"Yo."
Nicholas greeted casually.
Selene raised an eyebrow at him. Normally, he would just sit across from her in silence, and the only words they exchanged were thinly veiled insults.
This time, however, he took his seat and drew in a deep breath.
"Can I ask you something?" Nicholas's eyes carried a strange plea, one the Ice Queen had never seen before.
In fact, she realized, he had never asked her anything so directly.
"You may ask. Whether I answer is another matter entirely." Selene closed her book and set it aside, a small gesture that showed she was giving him her full attention.
Nicholas opened his mouth, then shut it again. His hand went to the side of his head, a clear sign that he was hesitating.
"I can give you as much time as you need," Selene said evenly. "But the school bell will not."
His eyes widened at the reminder, and he nodded before finally asking:
"Do you think there's something wrong with me?"
The world seemed to pause.
Selene was caught off guard. Of all the questions she might have expected from Nicholas Darklight, this wasn't one of them.
He had always kept himself apart, as though a tall, unshakable wall had been built around him.
Her curiosity stirred, sharp and restless, like a cat's tail flicking.
Though more than anything… it was startling.
"My mistake. That came out wrong," Nicholas muttered, quickly correcting himself. "Let me rephrase: What is your impression of me? How do you see me?"
There was something strange in his gaze, something Selene couldn't quite ignore, but also couldn't fully decipher.
"Why do you wish to know?" she asked at last.
Her words weren't meant to deflect, but to ensure that when she did answer, her response would be the most precise, unclouded truth she could give.
Nicholas didn't reply. His mouth stayed shut, his eyes evasive.
Selene let out a soft sigh, studying him carefully. "Very well. Let us return to your earlier question, then. Why do you think there is something wrong with you?"
His jaw tightened before he finally muttered, "…Let's just say I've been learning some things. Things I normally never would have learned."
Selene tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing in quiet scrutiny. Nicholas's words lingered in the air, heavy, suggestive. She did not immediately answer, choosing instead to watch the way his fingers tapped against the desk, restless, betraying an inner agitation he was clearly trying to mask.
"…Things you normally would never have learned?" she echoed softly, leaning forward just enough to close the gap between them. "That phrasing implies two things. One, that the knowledge was forced upon you. And two, that you wish you could unlearn it."
Her gaze was sharp, almost forensic. She was used to prying masks apart, and the one Nicholas wore had always been impenetrable, until now.
She let a pause settle, then asked, her voice low but direct: "What sort of things, Nicholas? Knowledge about yourself… or about others?"
He tapped his lips with one hand and scratched his thumb with the other. "Let's just say I found out an interesting way some people see me. I just wanted to see how you see me… As someone I've… spent quite a bit of time with. I figured you'd have a better…" He paused. "…A more calculated and objective answer." He looked at her, then at the ground, then back at her. "You're studying to become a detective, right? I figured, feelings aside, you'd give me the most unbiased answer."
Selene folded her hands atop the desk, her book forgotten. The shift in his mannerisms, eyes darting away, fingers fidgeting, wasn't lost on her. Nicholas was rarely this transparent, even when he was trying to be vague.
"You appeal to my objectivity, yet you ask a subjective question." Her tone was cool, almost chiding, but not unkind. "You want my impression of you, not a fact. That in itself already tells me something about what you're seeking."
She let her eyes linger on him a moment longer, watching for the twitch of an expression, the catch of breath, anything to betray the cracks in his composure.
"You wish to confirm whether the way others see you is the truth… or merely one truth among many. Am I wrong?"
Her head tilted ever so slightly, the gesture precise, deliberate, like a hawk testing its prey's resolve.
"Tell me, Nicholas," she pressed gently, "what did they see in you that unsettled you enough to come to me?"
He grimaced slightly. "We're straying too far from the original question." He tried to redirect her, clinging to the purpose that had brought him here.
Selene's lips curved into the faintest shadow of a smile, not one of amusement, but of recognition, the kind reserved for when a puzzle piece slips into place.
Ah. So it is not the answer you seek, but the comfort of asking. She observed softly. Her eyes narrowed just a fraction, not unkindly, but piercing. That too is telling.
She leaned back in her seat, folding one leg neatly over the other. "Very well, Nicholas. If you insist on returning to your original question, then I shall indulge you."
Her voice cooled into that practiced, deliberate calm she so often wielded: "My impression of you? You are a contradiction. Someone who wishes to remain unseen, yet cannot help but draw attention. Detached in manner, yet far more tethered to the world around you than you pretend."
Her gaze cut into him, measuring every twitch in his face. Then, with deliberate calm, she added: "You realized people have actual opinions of you, and you find that shocking, for reasons I can only guess. The only reason you are so shaken is because you yourself have no opinion of yourself. You… don't know who you are. Am I correct?"
Nicholas answered in a calm tone. "I know I am Nicholas Darklight. Just a guy who tries to help out every now and then. That's all." His face and voice were both neutral.
Selene merely watched with her unchanging expression.
Then Nicholas smiled faintly. "Thanks." He got up and started to walk away.
Selene's eyes followed him as he stood. His words had been calm, carefully placed, but she recognized them for what they were, an answer meant to end the conversation, not resolve it.
Her expression remained the same, the still mask she always wore, but inwardly she noted the small, fleeting smile he allowed himself before walking away. It wasn't the smile of someone satisfied. It was the smile of someone who had decided to carry something heavy alone.
"Just a guy, hm…" she murmured quietly to herself, almost like a detective filing away an unproven lead.
As his footsteps faded, Selene leaned back in her chair, her hand brushing over the cover of her book without opening it. He had thanked her, but it hadn't felt like gratitude. More like a dismissal, or perhaps a plea not to dig further.
Of course, that only made her curiosity sharpen.
…
Stupid.
He berated himself.
What were you even trying to accomplish with that?
Youth.
He was trying to understand his youth. Trying to connect with others, to form meaningful relationships. That's what youth was supposed to be, right?
He wasn't sure.
"Ugh. Felt like I was being interrogated for my own question." He groaned, holding his head. He should have known better than to ask the heartless Ice Queen.
He should have just asked Sydney. She would've given him a quick, clear-cut answer. Probably something along the lines of—
"You slacker!"
Nicholas jumped slightly at the sudden raised voice.
It was Sydney, jabbing a finger into his chest and glaring at him.
"Eh?"
"What do you mean you're backing out?" she snapped, giving him the full stink eye.
Nicholas blinked a couple of times. "Ah, that… well, you see-"
"Zip it!" she cut him off immediately. She turned away, took a deep breath, exhaled, then spun back to face him. "When you start like that, I just know you're about to make a dumb excuse."
"No, no, really-"
"No!" She stomped on the ground like a judge striking down his appeal. "Listen, this is what's gonna happen. We're gonna make them a couple tomorrow, together. I'll pick up your slack, but you better be there! Be behind the school half an hour before the dance and wait for me there!"
She said it with a conviction so strong it felt less like a plan and more like a royal decree.
Nicholas merely nodded, unbothered by her outburst.
"Good!" With that, she turned, began to walk away… then stormed off in a huff, leaving Nicholas to his confused self.
"…What just happened?"
In his head, he replayed the last thirty seconds like rewinding a tape. Then, an outrageous thought struck him.
"Did she… ask me out to the dance..?" The words sounded so absurd, he questioned if they had actually come from his own mouth.
"Pfft." Then he laughed. "Haha, as if."
He had just a few more classes left, then he could finally go home.
Nicholas sighed.
"Can't believe I'm still being dragged into this." He cracked his neck, rubbing a sore spot. "What a pain…" he muttered.
Pulling out his phone, he typed a message to Philip. He had a favor to ask.
Philip was always good with technology, better than him by a mile. Especially when it came to digging up things online.
So Nicholas sent him a request: to look into someone.
Average-kun wanted to confess. Tod wanted to confess. Lillie wouldn't accept anyone. Sera and Blond Nicholas didn't want Average-kun to confess for fear of breaking the friend group. Sydney wanted Lillie and Average-kun together.
Whoever confessed risked drawing the ire of Lillie's entire entourage… possibly the whole school.
What could he possibly do to resolve this mess?
Was there a way to leave everyone satisfied, even if it wasn't exactly fair?
Maybe delaying things was the best option. But how?
No, even then it wouldn't solve the problem. Nicholas could tell that Average-kun didn't believe him when he said Lillie wouldn't accept anyone's feelings…
'Detached in manner, yet far more tethered to the world around you.'
He grimaced, remembering Selene's words.
This time, he sighed louder, as if annoyed by something. "Whatever."
With a half-baked plan forming in his head, Nicholas dragged himself off to class.
…
When school finally ended, he slipped out before anyone could catch him and made a quiet dash for home.
But halfway there, fate or something like it, put Rose in his path. He couldn't very well ignore her, so he fell into step beside her.
"Oh~? Aren't you a knight in shining armor? Or perhaps dark armor suits you better?" Rose teased, eyes glittering.
Though he tried to keep a straight face, a reluctant smirk tugged at his lips. "It's just safer this way-"
"You mean because of those murders going around?" she cut in, still smiling as though she were talking about the weather.
The brightness of her expression against such a grim subject made the back of his neck prickle. Nicholas recalled Tod mentioning the killings yesterday.
"Yeah. That. Among other things."
His thoughts drifted—
to the things that prowled unseen,
to the monsters that could appear and vanish without a trace.
Even death didn't guarantee their end.
Rose suddenly stopped. Nicholas took a few more steps before noticing and turned back.
"What's wrong?" he asked, a flicker of concern slipping through.
"…" She held his gaze for several seconds before speaking. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Hm? Where's that coming from?" His surprise bled into a faint, defensive annoyance.
Her smile remained, but he saw through it now. It wasn't a smile, it was worry, carefully disguised.
"It just feels like… you're different from before."
"Different?" His voice sharpened, yet underneath it trembled something raw. "What exactly is 'different' about me?"
Anyone else might have missed it, but Rose and maybe Philip would catch the truth: He was holding something back, guarding a secret he had no intention of sharing.
Rose tilted her head, then softly reframed the question. "Have you found yourself? That's why you left us for a while, isn't it?"
The question was new, but at its heart it was the same.
Nicholas exhaled, unaware he'd been holding his breath. "Not yet."
Her smile shifted again, warmer this time, genuine. "Just so you know, some people spend their whole lives looking. It's not something you have to figure out right away." Her voice carried none of her usual playful sting.
"I know. I just… want to." Determination flickered in his tone, though uncertainty wavered beneath it.
"Then I wish you luck," she said gently. "And if you need help, we're here."
From there, their talk wandered through lighter topics, laughter weaving between them. At some point, Nicholas even found himself admitting the chaos of his current school life, a confession Rose rewarded with relentless teasing about his supposed matchmaking skills.
Before long, they reached her building.
"Well, this is my stop," Rose said.
"Yeah…"
"Oh, and hey, good luck tomorrow. You'd better treat that girl who asked you out right, got it? Otherwise, I'm kicking your ass!"
Nicholas grimaced. "It's not even like that-"
But she was already through the door, sticking out her tongue and making a silly face through the glass.
"Childish," he muttered, though a quiet chuckle betrayed his fondness. Turning back toward the street, he felt the weight in his chest ease.
He'd worried it might be awkward between them, and it was, at first. But once they started talking, the awkwardness melted away like morning frost.
'That actually cleared my head a little.'
For a long time, he'd let others cast him as a background character, a silent spectator in the story of everyone else's life. But walking away from Rose's door, he felt the truth settle in.
He wasn't just watching the play unfold. He was part of it.
The main character of his own life.
And he still had a role to play.
…
The walk home was uneventful until a glint of polished metal caught Nicholas's eye.
A limousine.
A long, sleek shadow of a car, the kind that looked too extravagant to serve any real purpose.
It sat parked near his house. Given its size, it was hard to tell whether the driver had stopped in front of the Darklight home on purpose… or by coincidence.
A faint prickle of unease stirred in the back of his mind. He shrugged it off and approached the door, keys in hand.
"Dad? Are you home-"
The words snagged in his throat.
A creeping dread crawled up his spine.
His father sat in the living room, shoulders tight, face drawn with anger and something worse—distress. Across from him sat a man Nicholas couldn't fully see, but recognition hit him anyway, cold and certain.
Benjamin Khybernus.
The man turned at the sound of the door. Brown hair perfectly combed, a relaxed smile that concealed something far less pleasant.
"Oh? Hello there, child," Khybernus said smoothly, as though greeting an old friend.
Nicholas's father, Niko, forced a thin smile.
"Nicholas… you're back."
It was not a smile of welcome. It was heavy, sorrowful.
Nicholas stepped closer, wary of Khybernus but even more unsettled by his father's expression. "Yeah…? Is… everything alright?"
"Everything is quite right, child," Khybernus answered before Niko could speak. "Your father and I were merely discussing some private KhyberCorp matters." He rose with leisurely grace, brushing an invisible speck from his sleeve.
Niko's eyes hardened into a vicious glare, but he said nothing.
"There you have it," Khybernus added, his smile slick and cold. "Nothing to worry about."
Nicholas shifted aside as the man strode toward the door. Before leaving, Khybernus paused to look him over.
"You have a fine taste in color," he remarked.
Nicholas blinked, glancing down at his outfit. "…It's just black."
Khybernus's smile faltered into a faint frown.
"What a disappointing answer. What happened, Niko?" He tilted his head toward the elder Darklight, eyes gleaming with mock concern. "I recall your son being so much more… creative in the past."
Niko's hand curled into a fist. "Just get out, already." He said evenly, his calm voice sharper than a shout.
The smirk returned, snake-like. "Very well. Bye-bye."
With a careless wave, Khybernus left, disappearing into the waiting limousine.
Only when the car finally pulled away did Nicholas shut the door and turn the lock. Behind him, his father exhaled a long, heavy breath, as though releasing a weight neither of them could name.
Niko slumped back onto the sofa, stretching with a groan that tried and failed to sound casual.
"Man, what a day." He forced a lighter tone as he glanced at his son. "How was your day, kiddo?"
The sudden brightness in his father's face was almost dizzying. The shift from the tension Nicholas had just witnessed felt like whiplash.
"Dad." Nicholas's voice carried an edge as he stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "What happened? That man… Khybernus. What was he doing here?"
Niko's smile faded. He rubbed his chin, gaze sliding away. "Benny, huh?"
Nicholas stiffened at the way he said the name 'Benny', as if it belonged to an old friend.
With a long breath, Niko pushed himself up from the couch, stretching as though the conversation were nothing. "Nothing much to say. We were friends once. Now we're just… colleagues." He offered a small, tired smile.
Something in that smile made Nicholas shiver. The curve of his father's lips was gentle, but his eyes—his eyes held too many emotions to name. Pain. Regret. Memories Nicholas couldn't begin to fathom.
Niko turned and started up the stairs, carrying all those unspoken truths with him.
"Dad…"
His father paused halfway, leaning on the railing. The light caught his face, making his eyes seem hollow, stripped of their usual warmth. He waited silently for Nicholas to continue.
Nicholas opened his mouth, hesitated, then asked instead,
"Do you think I'm… different?"
Niko blinked, startled. The hollowness left his eyes, replaced by something softer.
"Of course you're different."
A small smile tugged at his lips. "You're my son. You're… incredibly kind, even if you don't realize it. I-" He faltered, voice trembling before steadying again. "I don't know what I'd do without you. You and Evan are my reason to live. No matter what hardships come my way, as long as you two are alive and well, I can get through anything."
This time, the smile that followed was genuine, radiant with pure joy.
Then he turned and climbed the rest of the stairs, leaving the unspoken where it would remain.
Nicholas stayed rooted, the echo of those words sinking deep. They should have comforted him. Instead, an inexplicable ache bloomed in his chest.
He sank onto the couch with a groan.
He should have pressed on, about Khybernus, about KhyberCorp, anything.
His phone rang, cutting through the heavy silence. Without checking the caller, he answered. "Yellow?"
"-'Yellow'?-" Philip's dry voice came through.
"Oh. Philip. It's just you."
"-Just me? You're the one who gave me an assignment, remember?-"
Nicholas frowned. "Assignment?"
"-To look into one of your schoolmates, genius. Ring any bells?-"
"Oh." His eyes widened slightly. "Right. Hold on."
He hurried to his room, shutting the door before sitting at his desk. "Alright. What did you find?"
"-It's wild," Philip said, voice dropping lower. "Like… really wild.-"
Nicholas leaned forward. "How wild?"
…
"Thanks," Nicholas said at last when the details were laid out.
"-You're not planning to expose her or blackmail her, are you?-" Philip's tone turned sharp.
"Obviously not. What do you take me for? Actually, what's my image in your head?"
"-Uh—bad connection. Bye.-"
The line went dead.
Nicholas set his phone down and sighed. "What a mess…" He leaned back, rubbing his temples. "Well, guess that's what I always do. Clean up messes."