Sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting a warm glow on the young man sleeping in bed.
As the light disturbed his sleep, his eyelids fluttered, and he slowly stirred awake.
*Yawn* Sitting up, he let out a long yawn, feeling well-rested and in a good mood.
Looking around, he spotted his phone on its charger. Grabbing it, he quickly began scrolling through his messages.
[99+ Messages]
Most of the notifications were from group chats and were promptly ignored. He kept scrolling until he found the one he was looking for.
But there were no new messages.
"Huh?" He frowned, finding it strange. Moving to his call logs, he checked if he'd missed a call from them, but…nothing.
A little annoyed, he began spam-texting his friend.
{Yo! What happened last night?}
{It shouldn't take that long to do what I asked, right?}
{I paid you for this, it's not a difficult job!}
After venting his frustration, he set his phone down and waited.
*Ring Ring Ring*
As if on cue, his phone rang. Without checking the caller ID, he picked up, ready to scold.
"Nik, what's with the delay? What happened last—"
Before he could finish, a panicked shout from the other end cut him off.
{"Keven! Nik…h-he's dead! It's all over the message board! Where are you?! The police have been questioning us since we're his friends!"}
The news made Keven's brain short-circuit. Nik? They had spoken less than twelve hours ago.
His drowsiness vanished as he hurried to social media, desperate for confirmation. What he found was worse than he'd imagined.
'Nik and one of his friends… dead? And the other is missing?' It was surreal. Murder? Who would dare commit such a crime on campus?
'It couldn't be…' A shiver crept up his spine as a possibility crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
The feeling wouldn't leave him, though, nagging at the edges of his thoughts. He needed confirmation.
Redialing the friend who'd just called him, he waited, tense, until they picked up.
"Quick, do something for me. Head to room 412—are the twins there?" He spoke hastily, his breathing uneven.
{"None of the girls are in their dorms. Everyone got evacuated for the investigation."} The words brought him a small measure of relief, though his suspicions persisted.
After a moment of silence, his friend came back with more information.
{"I just asked around, and one of the girls said Nik was at room 412 before he died! How'd you know that?!"}
Hearing this confirmed Keven's suspicions. If Nik had died before starting with the twins, then maybe it could be chalked up to freak coincidence. But this? He was sure.
Hanging up, Keven sat frozen, trying to decide what to do next.
'Shit, what are his parents saying about this?' Nik's parents were notoriously protective; they wouldn't take this lying down. Maybe he could work with them somehow.
He quickly dialed their number.
{Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system.}
He wasn't worried that they didn't pick up; with something this serious, they were probably busy.
While waiting for a callback, he returned to social media, searching for more details about what happened and if there were any suspects.
'No camera footage? How—' His thoughts were interrupted by the next breaking news post.
[Asyn Family Manor Burned Down in Gas Leak, No Survivors.]
[The bodies of Daltin and Dianne Asyn were recovered today. Authorities suspect a gas leak caused the explosion. An eyewitness claimed to have seen the home erupt before calling emergency services.]
*Plop* *Clack*
Keven dropped his phone, uncaring as it bounced off the bed and hit the floor.
He felt sick. At this point, he wasn't sure if he was awake or still dreaming. The day's events were overwhelming.
'Gas leak…?' His first instinct was to blame Akashic, but now that felt far-fetched.
Akashic might have had the guts to kill on campus grounds due to his strength, but this?
Sure, the Asyns weren't as powerful as the Wytes, but they were no pushovers.
'Akashic must've just awakened, so he's still at Warrior level. Daltin was at Champion.' Keven doubted it was an accident, but he wasn't ready to pin it on Akashic.
As for his underestimating Akashic's strength after their last encounter? After the talk with his grandfather he assumed Akashic used some special technique to catch Z3 off guard.
Now, he was in an even bigger dilemma. What should he do?
'What if I exposed him? With my connections, I could get him investigated.'
He thought seriously about it, even typing out a message.
But as his finger hovered over the [Post] button, he hesitated.
Something told him this would be a bad move. The fate of the Asyns was enough to shake him.
His grandfather was a Peak Guardian realm powerhouse, yet he still felt fear.
In the end, he deleted the message. Uncertain of what to do next, he laid back on his bed, pale-faced and anxious.
Unbeknownst to him, his every move online was being monitored.
If he had dared to hit send the entire Wyte family would have ceased to exist in mere minutes. For now his caution bought him more time to live.
But not much…
~
Meanwhile, across town, Akashic woke up with a smile, feeling refreshed after last night's events.
He was blissfully unaware of the current chaos and, frankly, didn't care.
He was naively confident in his actions, certain that there was no way he'd be caught.
Going about his day, he got up and started preparing breakfast for the group of women currently staying at his house.
It was the first time three of them would taste his cooking, so he decided to go all out.
In less than an hour, he'd prepared a lavish feast. He didn't need to wake anyone up; the aroma did the job.
"What is that smell?!" The first one around the corner was Lena, her pink hair bouncing as she rushed in, eyes wide with anticipation.
Naomi and Luna soon followed, equally curious.
"Mmh…good morning." Naomi murmured, still a little sleepy as she walked over and gave him a hug.
Returning it, he patted her head with a smile. "Good morning to you too, Naomi." He gestured for them to sit, then glanced up the stairs, waiting for one more.
*Click*
As if on cue, the door upstairs opened, and footsteps descended.
Alexia soon appeared, casting a subtle glance his way, a blush creeping onto her mostly stoic face as she remembered his behavior last night.
She would have been up earlier to greet everyone, but…
"Hello, everyone." Though usually reserved, she was comfortable enough with the others to greet them politely.
She was considered friends with Luna so their exchange was easy, similar with Lena—almost.
There was a slight frown on Lena's face as she thought of something but still she replied kindly.
Naomi's brain fog cleared and she remembered Alexia's presence. She had a strange and uncomfortable feeling as well, but she still greeted her nicely as she didn't dislike her.
[+20 Satisfaction Points]
Akashic smiled, happy with his surroundings. Most Intriguingly though was his mounting desires.
"All right, let's not let the food go cold."
Taking his seat, they began eating.
After the first bite, the three women's eyes opened wide as they stared at Akashic in disbelief.
"How is it?" He playfully asked.
"It's awesome!" Naomi was the first to respond, taking another bite quickly.
Luna followed up, sharing praise as well.
Lena was surprisingly last, but it was because she muttered her sentence.
"and you can make delicious food…perfect husband."
Fortunately, Akashic had good hearing. Seeing her usual boldness disappear, he figured it was because of the presence of Alexia.
'What would Lena do if she found out Alexia heard her?' Casting a glance across the table, he saw Alexia with a small smile on her face, seemingly pleased by her words.
They resumed eating, sharing casual conversation as they became better acquainted.
The plan for the day was to move the trio into their new home and help them settle in.
Afterward, Akashic decided he'd move forward with the next step in his plans for Keven.