There are many things I expected on a Saturday.
Sleeping in.
Eating cereal straight out of the box.
Maybe binge-watching a show where people scream about cooking.
Not this.
Definitely not this.
"Okay," I said, holding the same glowing stick from last time, "why are we in the gym?"
"It's open space," Rikuya said.
"It's suspiciously echo-y," I muttered.
Kael leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"I wanted to use the forest."
"She's a beginner, not a woodland elf,"
Rikuya snapped back.
Great. The magical dads were bickering again.
Rikuya turned to me. "Today's lesson: energy control. You focus, hold the conduit, and try not to blow anything up."
"Define 'anything'," I said, gripping the stick like it was going to bite me.
He stepped back. "Now close your eyes."
I closed them.
Breathed in.
Focused.
Nothing happened.
Breathed in again.
Still nothing.
Then I thought about ramen.
And the stick lit up.
Kael blinked. "What did she just channel?"
"…Hunger," I said proudly.
Rikuya sighed, but I couldn't see him trying not to smile. "We'll work with it."
Then, just as I started getting the hang of it—controlling the light, shaping it into a tiny floating orb—it fizzled.
And something else happened.
The floor lit up.
A huge glowing rune appeared under me.
Then two more.
Then one… by Kael's foot.
And then—worst of all—one on my professor's chest.
Yep. Just walked in. Holding coffee. Glowing.
I screamed.
He looked confused.
Rikuya ran over and literally threw a hoodie on the man like it was going to hide a glowing ancient symbol on his body.
"Why is Professor Hideo glowing?!" I shouted.
"He's marked," Kael said grimly. "But not by us."
"BY WHO?!"
Rikuya muttered something in another language, then turned to me.
"You triggered something. The seal inside you—it's leaking out. Marking people who were near it before."
"I marked my professor?!" I shrieked.
"He is always near your dorm," Kael said suspiciously.
"Because he LIVES next door!"
Later that night, I found Kael waiting outside my room.
"More symbols appeared," he said. "All around campus. It's not just your seal. Something else is responding."
I looked at the sky. "Is this like… an apocalypse?"
He shrugged. "A magical awakening, maybe. Or a curse reversal."
"That sounds just bad."
"It depends," he said softly, "on what version of you is waking up."
And then he was gone.
I stepped into the dorm and found Rikuya sitting on the floor, arms around his knees.
"What if you're not just cursed," he said without looking up, "but the key to ending all of it?"
"Then I guess," I said, dropping beside him,
"we're both screwed."