A flicker of light danced over Kairo's face.
His eyelids twitched, then opened, just barely. Heavy. Weighed down like iron curtains. Thin rays of sunlight seeped in through a gap in the curtain, stabbing into his pupils like needles.
What, what's happening?
His head throbbed, an anvil pressing deep behind his eyes, pounding with every heartbeat. A dull, booming pain. He groaned softly. Then, like a jack-in-the-box springing loose, his eyes shot open and he sat up.
"Demons don't eat me! I'm still a virgin. AHH!"
He clutched at his chest, gasping. Cold sweat clung to his skin like a glue. His heart threatened to break out through his ribs. The scream echoed in the small room for a moment, then dissolved into silence.
He blinked. Once. Twice. Slowly, as if processing what reality was.
The ceiling above, it was familiar. The tiny crack near the corner. The faint brown stain from last year's leak.
He reached down, fingertips grazing the mattress. Soft. His bed.
Wait what?
I thought i was about to be eaten by…
A pause. Then a sigh.
"It must've been a dream," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes with both hands. "Of course. What else would it be? I was really out here thinking I was about to be demon chow"
He chuckled dryly and shook his head. "I seriously need to stop watching horror movies before bed."
But even as he brushed it off, something gnawed at the edges of his mind. The dream, it had felt too real. Vivid. Every detail sharp, every sound haunting.
Still he dismissed it with a shrug.
Demons existed, yes. That wasn't fantasy. But they'd been wiped out long before he was even born. Exterminated by Demon Hunter Corps in the Great Cleansing.
And if that dream really happened, then I wouldn't be breathing right now.
He shook his head, as if physically trying to shove the thought out.
His foot swung over the side of the bed. Then the other.
He stood. And instantly noticed something.
He was naked.
He looked down at himself, unimpressed. "I must've slept like this"
His eyes wandered. Morning wood. Wonderful.
Then a foul stench slapped his nose.
He staggered back. "What the hell?!"
It was sharp. Sour. Like rotting flesh soaked in expired eggs.
He gagged slightly, pulling his head back. Even for his apartment, this was extreme.
"What is smelling?!"
As he moved toward the door to investigate, his phone blared from the nightstand.
A landline. Who even still used those?
He picked up the receiver.
"YOU FOOL, KAIRO! DON'T TELL ME YOU JUST WOKE UP! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT DAY IT IS?!"
Kairo winced, pulling the phone away from his ear. "Hey! Hi! What day…"
He stopped. His eyes widened. His voice cracked.
"Shoot!"
"YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE YOU DIMWIT."
Kairo hung up.
He bolted into the bathroom.
Today was finals. And he had completely, thoroughly, embarrassingly overslept.
As the shower blasted against his skin, his thoughts drifted back to the dream again.
And another reason why it definitely wasn't real, he thought, rinsing soap from his face, is because I said no one would notice if I went missing.
But that's not true.
Caster did.
The one person in his life who actually called.
Kairo threw on his uniform in record time. White shirt, black slacks, loosely-knotted tie. No breakfast, no brushing hair. He dashed out the door.
And as he stepped into the hallway, the stench that had stung his nose earlier vanished.
Gone. Completely.
He reached school with lungs burning and legs numb.
The exam had already started, but not much time had passed.
Not that it mattered.
He stared at the test sheet, eyes bouncing between questions like a lost fly in a jar. None of it made sense. Not the words. Not the diagrams. Not even the goddamn instructions.
He was worse than Naruto on a test.
The headache didn't help either. It pulsed, dull but constant, muting even his ability to guess.
As he stumbled through the hallway afterward, he felt something sharp sting the back of his head.
SLAP.
He stumbled forward.
The headache flared like gasoline dumped on a weak fire.
He bent down, gasping through his teeth.
A familiar voice spoke beside him.
"Yo. You okay?"
Kairo looked up slowly.
Caster.
Tall, sharp-jawed, annoyingly perfect. The same voice that had screamed into the phone.
Kairo straightened up and glared at him.
"I swear, I'm going to kill you."
Caster grinned like a delinquent caught red-handed. "Try it."
Kairo scoffed. "Then I'll be lonely for life."
He turned to keep walking.
Caster caught up, slinging a hand casually over Kairo's shoulder. "What's wrong? You thinking about the exam? Don't worry—I wrote exactly what you wrote, so we'll definitely both come last."
"You really underestimate me to think I care about some exam."
Kairo's voice was dry. "I was just having a severe headache, and a certain individual decided to slap my head."
Caster grinned even wider. "My pleasure."
This was his only friend.
Caster.
How they even became friends was a mystery.
They were opposites in every sense. Caster looked like the literal embodiment of immaculate handsomeness—clean-cut, confident, athletic. And Kairo… well, Kairo looked like someone who watched immaculate people from across the cafeteria.
But still, here they were. Six years of friendship.
Kairo never understood why Caster never left him for a better group. Plenty of invitations came. Beautiful girls, rich boys, elite circles. He turned all of them down.
Even when girls, actual fine shyt-level girls confessed to him like he was Romeo himself, Caster just laughed and said "no thanks."
Kairo glanced at him.
Caster, noticing, said without looking, "I'm not gay."
"I'm in great doubt," Kairo replied.
Caster smirked.
Then, still walking, Caster said casually, "By the way, don't stay out late lately."
Kairo raised an eyebrow.
That was new.
Caster's dad was a cop. So when he said something, it usually wasn't just small talk.
Caster continued, "Yesternight, my dad got a call. Some brutal homicide went down. Real nasty. Culprit's still out there."
Kairo's heart skipped a beat.
"Oh?" he asked carefully. "Must've been serious if your dad got called in."
Caster nodded. "Yeah. Think it happened in some building behind the park."
Kairo's feet slowed.
Caster kept walking, hands in pockets, voice casual. "Think it was floor 21 or something."
Kairo stopped.
Caster took a few more steps before realizing Kairo wasn't beside him anymore. He turned and saw Kairo rooted in place, staring at him with wide, pale eyes.
He walked back.
"Hey. What's wrong? Is it your headache?"
Kairo swallowed. "Did you just say… floor 21?"
"Yeah? Why?"
Kairo stepped back.
He gasped, visibly and shook his head.
"Caster… I'll get back to you."
Then he turned.
And bolted.
Caster stood there, blinking.
"Huh?"