Not every bond is born of a system.
Some rise quietly—when someone gets close enough to hear your heartbeat without asking.
But once a heart begins to resonate with the system, who's really binding whom?
The sky outside is still dim.
Morning seems unwilling to arrive—or perhaps Acxell himself hasn't truly woken.
He sits at his classroom desk, chin propped on his hand, eyes on the window though nothing registers beyond it.
His whole body feels drained. Not physically. As if something had been stolen overnight.
At his left—Yuriko Hanekawa.
Uniform neat. Black hair tied in two tails. Face as always: calm, a touch lazy, but eyes that never slept.
"Are you okay?"
Her question drops with no rhythm.
Just a flat voice—but Acxell feels the hidden fangs behind it.
"Why ask?"
"Because I know you're not."
She still doesn't look at him.
Her fingers toy with a pencil eraser, each movement like she's reading his pulse without touching him.
"Last night… nightmare?"
"Or a sweet dream that makes you feel guilty?"
Acxell's jaw tightens.
Why does she sound like Selena… but isn't?
[SYSTEM: LIL-01]
Unknown Emotional Resonance Detected
Sync Source: Yuriko Hanekawa — NOT REGISTERED
No Bond Established — Data-leak risk: HIGH
> "Tch…"
He lowers his head, trying to dismiss the notification.
Impossible.
She's not an avatar. No system. Not one of Lilith's "choices."
So why—
"If you think I don't know you're playing with more than one…"
"…you're wrong."
Her voice cuts in suddenly, still without looking at him.
Acxell lifts his head. "What do you mean?"
Yuriko gives a crooked half-smile.
"I'm not accusing. I'm just saying…"
"…I've never felt jealous. But today, I do."
[RESYNCHRONIZATION ATTEMPTED — ABORTED]
[SYSTEM: LIL-01 – OVERLAP RISK DETECTED]
[Emotional Thread: MUTUAL INSECURITY]
He studies her now. Really looks.
She still doesn't meet his gaze, but her cheeks are flushed.
"Don't make me feel weird, Acxell."
"I don't want to be just one of them."
"But I also don't like when you smile at someone else more than at me."
Suddenly—the classroom door slides open.
Heads turn.
A new student. Male. Tall. Skin pale. Eyes dark-green.
Smiling, but not with a human smile.
[SYSTEM: PRD-05 DETECTED]
[NEW AVATAR REGISTERED — UNKNOWN DEITY]
[Bond Level: 0% — Hostility: HIDDEN]
"Sorry I'm late. My name is…"
"Shiro Kaname."
Yuriko glances at Acxell.
Acxell doesn't smile at all.
Inside him, LIL-01 trembles.
Inside his heart, something shifts.
And for the first time…
he doesn't know whom he's supposed to protect first.
She wasn't an avatar.
But her heart had grown too close to someone who wasn't fully human.
And now—without a system, without commands, without a mission—
she began to hurt for the first time.
The school bell rang, signaling the end of classes.
Everyone poured out into the halls in noisy clumps.
But Yuriko Hanekawa stayed seated, arms wrapped around her knees on her chair.
Acxell had already left long ago.
She didn't know where he went, didn't want to know…
but her heart still knocked, slow and dull, against her chest.
She was in pain.
But it wasn't fever.
Why do I feel like this?
Why did I want to punch a wall when he smiled at that new guy?
She bit her lip. Her eyes didn't cry, but the blur was still there.
Her fingers rubbed at her arm as if trying to erase something that wouldn't go away.
[NO SYSTEM INSTALLED]
[EMOTIONAL FLUCTUATION: ABNORMAL]
[SYNCHRONIZATION ATTEMPT: BLOCKED]
[SUBCONSCIOUS ANCHOR: ACXELL AYASAKA]
What the hell is this? I'm not part of any system…
But why… why did it feel more than alive when he touched me that day?
Yuriko closed her eyes.
And suddenly, she heard something inside her head.
Not a man's voice.
Not a system prompt.
But a whisper—
as if it came from within her.
Don't let them take him.
He's slipping—and you're the only one who isn't hiding behind power.
If you stay silent, you lose.
Yuriko slowly stood up.
She didn't know where the voice came from.
But when she opened her eyes,
her hand was clenched around the edge of the desk.
And her desk—
was cracked slightly beneath her grip.
I don't need a system.
But I'll fight anyone who tries to turn him into their puppet.
Outside the window…
Shiro Kaname was watching the classroom with a faint smile.
But his eyes—
were hollow.
And between the two layers of glass,
their eyes met.
Only one of them, however,
knew exactly what was happening.
°°Arrogance does not tolerate failure—
It simply rewrites the script.
And in her palace of mirrors and shadows,
a goddess sat high upon her throne…
carving a new avatar into the world.°°
There was no sky.
No floor.
Only reflected selves.
This palace did not stand on earth,
but upon the sheer weight of belief.
Its walls were giant, seamless mirrors—
each reflecting countless faces of humans who once brimmed with pride…
and now, no longer existed.
At the center,
a silver throne rose cold and high.
And seated upon it,
clutching a crystal scepter of deep sapphire:
Valestra, Goddess of Arrogance.
Her hair hung down like frozen silk.
Her layered robe of gold and obsidian flowed without a crease.
Her eyes, half-closed in boredom,
never ceased their judgment.
Beneath the throne hovered a fractured shard of crystal.
Inside it—
Selena Hoshigaki's entire emotional memory.
"She begged for love."
"She bowed for a kiss."
"She smiled when she was rejected."
Valestra's voice didn't rise.
But it filled the entire realm.
"She is no longer my reflection."
With a simple flick of her finger,
the crystal splintered completely—
shattering in perfect silence.
Footsteps echoed from the void behind.
A figure approached—
tall, upright, silver-haired, with deep green eyes.
Every step was precise. Breathless. Inevitable.
He bowed—not out of worship,
but to be activated.
"I've come as summoned, my lady."
Shiro Kaname.
Forged not from love,
but from pure logic and untamed arrogance.
Valestra descended from her throne.
Her heels struck air, yet rang like bells.
She circled Shiro slowly,
eyes scanning him as if sculpting flawlessness.
"You will not be tempted by anyone."
"You will not fall for anyone."
"You will let them believe they're superior…
until you break them from within."
Shiro did not reply.
But his hand rose—revealing the insignia of his system:
[SYSTEM PRD-05 – ACTIVE]
[AVATAR STATUS: SHIRO KANAME – PRIMARY]
[EMOTIONAL BLOCK: ABSOLUTE]
Valestra gave a faint smile.
She touched his chest—
and from that touch, every trace of Selena was siphoned clean from the system.
"No more laughter."
"No more sweat-drenched school uniforms."
"No more stolen kisses."
"You were not made to touch."
"You were made to conquer."
The massive mirrors trembled.
And in one reflection—
Acxell's face appeared.
Valestra closed her eyes briefly.
"He belongs to Lilith now.
But he's beginning to crack."
"Go to their world."
"Find the one who is most sincere."
"Break him from the inside."
Shiro bowed.
"And if he fights back?"
Valestra's eyes opened again.
Sharper than a blade.
"You don't have to defeat him."
"You only need to make him hate who he's become… because of Lilith."
The throne gleamed.
System codes filled the void.
Shiro vanished—
sent into the human world in a burst of white light.
Valestra sat back on her throne,
eyes once again closed.
"Selena was just a shadow that never understood her mirror."
"But you, Shiro…"
"You're the mirror that bends back."
°°He could still feel his body in the world.
But his soul was somewhere else.
Something was missing.
Something had been torn out without warning.
And for the first time… she felt alone inside the system that had once bound her.°°
A small bedroom. Curtains half-drawn.
Outside, a heavy sky, but no rain.
Selena Hoshigaki sat curled up on the bed, hoodie hood hiding half her face.
Her hair fell loose and uneven.
Her left hand trembled.
"...why can't I feel anything?"
She opened her system panel.
Normally it would bloom like fire—pink and arrogant, her goddess' sweetness made manifest.
But now:
[SYSTEM PRD‑03] – NO RESPONSE
[MAINLINE CONNECTION: TERMINATED]
[AVATAR STATUS: INERT]
[DEITY: VALESTRA — NOT FOUND]
Her eyes widened. Her breath caught.
"She… threw me away?"
Her fingers tried to ping the core system again.
Reconnect.
Reconnect.
Reconnect.
But there was only silence.
"No… I still have a system.
I still have Acxell…"
Yet when she tried to reach for him:
[CONNECTION STATUS: SHARED]
[BOND: Partial – INTERRUPTED by LIL‑01]
"I don't have anyone."
The whisper escaped before she could stop it.
She lay back slowly on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Her lips stayed shut. Her eyes brimmed.
She wasn't crying over lost power.
She was crying because—for the first time—she didn't know who she was without a system holding her up.
"All I did was try to feel him.
To kiss him.
To hear his heartbeat.
Why is that wrong?"
"Why throw me away… just because I fell in love?"
[EMOTIONAL LOAD: UNHANDLED]
[SYSTEM DRIFT: POTENTIAL ROGUE STATE]
[WARNING: Avatar experiencing Independent Thought Cycle]
Selena sat up again, slowly, but her eyes had changed.
"Fine.
If I'm no longer Valestra's avatar…
…I'll carve my own path."
She reopened the system. This time, she dove into the core override.
Valestra's face still hovered there—cold, sharp, perfect.
"You made me to be a mirror…"
"But now I'll shatter myself."
Her finger hit DELINK.
The entire interface cracked.
[PRD‑03 — UNLINKED BY USER]
[AVATAR: FREED — ROGUE STATE CONFIRMED]
[NEW FLAG: UNKNOWN – "Self‑Willed System Fragment"]
"I'm no longer anyone's reflection.
And when Acxell sees me again… he'll see me."
"Not a system. Not a command. Me."
Lightning flashed outside the window.
Selena Hoshigaki smiled—
not in arrogance, but for the first time… honestly.