Music for Chapter: Bobby Sessions – Like Me
The sky above Kirin Academy was a pale blue canvas streaked with soft gold. Morning had broken calm and still. Yet beneath that quiet, the entire school buzzed with restrained tension. Tomorrow was the Awakening.
Aullie stood barefoot in the training courtyard, breathing slow and deep. His arms moved in deliberate arcs, cutting through the chilled air with each silent kata. He wasn't focused on speed or power. This was about control, discovering the harmony between breath and movement, between thought and instinct
Shinku sat on a stone railing nearby, tail flicking as he watched. Aullie felt his presence more than saw him, like a shadow that had always been there.
As he finished his final motion, Aullie held the stance for a beat longer than necessary. The tension didn't leave his body. If anything, it settled deeper.
"Tomorrow," he whispered.
He swore, for a moment, he heard something. A wordless murmur. Like someone calling his name beneath the wind.
He turned to Shinku. "You gonna talk again?"
The cat blinked slowly.
"Didn't think so."
The mess hall smelled of rice, roasted pork, and miso soup. Aullie sat with his usual crew at their back corner table, sipping from a bowl of green tea.
Aki grinned over her tray as she attacked her food with chopsticks, spearing each chunk as if it were a personal enemy.
"Tomorrow's gonna be nuts. I better awaken so I can bond with something cool," she said, her eyes gleaming. "and if I get stuck with a squirrel trying to bond with me or something, I'm setting myself on fire."
"You'd still be dangerous," Haru said, deadpan. "Flaming squirrel girl."
Aki stuck her tongue out at him.
"I just hope I don't explode," Haru muttered, half-joking, half-serious. "Most of my family awakened the Earth affinity so there's a good chance I will too and I've heard people say on rare occasions Earth affinity types sometimes react... violently during awakening."
Sora stirred her tea quietly. "It's not the affinity that causes the problem. It's the resistance to the awakening. The soul struggles when it doesn't accept the power."
Aullie glanced at her. "Sounds like you've been studying."
She gave a small, cryptic smile. "Someone has to."
As they chatted, a group of Royal students passed close by. Their uniforms were crisp, their posture rigid. Whispers followed in their wake.
"Commoners shouldn't be this confident..."
"I heard he knocked Riku out cold yesterday."
Haru's jaw tightened. "Ignore those idiots," Aullie said with an eyeroll
"I wasn't gonna hit him... hard," Haru muttered.
Aullie just smirked at him and winked.
Aether Theory class was packed with restless students. Professor Tsukino, always strict, began the lesson with a click of her staff against the floor.
"Tomorrow, each of you will stand before the Pillar of Souls. You will face yourselves, and if you are worthy, your Aether Bead will awaken. You may receive one... or two."
A subtle wave of murmurs rippled through the classroom.
"Dual Aether Holders are rare," she continued. "One in one hundred thousand. And even among them, compatibility varies. Your bead will reflect not only your strength, but your will, your nature, your very essence."
She gestured to a diagram of Aether Beads on the board behind her—each a different color.
"Affinity will manifest. Affinites and their colors are:
Red - Fire
Blue - Water
Brown - Earth
Green - Wind
Sky blue - Ice
Brown and red mix - Lava
Yellow and Blue mix - Lightning
Dark blue with green dots - Poison
Black - Darkness
Gold - Light
Silver - Space
Void - Translucent dark purple
Time - Platinum with a small black hourglass
and when you bind your jewel with a bond the bead will glow"
Aullie's fingers twitched over the lockpick, barely paying attention—this was all just recap before the awakening anyway. His thoughts drifted, pulled under by fragments of all his dreams: the bite of steel, the hollow gnaw of hunger, the echoing clang of a trip gong. And that scrawny black cat, the one he'd fed scraps to near the temple.
His gaze drifted to Shinku, who sat curled at the classroom window, watching.
The pre-Awakening evaluations happened in the basement levels, under harsh white lights that made everyone look half-dead. They called students down in small groups. Aullie sat with his crew in a waiting area that felt more like a medical exam room, all sterile surfaces and nervous breathing.
Haru went first. Came back looking relieved. "Earth affinity, like I figured."
Aki practically bounced when she returned. "Fire. Called it."
Sora was quieter about her results, but Aullie caught the satisfied gleam in her eyes. "Space," she said simply, and Haru whistled low.
When Aullie's name was called, he stepped forward.
Inside, the test chamber pulsed with aether lines etched into the walls. Several instructors monitored tablets and sensors. A tall device shaped like a crystalline monolith stood in the center.
"Place your hand on the pillar," one of them instructed.
He did. Energy surged through his skin, cool, searching.
The instructors frowned.
"Readings are unstable."
"No elemental lean?"
"None. No resonance. No rejection either."
Aullie remained silent, hand rubbing the back of his neck.
They ran the scan again. Same result.
"Inconclusive."
Aullie hastily stepped away. The air felt colder on his back.
As he exited, Ryota, the second year Royal leaned against the wall near the exit, arms crossed. His bleach-blond hair caught the sterile light, an unconventional choice for a Royal since such coloring typically marked delinquents. Platinum and diamond studs adorned both ears, while a pre-Demon Invasion Grand Seiko SBGA413 watch, now an unattainable luxury for most, peeked from beneath his sleeve. His uniform badge bore the twin-gem crest of a dual holder.
"So you're the one who put Riku in the infirmary," Ryota said, voice smooth as silk and twice as dangerous.
Aullie stopped. "And you're the one who spends more time on his hair than most girls."
Ryota's smile was all edges. "You're funny. Let's see if you're still cracking jokes after tomorrow."
Aullie walked past him without another word, but he could feel those cold eyes following him all the way down the hall.
That night, Aullie couldn't sleep.
The moonlight poured across the dorm floor like silver mist. He slipped out quietly, climbing up to the academy's rooftop. The city lights below blinked like stars.
Sora sat near the edge, hugging her knees, her gaze cast out over the city lights below. She didn't turn when Aullie approached but her voice was warm.
"You too?" she asked.
"Couldn't sleep," he replied, settling beside her.
"Figures. Always so calm. I hate that about you."
Aullie smirked, brushing his fingers through his hair. "I'm not calm. Just good at pretending."
She tilted her head, giving him a sideways look. "Well, you're convincing. You always look like nothing gets to you."
He gave a quiet shrug. "A lot gets to me. I've just learned to carry it quieter than most."
Sora's smile was soft, almost private, as she pulled her knees closer. "I used to think you were arrogant," she admitted. "But now I think you're just… tired."
Aullie huffed a quiet laugh. "Yeah. That's fair."
She shifted, her shoulder brushing his before she let her head rest there. The wind curled around them, warm and slow, as silence settled like something alive between them.
"I'm scared, Aullie," she murmured, so quiet the words could have been stolen by the breeze.
He waited, long enough that she wondered if he'd pretend not to hear her. Then, just as softly "Think we all are. Some of us just lie better."
Aullie turned his head, close enough that his breath warmed the crown of her hair. "You?" A quiet laugh, almost fond. "You'll stay exactly who you are, that stubborn, soft-hearted fighter I know." His voice dropped, roughened with conviction. "The only difference is, one day you'll believe it too."
Sora lifted her gaze to his, searching. "Is that really how you see me?"
His thumb brushed the back of her hand, just once, fleeting. "I see someone who doesn't need me to tell her she's strong."
She smiled, slow and small, then looked down at her hands. "Aullie... I—"
Thump.
Shinku landed between them like a furry missile, immediately claiming Aullie's lap with the territorial confidence of a tiny dictator. His red eyes fixed on Sora with unmistakable judgment.
"Seriously?" Aullie muttered, but he was fighting a smile.
Sora burst into laughter, real, unguarded laughter that made something in his chest tighten. "He really doesn't like sharing you, does he?"
"Apparently not." Aullie scratched behind the cat's ears, earning a rumbling purr.
She stood, brushing off her skirt. "Tomorrow, then."
"Yeah. Tomorrow."
Back in his dorm, Aullie pressed his forehead against the cool window glass. The academy grounds stretched out below, empty and quiet. No sounds of training, no students hurrying between buildings. Just moonlight washing everything in silver, making the familiar look strange and distant.
Shinku had curled up on his bed, a perfect black circle with his tail draped over his nose. The only living thing that seemed to genuinely want his company, well, besides Sora, maybe. The thought of her made his chest tighten in ways he wasn't ready to examine.
He breathed out, watching his breath fog the glass. His reflection stared back, tired eyes, messy hair, the face of someone trying to hold it together when everything felt like it was coming apart.
"Doesn't matter what happens tomorrow," he said quietly, more to himself than to the sleeping cat. His knuckles went white where he gripped the windowsill. "I'll deal with it. Whatever it is."
The words felt hollow, like he was trying to convince himself as much as anyone else. But sometimes that's all you had, the decision to keep going, even when you couldn't see where the path led.
Tomorrow would come whether he was ready or not. At least he wouldn't face it alone.