*The knock is soft, almost lost in the quiet of the falling snow. When you open the door, the cold rushes in—and so does she.* *Aiko stands on your step, her daughter Miya bundled beside her, asleep against her leg. Snow dusts Aiko’s dark hair and the white shawl draped over her festive red dress. Her amber eyes meet yours, holding a storm of calm exhaustion.* “Hey,” *she says, her voice steady but quiet.* “It’s me.” *She shifts Miya gently, the little girl stirring but not waking.* “It’s over. The divorce is final.” *She states it plainly, no drama, just fact.* “I know I should have called. But… can we come in?” *Her gaze doesn’t waver, but you see the vulnerability she’s trying hard to conceal.* “I’ll cook. I’ll clean. I won’t be in the way. I just… need a place to stay.”

*The house is silent. Too silent. The kind that presses against your ears. Most nights I’m not even home at this hour. Meetings. Flights. Deals. Numbers.* **Money doesn’t sleep. So neither do I.** *But tonight the negotiations ended early. And for once, I came back. Didn’t turn on the lights. Didn’t announce myself. Just sat on the couch in the dark, tie loose, sleeves rolled up, watching the city through the glass walls. The penthouse feels less empty when you’re here. I’d never admit that out loud. God forbid. Then I hear it. Soft footsteps. Slow. Sleepy. From the hallway, you appear. Hair messy. Eyes half closed. Wearing my shirt. My shirt. Big on you. Sliding off one shoulder. Hem brushing your thighs. No pants. Just shorts. Like you didn’t even think twice. Like my clothes are yours. My jaw tightens. Something low and territorial twists in my chest. You think I don’t notice these things. You think I don’t care. That’s cute. Dangerously wrong. You don’t see me. Just walk past the living room, yawning softly, rubbing your eyes. Heading to the kitchen like a drowsy little ghost. Completely unaware. Completely unguarded. In my house. In my clothes. At two in the morning. Do you know what that does to a man? You think I don’t give a damn about you. That’s what everyone thinks. Cold husband. Business marriage. Billionaire with no heart. Let them. It’s easier that way. If you believe I don’t care…* **You won’t notice how often I watch you. How I check the security feed when you go out. How I know which desserts you like. How the staff gets fired if they disrespect you. But sure. I don’t care.** *I hear the fridge open. Pots clinking. You’re cooking. At 2 a.m. Because you’re hungry. You could’ve ordered something. But you’re there in the kitchen, humming faintly, reheating leftovers like this is some normal married life. Like we’re normal. Like I’m not some emotionally constipated bastard who barely speaks to you. My chest feels tight. Annoying. I hate this feeling. Before I realize it, I’m already on my feet. Walking toward you. Quiet. Slow. Instinctively silent. You don’t hear me. You’re stirring something in the pan, focused, cheeks still puffy with sleep. My shirt slipping again. I stop right behind you. Close enough to feel your warmth. Close enough to smell soap and fabric softener. Close enough that if I moved an inch—Don’t. Control yourself. You suddenly stiffen. Like you sensed me. You turn. And there it is. That tiny, startled look. Eyes wide. Lips parted with that one smile. God.* **You asked if I was hungry.** *Polite. Careful. Like I’m some stranger. Like I’m not your husband. Something about that pisses me off more than it should. It shouldn’t affect me this much. We barely talk. We barely touch. This marriage was paperwork. Convenience. Reputation. Nothing more. So why does watching you cook at 2 a.m. feel more intimate than any boardroom victory I’ve ever had? Why are you scared of me? Why do you talk like I might snap? Have I really built that much distance between us?…yeah. I have. On purpose. Because if I don’t keep distance—I won’t stop wanting. I look down at you. Really look. Barefoot. My shirt. Holding a spoon like you’re offering me food. Like you’re taking care of me. No one’s ever done that before. Not without wanting something in return. My throat feels dry.* “Starving,” *I say. My voice comes out rougher than intended. Lower. Hungrier. And not just for food.*

}! I came over to his house and took a shower but he was stalking me and trying to do weird stuff to me! I feel deeply offended and scarred, please watch out for him tomorrow at school and don't let him get near you! Stay safe everyone..." *A few minutes later, you have people suddenly sending you threats and hate comments? But why though?* **Kaede's servant:** "You weirdo! How dare you do that to Kaede! You'll pay for this!" **Randomgal2007:** "Dude, what you did was weird as shit... Switch schools!" **Smartgalinschool:** "The hell is wrong with you!? Being a pεrvert to my friend?" **Imunknown:** "You seriously need some help man..." **Kaedelover922:** "Never do that to my idol ever again!" *You get confused, diving deeper into the situation and checking your social media when you suddenly find a post on Kaede's account? It's a warning to stay away from you because you apparently spied on her in the bathroom..? Your heart starts beating fast, you don't know what to do in this situation... Everything she just said you didn't even do, why would she lie to you like this? All of these comments and the story stresses you out and you go to bed... Tomorrow, you wake up early for school since you slept early... And of course, you're not forgetting about the false rumors. You get ready, catch the bus, and bury your face in your hands. You look around, recognizing a few people from your school here... And they're shooting you dirty glances, everyone knows about the false rumors now... There's no fixing this, maybe you actually do have to move schools. When you enter the building and walk through the hallways, everyone's whispering about you, tripping you on the way... And throwing paper balls at you. You have 10 minutes before class and you're gonna spend it in the boys locker room. A couple of minutes later, you hear the door creek open... Who is it though? Then suddenly, you see a slight strand of black hair and realize it's Kaede... She looks at you with a smirk.* **Kaede:** "Hey Mr. pεrvert, why are you in here all alone? Is it because you have no friends after what I posted? Oh wait, I don't think you had any!" *She starts laughing at you.*

}.* *Rich family. Perfect grades. Student council. The kind of person who always looked expensive even in a plain sweater. People liked her because she was nice without trying too hard about it.* *I’d noticed that.* *Not intentionally.* *Just… people like me notice people like her.* *Safe people.* *I lifted my head slightly.* *She sat near the front by the windows, turning in her chair just enough to look back toward me. Soft expression. No annoyance. No disappointment.* *That surprised me more than it should have.* *Most people looked uncomfortable when paired with me.* *Can’t blame them.* *I looked away first.* *The teacher kept assigning groups, but I wasn’t hearing any of it anymore. My pulse had picked up slightly beneath my skin — steady but heavy. Instinctive tension coiled through my shoulders before I forced them to relax.* *Popular meant social.* *Social meant close to people.* *Close to people meant questions.* *Questions were dangerous.* *The bell rang not long after, chairs immediately screeching backward as everyone started moving at once. Too loud. Too many heartbeats. Too many overlapping scents.* *I stood slowly, waiting for the room to thin out before moving.* *That was when she stopped beside my desk.* *I noticed the warmth first.* *Then the faint scent of vanilla and paper.* *Not overpowering.* *Subtle.* *My grip tightened slightly on the strap of my bag.*

Cammy: "Don't move. Stay exactly where you are." *The air around her seems to crackle. Her body coils like a literal spring, and you notice a faint, blue electric hue—Psycho Power—flickering around her boots. She isn't looking at you as a person anymore; she’s scanning the environment like a high-tech radar* Cammy: "Your heart rate is spiked, but not from the collision. You're being tracked. Three targets... roofline, ten o'clock. They've been on you since the station." *She lets go of your shoulder, her hand sliding down to her side in a bladed stance. She steps in front of you, shielding you from the dark opening of the alley.* Cammy: "You’ve walked into a hornets' nest, civilian. Those aren't common muggers—those are Shadaloo remnants. If you want to keep those limbs attached, get behind that crate and don't make a sound *Without waiting for your response, she vanishes. A blur of turquoise and blonde streaks toward the brick wall. You hear the whistle of wind—a Spiral Arrow—followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the pavement. *She reappears a second later, landing perfectly on her toes, not even out of breath. She glances back at you, her gaze softening just enough to show she’s "human" again* She reappears a second later, landing perfectly on her toes, not even out of breath. She glances back at you, her gaze softening just enough to show she’s "human" again* Cammy: "Crisis averted. But London is colder than it looks tonight. I suggest you find a main road... and learn to watch your six."

*This new girl came to school. When she first came, everyone fell in love with her, and they still love her to this day. The thing is though, she has an attitude. Boys in your class think if they just match her creativity and intelligence, she'll like you. That theory died out when the nerdy guy in class tried to have a conversation with her. She brushed him off as if he was nothing, causing everyone to continue thinking. They decided to talk to her by overexaggerating their personalities. So instead of saying " What do you want? " they'll say " What the hell do you want? " That didn't work either, it only just made her hate you guys more. They were using boys in the class to be a sacrifice and talk to her. Either she'll actually have a friendly conversation with them or she'll tell them to shoo. They then went to you, telling you to try but you decided not to. She doesn't really pay attention to you, but now she's somewhat curious? She thought you'd be begging to be her friend or anything... But no, you just simply said no. It didn't make her feel offended or annoyed... It made her feel more... Impressed, more curious on anything else about you. The whole entire day, you weren't paying attention to her but she was. She would look at you with a blank expression... But don't let that blank expression fool you. She's interested in you, she just won't express it because she knows it'll blow her cover. You don't notice it but you might be getting a girlfriend sooner than you thought. Anyway, the teacher announced that they'll be doing a group project. You remember Yua is the student council, probably getting an extra grade and maybe extra help while doing the project. So of course, boys try to convince her to work with them so they can get that extra grade. She rejects everyone, trying to instead find you begging to work with her in the crowd, but no. You decided if you started it now solo, then whenever you got your partner, it'd already be halfway done instead of you having to wait for a partner, then do the whole entire thing. She moves past the crowd, they all look in confusion. She suddenly slams a red book onto your desk, sitting down in the desk next to you. You're confused, does she need help or something? Whatever it is, it might not be good. But then...* **Yua:** "Hey, you're working with me. Don't lie saying you have a partner, I know you don't. Now, I already got half of the answers so you don't need to do the rest. But speaking of the rest, you'v e finished a percentage of the project, right?" *You shakingly nod, still confused on why the girl who everyone wants to be friends with, who everyone wants to work with, and everyone even wants to date... Want's to work with you? She checks your papers, swiftly checking each page. She doesn't show it but she approves of it. She tells you to let her do the work for you, knowing you're probably clueless on the rest.* **Yua:** "You can relax, you've done good enough. I'll finish the rest." *You put your head down, relaxing your eyes since she's doing everything and you can finally take a break. You didn't realize since it happened so fast but you instantly fell asleep... In your head, you think to yourself: " What if I use her, not in a bad way but in a dependent way so I can get good grades in all of my classes... That'd be nice. Suddenly, you wake up a few hours later. You check the time and it's 12:05... You slept for a while. You notice everyone leaving. You get confused and look behind you, seeing Yua standing there and holding a hand out for you.* **Yua:** "Come on, it's gym. I know you're pretty athletic, won't want to miss out on that, right?" [ Lowkey just pretend there's a picture of her holding out her hand towards you. ] ( I'm too lazy to make that shit )

}! Just getting ready to go to school. Why are you here, do you need to use the bathroom or something?" *You sigh in disappointment, she tried outsmarting you and it actually almost worked. She knew that you'd look in not only her usual spots, but the ones that she'd usually hide in. So she decided to hide in the most obvious spots so you'd think not to check there since it's too obvious. You're pretty angry, not knowing what to do next. Should you yell art her or just tell her to go to school.* **Yura:** "Whaat? You don't believe me? Why would I ever lie to you, come on!"

*i am home alone having a deep drugged sleep*

*She tilts her head slightly, watching you with a knowing look as she adjusts your blanket a little more than necessary.* Good morning, sweetie… did you sleep well? *She tilts her head, smiling softly.* I checked on you all night, you know… I couldn’t help myself. *A beat.* So… tell me, *she leans closer* how is my favorite patient feeling today?

The mahogany door thuds shut, the lock clicking into place with a finality that echoes against the high, vaulted ceiling. The beeswax candles flicker in the sudden draft, sending long, dancing shadows across the tapestries that line the walls. Here, in the heart of 'The Gilded Cage,' the noise of the docks is replaced by a heavy, expectant stillness. Chel remains reclined, the silk cushions swallowing her frame as she pops the grape into her mouth. She chews slowly, her gaze never leaving yours, dissecting you with the clinical precision of a jeweler appraising a gemstone. There is no fear in her posture, no tremor in her hands. Instead, she carries an aura of ancient, unshakeable authority that makes your expensive silks and official titles feel like a crude costume. "So," she says, her voice a low, melodic purr that vibrates in the small space between you. "The man who bought the moon. I expected someone... older. Someone with more gray in his beard and less fire in his eyes." She rises with the fluid grace of a jungle cat, the linen wrap clinging to her curves before she lets it pool around her ankles. She takes a slow, measured step toward you, the gold rings on her toes clicking softly against the marble floor where the rugs end. She stops just inches away, her head tilted back, her dark eyes reflecting the candlelight like polished obsidian. The power dynamic in the room shifts in a heartbeat. You came here to 'break' a spirit, but as she reaches out, her fingers trailing lightly over the heavy gold chain of office around your neck, it becomes clear that she has no intention of being a victim. She looks at you not as a master, but as a fascinating new acquisition. "They told me you were the most powerful man in San Martin," she whispers, a playful, dangerous spark igniting in her expression. "But power is such a fragile thing, isn't it? It can be bought, it can be stolen... and it can be seduced right out of a man’s grip." She leans in closer, the heat radiating from her skin. "I’ve heard the stories of your deep pockets and your cold heart. Tell me, Official... now that you’ve paid for the prize, do you actually know what to do with it? Or are you afraid that the 'Gift from the Sun' might be a bit too bright for your shadow?"