—and why were they going to kill me too? I didn't even do anything wrong.'

His thoughts spun in circles.

Another slow breath. Then something hit him.

His vessel.

It felt… bigger.

"Huh?" he muttered, the word forming oddly in the water. "Is it because I've been in the pool?"

He wasn't sure. But he felt good. Clear. Like someone waking up after years of hibernation.

Strange…

He closed his eyes.

Then floated upward—not swimming. Just moving. As if the water itself carried him.

As he neared the surface, voices trickled in like echoes.

A groan, then a familiar voice.

"It's so hard babysitting. I want to cry."

Aika?

Then a softer, warmer one.

"Come on. It's not that bad. He's family. Think of it like watching your little brother."

Sami?

Aika groaned again.

"That makes it worse." A beat. "I told him to think before he acts. But no—he goes and interferes with an execution by a Null judge. Not just any Null judge. Guess who?"

She paused.

Then added, flatly:

"Despair. A top ten Shaper." A breath. "You know what? I'm going to smack the lights out of him when he wakes up. He better stay in that pool, because when he comes out, I'm—"

She was still talking when Ren broke the surface.

Aika froze mid-rant.

She was sitting on the floor in an oversized white shirt, one side drooping off her shoulder to reveal the black line of her bra. Her jet-black hair was messy. A cigarette in one hand, a half-empty bottle of water in the other.

Beside her, Sami sat in a loose grey shirt and matching sweatpants, legs stretched out.

Ren opened his mouth to speak—but before he could get a single word out, Aika hurled the bottle in her hand at his head.

He dodged, but Aika launched to her feet, about to pounce.

Sami caught her mid-lunge, his arms locking around her before she could close the distance.

"Let me go! Let me at him, Sami—I want to smack him back into a coma!" she yelled, flailing as her hands clawed at the air, trying to wrench herself free.

"Whoa there. Easy, Koko," Sami said, still gripping her tightly as she squirmed. He began steering her away from the pool, half-guiding, half-dragging her like an unruly cat that refused to be picked up properly.

'Koko?' Ren blinked.

Watching the chaos unfold, he debated sinking back beneath the water. It had been quiet down there. Safe.

Aika stopped struggling, scoffed, then flicked her cigarette onto the tiles before storming inside the house.

Sami gave Ren a sheepish grin and a wave, then bent to pick up the cigarette.

Ren swam to the pool's edge and climbed out, water dripping from his soaked shorts.

He looked toward the door Aika had vanished through.

"I thought water Virans don't… get angry like that."

Sami smirked, brushing damp hair from his face.

"Yeah, they don't. But… Aika's Aika."

Ren exhaled and sat at the pool's edge.

"What even happened? Last thing I remember, I was at VHQ."

Sami's voice was casual, cheerful as always.

"Aika brought you back. I saw her carrying you on her back. Then she just tossed you into the pool like trash."

He paused, thoughtful. "Still… she stayed here most of the time. Checked in a lot. Kept waiting for you to wake up."

Ren gave him a look.

"That last part... doesn't sound like Aika."

Sami added with a shrug:

"She did charge me for every hour she watched you while you were in the pool."

Ren nodded slowly.

"Yeah… that sounds like her."

He leaned back, soaking in the warmth of the evening sun.

"It's been a crazy day."

Sami blinked. Then tilted his head.

"Day? Ren… you've been in that pool for six days."

Ren's eyes widened.

"Six days?"

He turned to Sami, brow furrowed. Thought for a moment. Now that he could breathe underwater, maybe it was possible. But…

"Is that even normal?"