Leon woke up around 9:00 AM, later than his usual weekday schedule. He turned over, expecting to see Noah still asleep, but his roommate's bed was empty and already made.

  Probably at the basketball match. Noah had mentioned something about it yesterday.

  Leon got ready slowly, shower and casual clothes, then headed down to the cafeteria. The weekend crowd was smaller—most students sleeping in or already out doing their own things. He grabbed breakfast and ate alone, scrolling through his phone.

  Afterward, he decided to head to that bookstore Jay had shown them. One of his professors had mentioned a supplementary text that might be helpful, and he wanted to check if they had it.

  The walk took about fifteen minutes. The bookstore was tucked into a quieter street in D region, modest storefront but well-maintained. Leon pushed open the door, hearing the bell chime.

  "Leon?"

  He looked up. Emma was behind the counter, sorting through some inventory.

  "Emma. Hey. Didn't expect to see you here."

  "Yeah, I help out sometimes." She set down the box she'd been holding. "Looking for something specific?"

  "A book for Economics class. Professor Williams mentioned it might be useful."

  "I can help you find it. What's it called?"

  As they walked toward the textbook section, Leon glanced around. The store was small but organized, with decent selection for a D region shop.

  "Is this where you work part-time?" he asked.

  Emma smiled. "Actually, this is my sister's shop."

  "Your sister owns this place?"

  "Yeah. She graduated from Valorian a few years ago, saved up, and opened this when she moved back to the city. It's doing okay."

  "That's impressive. Jay didn't mention that when he showed us around."

  Emma's smile turned slightly mischievous. "Jay probably didn't want to bring it up. He has a crush on my sister. Asked her out last year. She turned him down."

  "Oh."

  "He still comes in sometimes, tries to act casual. It's kind of funny." She pulled a book from the shelf. "Is this the one?"

  Leon checked the title. "Yeah, that's it."

  "You should also look at this one." Emma handed him another book. "It covers similar material but explains things better, in my opinion. Helped me a lot when I was a first year."

  "Thanks. I'll take both."

  They headed back to the counter. A woman in her late twenties came in from the back room, carrying more inventory. She looked like Emma—same features, just older.

  "Thanks for watching things, Em. Oh, we have a customer?"

  "This is Leon, from my dorm. Leon, this is my sister, Maya."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Nice to meet you," Leon said.

  "Likewise”

  They chatted briefly while Maya rang up his purchase. She was friendly, easy to talk to. Leon understood why Jay might have a crush on her.

  He rented both books and thanked them. Emma mentioned she was heading back to the dorm too, so they walked together.

  The conversation was light—classes, adjusting to academy life. Emma was easy to talk to, not as high-energy as Noah but genuinely nice.

  As they approached the dorm building, Leon noticed a crowd gathered near the entrance. Raised voices.

  "What's going on?" Emma asked.

  They got closer. Noah was in the middle of it, facing off against three other D4 students. One of them—a tall guy with a smug expression—was talking loudly.

  "—think you're special or something? Just because you don't want to run a simple errand?"

  "I'm not your servant," Noah shot back.

  "My girlfriend's D3. She could make things very difficult for people like you."

  "Good for her. Still not doing it."

  The tall guy's friends moved closer, surrounding Noah. The situation was escalating.

  "Emma," Leon said quickly, "go get Mrs. Hendricks. Just in case."

  "You sure?"

  "Yeah. Go."

  Emma hurried toward the dorm entrance while Leon pushed through the small crowd.

  "Hey, what's going on?"

  The tall guy turned. "Who are you?"

  "His roommate. What's the problem?"

  "Your roommate has an attitude problem. Needs to learn his place."

  "We were just leaving," Leon said, reaching for Noah's arm. "Come on."

  The tall guy stepped forward and shoved Leon hard. He stumbled backward, nearly falling.

  That did it. Noah lunged forward and punched the guy square in the jaw.

  The crowd erupted. The other two D4 students moved in, but Leon scrambled up and got between them.

  "Stop! Stop!" He grabbed Noah, pulling him back. "This isn't worth it!"

  "He pushed you!"

  "I don't care. Let's go."

  "Are you serious right now?"

  Leon kept pulling. The tall guy was on the ground, holding his face, his friends helping him up. Mrs. Hendricks appeared at the entrance with Emma, taking in the scene.

  "Everyone disperse. Now," she ordered.

  The crowd scattered quickly. Leon dragged Noah into the dorm before Mrs. Hendricks could ask too many questions.

  In their room, Noah paced angrily. "Why did you stop me?"

  "Because fighting wasn't going to help."

  "That guy shoved you! And you just apologized to him?"

  "To de-escalate things."

  "To be a doormat!" Noah stopped pacing, staring at him. "Why do you avoid confrontation so much? Even when someone's clearly in the wrong?"

  Leon didn't answer.

  "You're the kind of guy who wouldn't say anything even if someone hit you. You'd just take it and apologize." Noah's frustration was evident. "If you stay this timid, Leon, things are going to get really hard for you here."

  "I just don't like violence."

  "This isn't about violence. It's about standing up for yourself."

  "I know. I just... I can't."

  Noah studied him for a long moment, then sighed. "Fine. I'm not going to change your mind about this today. But think about it, okay?"

  "Okay."

  They dropped the subject. Dinner was quiet, tension still lingering between them but both too tired to continue arguing.

  By 10:00 PM, they were both in bed. Leon lay in the darkness, thinking about Noah's words, about the fight, about everything.

  Eventually, exhaustion pulled him under.

  Blurred images. A grand villa, like something from centuries past. Marbel walls, high ceilings.

  Leon was small. Thirteen years old. His hands were trembling.

  Someone older stood in front of him. A boy, sixteen maybe. The details were unclear, shifting.

  Shouting. Movement too fast to follow.

  Then Leon's fist connected. Once. The impact—wrong, too hard, something breaking.

  The older boy stumbled. His face twisted. Blood poured from his mouth, impossible amounts, dark and wrong.

  He fell.

  Leon stared at his hands. They were covered in blood. The boy on the ground wasn't moving.

  Not moving at all.

  "I'm sorry," Leon whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry—"

  "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

  Leon bolted upright, screaming. His sheets were soaked with sweat.

  "I promise I'll never hurt anyone ever again! I promise!"

  His heart hammered. The room was bright—sunlight streaming through the window. Noah's bed was empty.

  A dream. It was a dream.

  Leon pressed his hands to his face, breathing hard. His hands were clean. No blood. Just a nightmare.

  The same nightmare he'd had on and off for years. It had stopped 2 years back but he saw it again today, maybe because of what happened and what Noah said last evening.

  Leon sat there for a long time, waiting for his heart rate to slow, for the images to fade.

  He checked his phone. 7:30 AM.

  It's already morning.