I woke up staring at a very unfamiliar ceiling and the immediate thought that crossed my mind was:

’Ah. So this is how I die. In a fancy bed.’

I blinked again.

’Nope. I’m still alive.’

"...Unfortunate," I muttered.

I tried to sit up but it was a bad idea.

My entire body immediately reminded me it had recently participated in running, summoning, fighting, fainting, and emotional humiliation.

I was about to groan dramatically when—

"...Mhmm..."

I froze, my eyes slowly shifting to the side.

The beds beside mine were separated by curtains. Very thin, unhelpful curtains and through them, I saw two shadows where one is clearly on top of the other.

My brain immediately connected the dots.

"This academy," I whispered to myself, deeply betrayed, "has no shame whatsoever."

We are in an infirmary. A place for the sick, injured, and dying. Not—this.

Where was the supervision?

Where was the nurse?

Where was literally anyone with authority and morals?!

"Aaahh..."

I shut my eyes tightly.

Nope.

NO.

I am not doing this again.

I did not escape one "educational experience" in the garden just to be enrolled in Infirmary Edition.

"I refuse," I whispered, covering my ears and turning to my side, only to freeze again from the sudden pain.

"...Why does everything hurt?" I muttered through clenched teeth as I focused on muting everything but the sounds kept slipping through anyway.

Creak.

My eyes opened...

Creak.

And twitched in annoyance.

Creak.

At this point, it wasn’t even subtle anymore.

It was audible assault.

"...Unbelievable," I muttered, pressing my hands harder against my ears.

It didn’t work.

Why would anything work for me anyway?

The universe clearly had a personal vendetta against me.

Fine. You want noise?

I’ll give you noise.

I flopped flat onto the bed, stared at the ceiling like a woman who had absolutely lost control of her life, took a deep breath.

And committed to the bit.

"...Oooh..."

The bed next door paused.

I blinked. ’Did I win?’

Creak.

Creak.

Creak.

They resumed again but this time the movements were getting stronger and bolder as if they were challenging me.

My eye twitched violently.

’Oh. So that’s how it is.’

Game on.

I sat up slightly—regretted it instantly—then started shaking my bed more loudly and violently like a possessed furniture review.

"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"

CREAK!

CREAK!

CREAK!

They.

Still.

Did.

Not.

Stop.

I grabbed my pillow. "This is war," I muttered before I started smacking it against the bed like I was trying to exorcise a demon.

"Aaawwwwoouuugh!!!"

At this point, I wasn’t even sure if I sounded like a person anymore.

I probably sound like a distressed animal or much like a dying wolf.

Silence.

Glorious, hard-earned, I-fought-for-my-life-for-this silence.

I lay there, victorious, ready to drift back into unconsciousness—

"Y-You didn’t tell me there was s-someone else here," the woman whispered in panic.

My eyes snapped open.

That voice...

’Vivienne Rosenthal?!’

My soul left my body.

Another voice followed, calm and completely unbothered.

"Then let them hear. I don’t care."

’Sebastian Grimm?!’

Oh no.

Oh absolutely not.

I stared at the curtain blankly.

"...Seriously?" I whispered under my breath. "Is this a hobby? A scheduled activity? A club I accidentally joined?"

Through the thin fabric, I saw her shadow scramble off the bed like she had just remembered morality existed while Sebastian was sitting still, facing my direction.

I slowly turned over, pretending I had never existed in this universe.

Please let this be a hallucination.

Please let this be a fever dream.

I carefully, slowly, quietly began inching towards the edge of the bed, one centimeter at a time, and just when my foot touched the floor—

Creeeak.

The curtain slid open.

I panicked and immediately pulled the blanket over my head like that would solve everything.

"Yes," I whispered to myself. "If I can’t see him, he can’t see me."

If I couldn’t see the devil, the devil couldn’t see me.

"Hey."

I did not respond.

"Woman."

I could not respond.

"What was that just now?"

I was now a certified blanket-shaped corpse.

"...Hey," they repeated.

I still said nothing because I value my life. Also because I had no explanation that wouldn’t make me sound insane.

I slowly inched backward under the blanket, attempting escape round two.

If I moved slowly enough, maybe I could disappear into another dimension.

I was this close to freedom, when a hand suddenly grabbed me.

"Ack!"

I yelped and got yanked back onto the bed as the blanket flew dramatically into the air before landing perfectly over both of us.

Everyone who looks at it can see that we are doing something in a very questionable situation.

"You again...?" Sebastian frowned, like I was a recurring inconvenience in his otherwise peaceful life.

"Uhm... who are you again...?" I laughed awkwardly, because denial is a river in Egypt.

He smiled.

A "you’ve-made-a-mistake" kind of smile.

"Don’t tell me you already forgot this lunatic?"

"Wow," I said weakly. "What are the chances?"

"...High, apparently," he replied, still very much on top of me, which felt like an important issue no one was addressing.

"...This looks bad."

"It does."

"...I can explain."

"I’m listening."

"Then get off me first," I said, attempting to push him away with the strength of a dying squirrel.

"Or?" he asked, clearly entertained.

"I will scream."

His grin widened. "I can also make you do that."

I stared at him, deeply concerned—not for myself, but for society.

’Does this man want me to scream in pain and terror just because I interrupted his extracurricular activities?’

"Who even said this was a motel anyway?!" I snapped, finally shoving his shoulder with what little strength I had. "I was defending my peace! My ears are innocent civilians in this situation!"

He didn’t even flinch. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"If you want to do... whatever that was," I continued, waving vaguely toward the curtain, "then do it somewhere no one has interest in hearing it! Preferably a cave. Or the bottom of the ocean."

He tilted his head slightly, studying me like I was the problem here. "Were... you jealous?"

My brain short-circuited. "...What?"

He stared at me like he had just solved a very complex mystery.

"What makes you think—"

"I understand," Sebastian cut in smoothly, already nodding like he had solved a mystery no one asked him to solve. "Women in this academy really do unimaginable things just so I could notice them."

I stared at him, silently wondering if he had a little accident and left his brain behind somewhere along the way, which is probably why he’s here in the first place.

"Is that why you approached me in the first place?" he continued, smiling like he deserved applause.

"No—"

"Sshh!" he interrupted, raising a finger as if I was the one being unreasonable. "That’s alright. I can give you my attention if that’s what you want."

’Excuse me?’

"You already caught my interest anyway," he added, smirking as he leaned down.

My eye twitched. ’The audacity, confidence, and utter delusion of this perverted lunatic!’

Before his lips could even get anywhere near me, I headbutted him as hard as I could.

Thunk!

He groaned, jerked back, and sat upright as if he’d been hit by a wrecking ball while I immediately scooted away, looking as if I just survived an assassination attempt by the world’s clumsiest assassin.

"Listen, you lunatic!" I snapped, clutching my aching head but refusing to lose momentum. "I have never—never—had any feelings for you. I got bored, that’s why I did those things!"

He chuckled.

Why was he chuckling?

Why are they all chuckling?

"Then you can say the same goes for me," he said, casually advancing like this was a friendly conversation and not a crime scene.

"Get back!" I hissed, grabbing the nearest pillow and launching it at his face.

He caught it effortlessly, which only made me more annoyed.

"I’ll let you go," he said, holding the pillow like it was evidence, "if you give me your name."

"Not gonna happen."

"Then that means you really want me to touch you."

I recoiled so fast I almost pulled a muscle.

"Alright! Alright!" I raised both hands in surrender. "My name is Anne."

"Anne?" he raised a brow.

I nodded excitedly. ’Why would I even give you my name in the first place?’

Just when I thought I was safe, I suddenly heard Gawain’s voice calling out to me. "Miss Blanca, are you okay now?"

My soul attempted to exit my body for the second time that day.

’Of all the possible times...’

"...No," I whispered under my breath. "No, I am not okay."

Sebastian—no, this lunatic—stared at me with growing amusement. "Anne, huh?"

"Y-Yes!" I said quickly, sweating like I had just committed tax fraud. "That’s really my name. I don’t even know who that guy is."

"To what I know," Sebastian said slowly, eyes gleaming with betrayal and entertainment, "we’re the only ones here, Blanca."

"Miss Blanca, who are you talking to?" Gawain called again, footsteps getting closer.

No.

No no no no—

"WAIT! D-Don’t—!"

I lunged forward in pure panic, aiming for the curtain like my life depended on it but my body, still recovering from betrayal, combat, and physical suffering, decided now was the perfect time to malfunction.

To make matters worse, an annoying lunatic was directly in my way, blocking my path.

I tripped and in a perfect, horrifying sequence of events, I fell forward.

Straight.

Onto.

Sebastian.

The curtain finally opened revealing me on top of him while he was looking up at me and not complaining.

Silence.

I slowly turned my head to meet Gawain’s blank face.

The kind of expression that meant he had already judged the situation, found it unacceptable, and was now deciding how many bodies needed to disappear to restore order.

"I can explain," I blurted immediately, scrambling to get off—only to freeze halfway as my entire body screamed in protest. "—ah—never mind, my body says no."

"Do you need assistance?" Sebastian asked, clearly enjoying this far more than any sane person should.

"No," I snapped. "I need you to disappear."

’Preferably permanently.’

"Sir," Gawain said politely, though his tone could’ve frozen lava, "kindly remove yourself from beneath my lady."

Sebastian didn’t even try to move, he just looked amused. "As you can see," he drawled, "your lady is sitting on top of me."

Before the situation could escalate into something that would definitely get us expelled—or executed—Gawain stepped forward, lifted me like I weighed nothing, and put a very firm distance between me and the problem.

I clung to him like my life depended on it.

Gawain looked down at me. "My Lady," he said calmly, "just give me the word, and I’ll make sure no one remembers him."

I blinked. "...That sounds illegal."

"Efficient," he corrected.

"Do that," Sebastian’s eyes darkened, a dangerous glint in them, "and I’ll make sure your head is hanging on top of the Academy gates."

I sighed wearily, rubbing my temples. "Just carry me back to my dorm," I requested tiredly, hoping to avoid further conflict.

Gawain didn’t argue this time. He simply turned and started walking.

Freedom.

Sweet, blessed freedom—

"Leaving just like that?" Sebastian called after us. "No goodbye kiss?"

I twitched.

"My Lady," Gawain said, tone suddenly hopeful in the most concerning way possible, "let me smack him. Just this once."

"No," I said immediately. "We can’t afford to offend someone like him."

Gawain slowly stopped walking. "...My Lady," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you’ve already offended maybe half of the students here."

"That’s different."

"How?"

"I don’t care about them."

"...You don’t care about him either."

"I care about survival."

Behind us, I could practically feel Sebastian smiling... which was deeply unsettling.

"Just not him," I added firmly.

Gawain resumed walking, clearly reconsidering my intelligence.

"Is your body still hurting?" he asked after a moment.

I nodded, burying my face against his shoulder. "I feel like I got run over. Twice. By different vehicles."

"Good."

I blinked. "...Good?"

"Then let’s continue training."

"...What?"

"Especially how to summon your soul weapon properly."

I stared at him like he had just suggested I run a marathon while being stabbed.

"But what about class?" I demanded. "What about my condition? What about my right to rest? Do you want me to die?"

"We’re already excused," he said calmly. "And no, you won’t die from training."

"That sounds like a lie."

"We need to train you quickly so you can at least defend yourself."

I narrowed my eyes. "Defend myself from what?"

He looked down at me, completely serious. "From your stupidity."

I stared at him, deeply offended "...Put me down."

"No."

"I want a new aide."

"Denied."

"I want a new life."

"Also denied."

"...I miss the Rogue," I sighed and let my head fall back. "At least the Rogue was honest. It tried to kill me directly. Not emotionally, mentally, and socially at the same time."

Gawain chuckled softly. "...We’re going back to the dorm first."

"Finally, a reasonable decision."

"Then we train."

"...You were doing so well."

"And you," he replied calmly, "are a disaster."