Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He groggily opened his eyes, and was greeted by white walls and velvet seats. He shot up, now wide awake, and his mind buzzed faintly in alarm.

Where am I? He thought, looking around.

I'm in my carriage. His mind supplied back.

Why am I in a carriage? They haven't been used in a hundred years. He wondered.

Why would I think that? It's the carriage my father gave me. He answered himself.

I don't have a father?

But I do? Deruth Henituse.

That's not my-

He is. But he also isn't.

Kim Rok Soo- no, Cale Henituse stared up at the ceiling of the rattling carriage he was in.

Memories upon memories were swirling around his head. Neither stronger than the other, and both contrasting every thought he had.

But one thought was very clear.

What the fuck is going on?

Kim Rok- Cale Henituse went through his memories to figure out what the hell was going on.

I, Cale, fell asleep while in my carriage on the way to Roan Academy. I am currently being escorted by my guards and Ron-

Ron?! The fucking assassin? Wait, am I in a book? That can't be- no, I am.

His mind flicked through the locations he knew of that were the exact same as in The Birth of a Hero.

And I've already been beat up by Choi Han. If that wasn't enough of an indicator, I don't know what is.

Fuck. I've been beaten up by Choi Han. Why did I-

I don't regret it. Although I still won't do it agai-

No shit I won't do it again! It fucking hurt! Now I have to stay in a the same vicinity as some on who can kill me and someone who wants, and also can kill me!

Cale sighed and slumped down ungracefully on the red seats of the carriage and held his face in his hands. He took a deep breath in and thought about what he last remembered as Rok Soo.

I fell asleep reading the novel I somehow ended up in. Then I woke up at ass-o'clock in the morning to alarms signalling a monster wave. Then, as usual, I went down to fight and...

And...

I probably died?

Cale's brows furrowed in thought. I can't remember. Did I wipe it from memory? Probably. I'd rather not remember dying. It was probably painful.

He then stared at the white wall of the dim carriage. The curtains were pulled, leaving only a sliver of natural light to shine through.

What now? I woke up in this body-

No. Whatever happened wasn't as simple as waking up in a body and gaining memories. It's like I'm both.

Cale sighed and felt his head starting to pound.

Whatever happened, I guess I'm Cale now.

Always was. Now, I just have more annoying information.

He sighed again and started to organise the information from the book.

Choi Han woke up one day in a monster filled forest. He stayed there for a couple of decades before he escaped by finding a small village. A year later, a group of mysterious assailants attacked and murdered everyone in the village. Choi Han went crazy and killed them all. After he quickly buried all the people, he went to Rain City to give them a proper burial, but he didn't have an identity and was covered in blood so he was turned away.

That's when he jumped the wall and met Cale Henituse, me. I said some words in the heat of the moment, Choi Han got mad and beat the shit out of me.

He rolled his shoulders, now feeling the slight ache in his back from where the potions didn't heal.

After that, he talked to the count, got the people their proper burials and him an identification. Had a little fight with Beacrox and Ron. Won. Somehow passed whatever main character qualifications he had to show and got Beacrox to go on an adventure with him. Ron didn't go due to loyalty to the duke or something, the book never really mentioned why.

Somewhere on their adventure, they stumble across Rosalyn, a princess running away from assassins that drove her out of the academy she was boarding at. They assist her and find Lock who had most of his village whipped out, excluding a couple of children. They help her go to the capital for the Kings birthday, and happen to fight a terrorist group who were bombing the plaza.

The Crown Prince is absolutely amazed at their heroism, and offers a reward. They didn't choose one, wanting to cash it in later.

A month or so later, a week after the school year started, a spy or something was discovered in Roan Academy, the same academy Rosalyn was from, belonging an unknown organisation. They didn't get any information from them, the spies opting to stay silent. But apparently their higher ups didn't think they would for much longer, and took to silencing them themselves. But they were also caught on a magical recording device, letting them know it was the same organisation that killed Choi Han's and Lock's village as well as caused the bombing incident. But even after all that, the name, goals and leader of the organisation was still unknown.

The four heroes decided to use their reward to receive special permission to join the academy, all of them wanting to take down the organisation that showed signs of being in the academy, because of course the main character and his friends are the right age to attend. Rosalyn was already enrolled in the academy, but she didn't show up for the first week because of the assassination attempt, so she didn't have to use her reward. Choi Han entered in Year 11, since he looked around sixteen or seventeen, with Lock going into the same year as well. He asked if his siblings could also enter the academy, since they didn’t have anywhere else to go. It was accepted by the Crown Prince, since he was benevolent. Beacrox was hired as a chef because he had the experience in similar things, was a little too old to be a student, and they could investigate the staff, since he now had permission to enter places and do things the students weren't allowed to.

Then, some cliche school genre stuff happened and that was basically all I read up to. The classic bullying because of difference in status. The main character proving them wrong by showing his strength. Although, thankfully, it didn't have any romance as a subplot, so I didn't have to read those cliches too.

Cale leant back and propped his feet up on the chair opposing him.

Shit, those look expensive. Am I dirtying them?

The chair should be grateful I'm using it.

Cale blinked.

It will take a while to get used to the new thoughts. Both sides of him echoed.

Cale continued to stare at the wall.

What now? Do I continue to act like trash? It was barely a second of thought, but the answer was instant from every part of him.

Yes. It's easier to do what I want without being held back.

No way in hell am I getting rid of my hard earned reputation!

He shifted around to get more comfortable.

From what I read, the heroes will take care of everything, I just need to sit back and relax. All I need is something to make sure I don't die.

I won't die.

But I am also the shitty side villain that is already on the bad side of the main character. My chances aren't good. I need to get some defence.

And strength!

No. He tried to stomp out to stupid thought that bubbled out from him, no doubt from the other half of him.

I need strength! Like they say, the best defence is attacking first!

No! That is dumb I am going to die.

Not if I get strength! His subconscious whispered. Isn't it better to be able to fight when your protection is down? A back up plan?

Cale grumbled to himself. I should have a back up plan...

And it's not like it's too much effort! I kept my body fit, and now, I have all the battle experience too. A weapon is just needed and some occasional exercise.

What the fuck is wrong with me.

There is nothing wrong with me!

Cale breathed in slowly.

The Plaza incident happened two weeks ago. School will start next week. Then a week after that, the spy will be discovered, and in a couple of days, the heroes will arrive late to the academy, and of course, attract more attention than usual.

Cale checked what he knew about the academy.

Roan Academy has been around for roughly seven hundred years, founded by a king who wanted his citizens to have an equal opportunity to shine, and is located near a monster filled forest, for some reason, in between the Capital and Puzzle City.

It's a boarding school and accepts students regardless of race or status, outwardly showing itself as an accepting and fair community. But although there are rules prohibiting discrimination or bullying, it still happens and can't really be stopped if the victim, persecutor or bystanders don't report it.

They supply a variety of different classes for students to choose from, like creature study, agriculture, different languages, business classes, as well as the more popular magic and swordsmanship. A student can only choose six subjects to study every year, but they allow a change if you start a subject and choose not to follow through with it.

It has twelve grades, from 1 to 12, and the students ages range from six to eighteen years old. They accept kids to "nurture talent", but it's usually just where nobles can send their kids to show off.

I'm currently in year 11, since I'm seventeen, and unfortunately, Choi Han, Rosalyn and Alberu are in the same grade. Lock is too, but he is fine. He isn't too vicious like those three.

Cale sighed when a thought entered his mind. I've been attending this school for the last three years, and I can't drop out because my father has threatened to decrease my money. And since I didn't know what subjects I wanted to do, hoping that they would decide not to send me if I didn't choose, mother and father picked them out for me, so now I have to attend classes that are both annoying and contains troublesome people. And not only that, I have been threatened to pass five out of six classes, so I can’t half-ass much.

He felt the urge to slam his head against the wall in frustration, but that would hurt, so he decided against it.

Are we even in the same classes? Cale frowned in thought. Yes, and because they want to cover all bases, I'm pretty sure that I will have to be in a class with at least one of them.

He huffed, annoyed at the thought of being near them.

It should be fine, as long is I don't start something.

As long as they don't start something. A voice hissed at him.

Cale rolled his eyes and shifted around to get comfortable. It looks like we will still be a couple hours until we reach Puzzle City. And while I'm there, I should get the Vitality of the Heart so I don’t die until I get the shield during the break. I'll just leave a note for Taylor some time this term before he goes off to find it.

He closed his eyes for a quick nap.

When he woke up, it was to talking.

He was still in his carriage and the conversation was between the guards at Puzzle City and Ron.

Cale hauled himself up straight and stretched his arms above his head. I guess we arrived.

A couple minutes later, they arrived at the inn Ron booked for the three days they were starting.

"Young master, we have arrived." Ron's voice called when the carriage stopped. The door clicked open and Cale squinted his eyes at the sudden light.

He quickly schooled his face with a frown and stepped out. Almost instantly, Cale could feel the tension spike when he left the carriage.

He fought to keep the smirk on his face. Good. My reputation is very nice. No one annoying me.

That night, Cale knew Ron would sneak out to visit his son just after dusk, who was coincidentally also in Puzzle City, leaving Cale free to wander, at least until dawn. But he didn't plan to take too long.

Now, Cale was rummaging around through his packed clothes, searching for the training clothes he packed.

Contrary to popular belief, Cale doesn't only have all fancy clothes with ruffles and jewels. He likes to occasionally dabble in swordsmanship, to keep his body fit.

Also because his parents had chosen a swordsmanship class for him this year. Joy.

Cale slipped into some a simple cotton short sleeve shirt, long pants and a short cloak that reached his elbows. It was at the time of the year where the nights were mainly warm with a slight chilly breeze, so he didn't have to layer too heavily on.

He pocketed his note for Taylor and glanced out the window from his room of the inn Ron booked. No guards or anyone in the alleyway. Only two cats.

Cale stepped over the ledge and jumped down, landing softly in a crouch, but apparently not quite enough as the two kittens scrambled backwards further into their nook under a fallen plank of wood.

He stayed low, glancing quickly around the place. Once he made sure there was not a person in sight, he flipped his hood up and exited the alley.

It took roughly half an hour until he reached the woods surrounding Puzzle City. Thankfully, it wasn't the one which was infested with monsters.

Cale followed the strangely specific instructions The Birth of a Hero had given to where the Vitality of the Heart was held.

It was another couple of minutes of walking before he stood before a hole in the side of a mountainy hill.

I have to go in there don't I?

How did Taylor do it?

He let out a sigh and bent down.

Cale emerged from the hole around an hour later with an ancient power.

He stretched his arms out in front of him and felt the satisfaction of his joints cracking.

Well that was an experience I never want to have again. Cale thought as he ruffled his hair free of dust, dirt, and probably spiderwebs.

He brushed his pants off, sighing when he saw the stains.

What do I do with my dirty clothes? Cale started to make his way back down to town. I could just ignore the looks I'll get from Ron. It's not like he can force me to tell him. He wouldn't torture me, that's too much for some dirty clothes. He wandered through the bustling streets of the city, absentmindedly thinking about his stained clothes when his stomach growled. He fished out a silver coin from his coin pouch he always had on him and placed it in front of a person manning a meat kebab stall. He snatched up three different ones before leaving and continued his pondering.

Throw them out? No, that would be a waste, and Ron would no doubt realise that a pair of clothes are missing. He bit into a chicken kebab and turned a corner, strolling down the street that the inn was on. I should probably just throw them in the laundry one day, so no one would know where they came from. Maybe after one of my swordsmanship classes. Cale nodded to himself in satisfaction, but it quickly dissipated when the thought of the classes came to mind. Urgh.

He stopped just below his window of the inn. He was about to use a loose stone in the wall to prop himself up to the ledge, but a clattering sound came from behind him, making him jump what felt like a couple feet in the air. Cale whipped around and came face to face with two kittens, the same kittens that he startled when he jumped out the window.

Two thoughts came to mind when he locked eyes with them.

Kitties!

Aren't they looking too intelligent for cats?

The staring continued for a few more heart beats, but neither side was backing down. Cale sighed and took out a handkerchief. He placed it flat before the two huddled up kittens and placed two of his kebabs down on it.

"You're all skin and bones. That's unhealthy." He murmured and stepped back at the judgmental gazes of the kittens. Cale quickly turned around, bit one end of his skewer and ran up to the wall, stepping on an odd brick to push himself up to the window.

When he had made it to his room, he glanced back down and saw the red kitten eating the food and silver kitten surveying the surrounding area.

Cale looked away and started to change.

The next day, Cale didn't leave his room until noon. He had breakfast and lunch delivered to him, and drank a whole bottle of wine during that time.

Unfortunately, even through his efforts to not interact with anyone, there were still individuals who decided to ignore them.

Mainly the two kittens that were meowing at his window.

Cale didn't know how they got up there. Human, he could understand because they were taller, but two kittens that reached his ankles? He didn't want to know.

The red and silver kittens were meowing at the top of their lungs, and pawing the glass sadly respectively.

Cale was halfway through a book he secretly packed when he couldn't take it anymore. He stepped over to the window, slamming it open. The kittens seemed to see that as permission to enter, as they instantly jumped in.

"What the hell- Why are you two here?" Cale was honestly torn between acting like trash and wanting to feed the two until they were as round as a balloon.

The red kittens meowed softly and starts to rub itself against his leg while the grey one looked around the room.

"Shit..."

Why are they so cute?

What are they doing here?

So cute-

Cale could feel it in his bones that he would regret not patting them right then, so he crouched down and held his hand out for the younger cat to inspect. The red kitten sniffed his fingers, then rubbed his whole face into the palm of Cale's hand.

He let out a muted strangled sound before starting to scratch him under his ears.

"So cute~" Cale cooed as he squished the red, slightly matted but somehow fluffy cheeks of the kitten. He sat on the ground playing with the kitten while the silver one watched everything happen.

He glanced at the bright golden eyes of the cat off to the side. No cat looks like that. They are either really freakishly intelligent cats, or beast people. Most likely the latter.

Cale gestured to the grey kitten, beckoning it to come closer. When it got within a metre of him, Cale spoke up. "I know you aren't normal cats. Most likely beast people." The way they tensed up only further solidified his belief. "I don't know much about your tribe other than the fact that they are from the Eastern Continent."

The sliver kitten slowly backed away while the red one squirmed around, eventually getting free and ran over to the other.

Cale sat up straighter and continued to talk. "So either you two are lost, or you both ran away for some reason." He saw a small twitch of a nose. "So I guess you ran away."

Cale shifted around to face them and the silver kitten hissed, standing protectively in front of the red one with its fur fluffed up.

"I will not hurt you, force you to go anywhere, or tell whoever you ran away from that you are here." The older of the cats relaxed slightly, but still eyed him cautiously. "How old are you two?" When they didn't reply, Cale sighed. "I know you can speak."

The silver kitten looked hesitant, but Cale waited.

"I'm twelve. My brother is nine." A young, female voice answered.

Cale couldn't stop the frown that crossed his face.

"And it's only you two?" He asked for confirmation. The two nodded slowly and Cale sighed, holding his head in his hands. They are so young. Whatever drove them away from their home shouldn't have happened. He glanced towards them out of the corner of his eye. What now? Should I...

"Would you two like to stay with me?" He spoke before the thought fully registered. They both stiffened up at that but Cale kept going. "I won't force either of you to stay, or do anything I ask. I can provide shelter, food, comfort. I can make sure that neither of you have to suffer whatever the streets have thrown at you again." He eyed at their dirt and mat infested fur.

Silence hung between them.

"Why?" A small voice asked. It was the red kitten.

Cale did wonder himself, why he suggested that. "Because I want to? I don't really know either." He knew that explanation sounded lame.

A couple of heartbeats later, the silver kitten spoke up.

"I'm Ohn." Cale was surprised that she told him her name. "My brother is Hong. I will accept your offer, but if you try anything funny, we will leave."

Cale nodded in agreement and felt himself relax, releasing all the tension he didn't know he held. "That's fair. But I do have a question. Do you know who I am?"

Ohn raised her head proudly. "You are Cale Henituse."

"What about my reputation?" He needed to know that they knew who they were going to stay with.

"Trash. The alcoholic good-for-nothing son of the count who will go nowhere in life except hell." Cale blinked at the description Ohn answered with, and couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of him.

"And you both decided to pester me until I opened my window? Why? Weren't you worried what I would do?"

Ohn shared a look between her and her brother. "Instincts told us that you aren't a bad person."

Cale raised an eyebrow at the vague comment. "Instinct?"

"Yes." Ohn nodded. "We have gotten good at telling people apart. Who wouldn't shoo us away. Who are cat people. Who are good people. Stuff like that."

"And you think I am?"

"Yes. You fed us." Thats it? "Although we don't know why you act like that, you aren't the worst person we me." That's a nice standard. "And you're rich."

Cale snorted while grinning. "Are you going to steal my gold?"

"Maybe." Ohn replied, tail swishing behind her in enjoyment.

Cale stood up. "I hope neither of you mind taking residence with this horrible person then. Oh, and since I'm going to the academy in a couple days, there might be a couple restrictions."

Both cats tilted their heads cutely.

"While I'm pretty sure that the academy allows animals, I haven't read all the rules." He noticed both of them looked uneasy at the thought of someone potentially knowing where they are. "But it's not like I have to notify them of your presence. Smuggling is always an option."

"Isn't that bad?" Hong asked in a quiet voice.

"Didn't you hear what your sister said about me? It's not the worst thing I've done. Besides, it's not like I'm smuggling anything bad. It's just two "cats" that are well behaved. Even if they do find out, the only thing I would be given is a couple documents to sign for the academy to provide food and accommodation for whatever animal is being brought. And I can already do that."

The two sibling nodded in understanding.

"Do you think we could wander freely around the academy? As long as we don't cause trouble it should be fine, right?" Ohn questioned.

"Hmm, probably. There are a lot of animals around the academy. If you two do get seen, most would think it's just a cat that wandered in."

Both of the two kittens looked quite happy with that.

Then, a small grumble drifted through the room.

The two oldest in the room swivelled their heads towards the red kitten.

"Would you like something to eat?" Cale asked.

"Yes please." Hong whispered, embarrassed at the sound he involuntarily made.

Over the next two days, Cale ordered more meat for himself.

Or, at least, that's what it looks like to others.

Safe to say, the kittens were quite well fed during their stay at Puzzle City.

Although Ron did seem to suspect something, he never asked.

When it was time to travel to the academy, Cale had brought a bundle of cloth with "wine bottles" wrapped inside them, to make sure they don't smash.

While he did take one bottle for appearances, the rest of the space was occupied by two kittens.

Cale slammed the carriage door shut, pulled the blinds and plopped himself down on the seat. He then placed the cloth next to him and unraveled the fabric.

"The trip will take five or so hours. We shouldn't be disturbed during that time." He announced as two kittens emerged from the fabric.

Ohn shook herself when she was free, but Hong stayed curled up in the cloth.

It was quite a boring ride.

Although the fabric covering the windows allowed you to see through it, it was unclear and made everything a weird colour, so the kittens couldn't really enjoy the scenery.

Cale spent most of the time either thinking about the academy, or not thinking at all.

How many classes do I have with Choi Han? After cross-referencing both of their timetables he had memorised, he unfortunately found out it was three. Meaning he had half his classes with the person who would most likely want to pummel him as soon as he sets eyes on him.

So fun.

While he was at it, he checked everyone else's subjects.

I also have three with Alberu and Lock, but only two with Rosalyn.

Cale let out a soul deep sigh. What has become of my life?

His mind flicked over to his memories of the subjects he was going in.

The math subject is stupidly annoying here. They haven't discovered easy ways to calculate things, and no way in hell am I going to change that. I would be sacrificing my slacker life by make people thinking I'm a genius or something, when I just borrowed formulas others already made.

Cale stretched out his arms, being careful to not bother the kittens napping on his lap.

With the subjects I have, I don't really have to pay attention to pass. Probably. Except with Swordsmanship and maybe Etiquette. I can just memorise everything in Eastern Language classes and Mathematics. Do the bare minimum in Literature, and I can just make abstract art and talk random shit about it when I have to do the theory part. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

Cale laid back on his seat and closed his eyes, drifting between a state of asleep and awake.

He didn’t know what academy life has in store for him, but it couldn’t get worse than an apocalypse.

Chapter Text

They arrived at the academy around lunch time. Cale ordered the food to get delivered to his dorm room, saying he wanted to rest.

He wrapped the kittens back in the cloth as well as the half empty wine bottle he drank from a couple of minutes before they arrived.

If someone asked why he still had the wine, Cale would answer that it was good wine and he wanted to savour it with food.

When he entered the threshold of his room, he shut the door and placed the bundle of fabric on the floor.

Like before, the cloth moved around and a silver head popped out. Ohn leapt out of the fabric, leaving behind her brother who somehow got his claws caught in the fabric.

Hong still had the cloth over him, so all that Cale saw was a wagging, fluffy red tail sticking out from the rustling fabric.

Cale and Ohn watched in entertainment as Hong rolled around the room, no doubt getting more tangled.

"Would you like some help?" He asked after a minute or so of watching Hong suffer.

"... yes please." Hong replied, his voice muffled behind layers of cloth.

Cale picked the red kitten up and started to unwrap him like a gift. When Hong was released, he held the small paw between his fingers and fiddled with the claw. It didn't take long before it was unpicked.

Cale let Hong jump out of his arms to tour the room after he mumbled a quiet thank you.

A few minutes later, his food arrived.

"Cale." Ohn asked after she finished her portion of food. "You can't feed us like this when you are at school. How will we eat?"

It was an issue that Cale had thought of before. He had also thought of a solution, which he was quite sure would work.

"My brother has a butler called Hans. And Hans is the incarnation of a cat person. I've seen him on multiple occasions feeding street cats meat that a royal would eat. If you go to him, you would be eating so well a prince would feel jealous." He saw the way the siblings eyes widened in wonder.

Hans is quite trustworthy, especially when compared to most of the Henituse servants. And he treats cats better than his masters, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

"Really?"

"Yes. My brother will arrive in a couple of days, so you two can get used to him before school starts. I'll point him out for you."

The kittens looked excited at the thought of eating unique meats. Although they did eat amazing food from Cale's portions, there wasn't that much variety due to his fussy trash reputation he had to keep up.

The days they waited for his siblings to arrive were peaceful and filled with Cale explaining things about the academy.

"The academy is separated into a couple different sections. There are two main buildings, one for year 1-7, which we call the junior section, and another larger one for year 8-12, called the senior section. Basen and Hans will be in the senior section, me too, obviously, and Lily will be in the junior one."

"Another of the sections are four different dorms. Two for juniors, two for seniors, and both split into male and female. Basen is in the same dorm as me, that means Hans is too, so if either of you want food, it shouldn't be too far."

Ohn and Hong nodded seriously, absorbing all the information he was telling them.

"When you are in a dorm, I should have had to stay with one or two other people, but my father funds the school so I get special privileges and get to be alone. I will also give you two my timetable and a map so both of you can find me if something does happen."

"Even if people find out if you brought us in?" Hong shifted from his place on Cale's lap.

"Yes. I don't care about the consequences, not that they are too big, so make sure that you are safe."

When his brother and sister arrived, Cale was at his window watching.

"See that girl waving from the carriage? That's my sister. And the orange haired butler next to his master is Hans and my brother."

The kittens were at the window sill with their faces pressed against the glass, eyeing off their source of food.

Since Ohn could remember, she had been taking care of her brother.

When Hong was born, she was there, helping him learn to walk and talk.

When their parents were killed by their relatives who took their position, she took any beatings meant for him.

When they ran away, she made sure he had enough food, even if it meant she had to skip meals.

When they were on the streets, she learnt how to steal money and valuables to pay for medicine, quickly adapting and getting better whenever she was caught and kicked for punishment.

Even when Hong begged her to stop, she kept going. That was her responsibility as his older sister.

She wouldn't stop, because she loves her brother and she didn't want him to endure the hardships she did. She has already been through them, so what's a couple more for the safety and innocence of her brother?

Ohn didn't know where they were going to end up, but she would fight to give her precious brother the life he deserves.

She had a plan. When she was old enough to get a job, she would save up money so they don't have to eat scraps from dumpsters.

So that they wouldn't have to sneak into libraries and read about what herbs heal and what poison for whenever one of them gets injured.

So that they don't have to suffer through the coldness that winter and storms bring to the alleyways they take refuge in.

She had a plan, a plan she didn't know would work, but it's better than having none at all.

But that all came falling down one night. One night containing the colour red, chicken kebabs and warmth. The warmth she wanted to provide for her brother, but life kept getting in the way of that.

She didn't know what she was thinking.

That person was probably the worst person to go to.

But something inside her screamed that he was safe. That he wouldn't hurt them and would change their life if they followed him.

Apparently Hong felt it too, and they both decided that they would at least try to get this strange person's attention.

And it worked.

Ohn had secured shelter, food and safety for her brother.

She was relieved that she didn't have to worry about their next meals, or where they would stay for cold months.

She was relieved that she could finally stop running.

Cale didn't leave his room to greet his brother, despite his wishes to.

It would be bad for his reputation to happily interact with Basen, because he knew if they spoke, he wouldn't be able to keep the smile off his face.

So he stayed inside with the kittens and waited.

A knock at the door caught his attention.

"Come in."

The door opened to reveal Basen holding a book in his arms.

"Hyung!" The brunette closed the door behind him and ran inside.

Cale stood up from his spot on his chair as his brother slammed into his arms.

"Basen." He greeted and placed a hand oh his head.

"I got the book you asked for!" The fourteen year old proudly presented the thick book in his arms.

Oh yeah, I did ask for this.

The book Basen was holding was an Eastern to Western Language dictionary. He had asked for it when he saw his subjects that he hadn't chosen.

Cale didn't stop the grin that split his face.

And now with record, I don't need to pay attention at all during this class.

"Thanks." He started to ruffle Basen's hair. "Also, I have some individuals I'd like to introduce to you."

He tilted his head, cutely, in Cale's opinion.

"Ohn, Hong, can you come out?"

There was rustling from under his bed and two sets of golden eyes peered out. Then, a streak of red and silver bolted out and rushed towards them.

Basen flinched and clenched onto Cale's shirt in surprise.

The two kittens stopped right in front to the two brothers.

"This is Ohn and Hong." He introduced, gesturing to each cat. "They are siblings I picked up a week or so ago."

Basen's eye's widened and stared at the kittens.

"Where...?"

"Puzzle City. I fed them once and they decided to follow me."

Basen crouched down and held his hand out to the kittens.

Both of them strutted forward and rubbed themselves against him.

A bright smile split across the brunettes face. "They are so friendly!"

"Yeah, that's probably because they are from the cat tribe." Cale nodded as the room stiffened.

"W-what?" Basen stuttered at the sudden revelation.

"They are from the cat tribe." Cale repeated. "I will be housing them for an unknown amount of time because of some issues with where they came from. I'm letting you know so you can cover in case anything happens."

Basen nodded slowly, still processing the information he was given. The kittens were still receiving scratches from him, unbothered at their information being revealed since they discussed it beforehand.

Ohn and Hong didn't mind his brother knowing. They have heard about Basen from the rumours and Cale, so they were certain that he wouldn't share their secret.

It was only the first day of school and yet Cale felt like he was dying inside.

Currently, he was nodding off in his maths class as the teacher droned on and on about how difficult his classes were and how only the talented pass his class.

Doesn't that mean you are just a shitty teacher? I don't think that's something you should be bragging about. Cale thought. And although he didn't find the material hard, he could see as clear as day how others would, from his memories of his past lessons with him.

The idiot explains everything in a roundabout way when there are much easier ways to show them. And whenever someone asks for clarification, he insults them in front of everyone and doesn't evaluate.

Cale decided now that he would sleep during all of his math lessons. It was prime time for it too, with the boring lessons, nice sunlight and breeze drifting through the window that what next to him, and due to being at the back of the room, he wasn't seen by the teacher.

I've been sleeping a lot lately. Maybe because I don't have to do work? No, even before the merge, it wasn't like this.

Cale blinked slowly and drifted off to sleep.

-———-———-———-

Cale woke up to the bell ringing, signalling the end of the lesson.

He stretched while everyone started to move around to go to their next class.

Next is art. Then lunch, then Eastern Language, Etiquette and... Swordsmanship. Cale shuddered.

-———-———-———-

Art was peaceful, due to multiple reasons.

First was that they didn't have to do much. It was just the teacher introducing what they will be doing for the term. Which was something about meaningful experiences we had in our past and how it can be shown in art.

Second was that the teacher was his stepmother, Violan, so it was basically a sign from the heavens to not do anything.

Not because of nepotism or anything, but because Violan had him in the previous year and knows that even if he barely does anything in class, he still passes. So she wouldn't annoy him when he spends the whole lesson staring out the window thinking about nothing. That includes ignoring the whispering about him from others in his class.

"-definitely chose this because it was an easy pass-"

"-blatant favouritism-"

"-didn't do anything last year and didn't fail-"

He was very good as ignoring annoying things.

-———-———-———-

When that lesson was dismissed, Cale left the room last, not wanting to join the rush to get out of class.

The next stop was the cafeteria, where dozens of high class chefs serve the food they made to the children of the academy. The same chefs that Beacrox will join in a week's time.

What was great about the academy was that there was a lot of food spaced out for students to grab, so there was little to no line most of the time.

Which meant that he quickly snatched up his food and escaped the loud and crowded cafeteria. He could vaguely hear snippets of conversation as he weaved between people.

"-thinks he is better than us-"

"-just because his father is rich-"

"-at least he didn't throw any tantrums-"

Luckily, it was only a minute walk to his spot that he claimed when he first enrolled in the academy at fifteen.

His spot was a large maple tree that was next to one of the academy walls.

He sat down on the grass below the tree and placed his tray on his lap. Cale was about to start eating when a caw brought his attention upwards. Above him were six large crows perched on multiple branches throughout the tree.

"Oh, hello there." During his two years at the academy, he had taken to feeding the resident bird population, mainly the crows.

I did think that the crows acted differently to the other birds, but I thought it was due to their intelligence. His mum loved to feed crows when she was alive. She said that because of their intelligence they could be taught things, like to bring any coins they find to her in exchange for meat. She earnt lots of money that way.

But now I know that they definitely aren't normal crows at all. Cale plucked out his spatial pouch that contained a variety of different things, including snacks for birds.

They are used for monitoring.

Cale threw a piece of meat up and a crow swooped down and snatched it in midair.

They are mediums for the shaman chief of surveillance, Gashan. While they are alive and need food, the shaman can hone into their senses, seeing and hearing what they do. He can also control them to do whatever he wants, like communicating through them.

Cale continued to break small pieces of meat up and throw them for the crows. It was quite calming, even if he knew he was most likely being watched at the moment. But he didn't care. He wasn't doing anything bad.

-———-———-———-

Eastern Language didn't give much impression. From what Cale could see, their teacher, Glenn, no last name, was a patient person. He calmly explained the basics of what they will learn for the year, and provided some simple background information on the Eastern Continent.

But Cale knew that he wasn't all that he showed all lesson.

Glenn was a high mage, not the strongest but definitely not one to be underestimated, and also taught magic classes. He was best friends with Cale's new swordsmanship teacher, even though they both had clashing personalities.

Cale leant back on his chair and stared out the window at his red tree. He got to this class earlier than everyone else to choose a seat. Since he hasn't had this class before, like the previous two, he didn't have an assigned seat.

He didn't care if this was someone else's seat before, it was his now. One of the many benefits of being trash. No one wants to argue with him. It's wonderful.

Cale blinked slowly, drifting in and out of consciousness. The background chatter provided calming white noise for him.

-———-———-———-

Etiquette was boring, as expected. The teacher was a strict middle aged woman who had a reputation in high society as the incarnation of etiquette. She had all of the rules memorised word for word and wrote multiple books on how to become the most elegant woman.

As an academy with an outstanding reputation, they had to hire the best of the best to be teachers, so she would be an obvious choice.

-———-———-———-

Cale was wondering if the academy really hired the best of the best.

He was in swordsmanship classes, out in the training arena with the rest of the students. They were all staring at the man sitting on a bench with bright blue hair, glasses, a flushed face and a bottle of wine in his hand.

This person was Bud Illis, the recently hired swordsmanship teacher.

Cale knew that their previous teacher was old and unfit to teach for much longer, so Bud was scouted by the academy for the position. Glenn, his best friend tagged along due to not trusting Bud to go alone. He was also the Mercenary King and a sword master, but no other students knew this.

All of that information was from the Birth of a Hero.

And all of that information came from Choi Han, who would be in this class in a week's time.

Which meant that the only information Cale knew about Bud was about his background and how he interacted with the main character, not the other students.

Meaning Cale had no idea what to expect, and currently he wasn't given a very good impression.

"Hello~! I'm your new swordsmanship teacher! You can call me Bud!" The man in question staggered up and waved his bottle free hand. The blue haired individual had all the signs of being drunk, but Cale knew better. A fellow person who acts drunk can identify one of the like.

His staggers are too calculated. His eyes are sharp and he is watching everyone discreetly. The Birth of a Hero didn't have much on his personality, but he probably likes to make people underestimate him and taking them by surprise. Definitely a cunning one.

"Now! Let's get started~" Bud pointed at the stunned group of twenty teenagers. "Get in a line and come at me." He picked up a nearby wooden sword and gestured at them.

Cale could see where this was going, so he shifted around to be at the back of the group while everyone was confused at the instructions. He absolutely did not feel up to doing any physical activity at the moment. Or at all.

"Well? Why is no one moving?" At that, the class started to moved around and form a line. Cale got the last spot.

The first people in line were the arrogant ones who were mediocre at swordsmanship but thought they were the best because they swing their status around like someone actually cares. They were also the first people who were beaten, quite quickly at that.

"Come on, I had a ten year old girl give me more of a challenge than whatever this is this morning." Lily. Was Cale's first thought as he mentally checked her timetable. She had classes today with him and is also the only girl in her class. He felt his heart swell with pride.

By the time reality hit the students, three students were defeated in less than a minute.

Cale saw Bud's green eyes light up in delight at the horror on the students faces. "So are you all finally going to take this seriously?" He swung the wooden sword over his shoulder like a gangster.

After a couple students started to actually fight, Cale took that time to calculate how long he had to go. Each student fights for five minutes, give or take, times that by twenty, and it should be roughly an hour and a half until it's my go. And lessons only last for an hour, so I won't be going today, unless he decides to speed up in defeating them. Cale smiled ever so slightly, glad he could take his time figuring out how to not attract attention in this class.

He watched the Crown Prince, who was unfortunately in his class, put up a good fight, but was nothing against a sword master.

-———-———-———-

The school day was over and Cale was relaxing in his room, skimming through the Eastern Language book Basen gave him using record. He was almost done when a knock at his door drew his attention away.

The door opened a few seconds later and two brunettes came in.

"Orabeoni!" A ten year old ran up to him and hugged him around the waist, awkwardly, because he was currently sitting on a bench below his window . Cale closed the book, remembering what page he was one before returning the hug.

"Hello Lily."

"Basen said you had kitties! Can I please see them?" Lily stared up at him with large, begging eyes.

"It should be fine. Just don't mention it to anyone. It's a secret." Cale pointed at the couch in his room that held the dozing kittens.

Lily nodded quickly and scurried over to the cats who were now awake. She crouched down to their level and held out a small hand that was shaking in excitement. The two kittens had a quick sniffed and rubbed their faces on her knuckles.

"They are so cute I'm going to die." Cale heard her whisper under her breath as she started to gently pat both of their backs with trembling hands.

"You shouldn't die yet, otherwise you won't be able to feed them." Cale responded, bringing out some smoked meat that the kittens loved.

A squeal of joy escaped her as she turned to face him like he hung up the moon.

He handed her some strips and watched from his place by the window. Basen took a seat next to him, half resting on the sill of the window.

I can't believe I have such amazing and cute siblings.

Cale didn't know what part of him thought that.

Maybe it was both, but either way, he was extremely happy right now.

They spent the next few hours together, talking about what they did that day and other random topics that were brought up.

It was the weekend after the first week of school when a lockdown occurred. No one was allowed to enter or exit the school under any circumstances.

Although it only lasted around a day, that was enough to instil panic among the academy.

When it was over, neither the staff nor student council explained what happened to invoke such actions.

Cale knew what happened though.

I guess the spy was discovered. He leant back on the bench at his window, pressing his back against the window.

But that's wasn't what he was concerned about at the moment.

I've been feeling off the whole week.

Throughout the past week, Cale had been napping in most of his lessons and free time. He was constantly tired, and it wasn't from the god awful train he had been suffering from in swordsmanship.

And that wasn't the worse thing to happen. Sometimes during the day, he would get random bouts of dizziness. That was quite an issue because if he was walking, his feet would almost give out under him. It hasn't happened yet, prevented by his sheer will, but there had been some close calls.

Fortunately, Cale had been tracking when those bouts show up and found a slight pattern. Usually they happen every 5-3 hours, but it will become irregular if he puts strain on his body.

Some other symptoms he has is the occasional mind fog that happens after he uses record for too long, as well as a migraine once or twice a day.

All in all, Cale was having a shit time.

It's either an issue I had before I got the Vitality of the Heart since it isn't healing, something that isn't originated from by body since it can't heal those things, or both.

Cale stared at the orange sky bled into red as the glowing sun slowly slipped into the horizon.

A soul thing then? My body getting used to having a whole soul? It's the only reason I can think of with the information I have now.

Cale decided not to think about it anymore. I can't do anything about it except wait it out anyways.

Monday came and went.

Nothing really notable happened on the first day of the week.

If you exclude the rumours going around that his etiquette teacher was currently in jail for leaking confidential information to outsiders.

It was a Tuesday when everything went to shit.

His first period was art. It was supposed to be a peaceful lesson where Cale did nothing but stare out the window.

That was until he saw two new faces.

...the heroes have came today. I hoped it would be another day.

Across the classroom was as familiar red haired teen who was hiding a tall silver haired boy behind her. He had seen Rosalyn a couple of times in the few years he had been at the academy. It was pretty hard not to when you both are basically the only people in the school with bright red hair.

The lanky boy hiding behind her could be none other than Lock. He matched the description the novel gave, and no one else would be tugging at the sleeve of the deputy of the school council, a princess rumoured to be an unseen before genius in magic, and famous rose of the school.

Rosalyn has a lot of titles.

Cale quickly avoided looking at them and chose to stare out the window. They are both the less annoying of the bunch.

Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid Choi Han for the rest of his life, mainly because he was in three of his classes.

And one of those classes happened to be swordsmanship. A class where he would have a perfect excuse to beat him up without repercussions. A class that was also after his current on.

Cale had to restrain every part of his body from shivering at the thought and gazed at the trees outside.

What do I do?! I will die!

I won't die, at worst, I'll be beaten into less of a pulp than the first time.

That isn't better! It will still hurt! Did he exact revenge in the novel?

No, he didn't. I was barely mentioned after that first part.

No, it stated that sometime during a swordsmanship class he beat every one of his classmates black and blue for underestimating him. That happens to include me.

It will be fine. The teacher will stop it before anything happens. He tried to reassure himself.

...right? It wasn't working.

-———-———-———-

The dreaded time had come.

He had to face his fears.

Well, not exactly face them.

He didn't make eye contact with Choi Han despite the latter glaring at him since he first saw him.

Cale would be praying to every god in existence to keep Choi Han away from him, but he was an atheist. While he did know gods existed, he didn't believe in them one bit, since they had never done anything good for him.

"I see a new face!" Bud exclaimed, drawing attention to Choi Han. "I'm Bud. Now, let's get started!" The blue haired man pointed at the training grounds. "Five laps, last person gets to fight me today since there are now odd numbers."

Not even a second after the words left his mouth, everyone began to scramble to start running, Cale included.

Obviously Choi Han, the Crown Prince and a couple other strong people had finished first when everyone was starting their fifth lap. Cale was making sure he was keeping pace with the end of the group. He wasn't exhausted at all, but he didn't want to be too fast as it would draw unnecessary attention. Also, he was starting to feel slightly dizzy. It wasn't anything major, just made him put more effort into staying on his feet.

When the whole group finished, the unlucky last person crumpled into a ball of despair. Cale sat down on a bench under the shade of a tree no one was at and took out a flask of water from his spatial pouch. He could feel the glares of jealousy from other people in his class since they had to walk over to the main building for water.

Cale closed his eyes and took deep breaths, fighting off the spinning in his head. When everyone returned, he was mostly okay.

"Get into pairs and start sparing! No rotations today, just focus on refining skills and asking for improvements from your partner!"

Cale absolutely dreaded the pairing up parts of the class almost as much as fighting the teacher, albeit, that's literally the entire class. He hated everything about swordsmanship.

"Oi! You! Fight with me! You look strong!" A long haired blonde girl called, pointing at Choi Han.

"No! I want to fight him!" A beefy male boomed, strutting up to the black haired man.

"Bullshit! I said it first!" The person Cale now identified as Hannah shouted, getting up in his face.

"I'm older than you! I get to choose!" The man, who Cale remembered was Toonka yelled back.

"Yeah, 'cause you were so idiotic you were left behind. I'm not taking orders from a dumbass." Hannah snapped at him, looking close to murder.

Toonka opened his mouth, ready to reply back, when a brunette slipped in between them.

"Sorry about him. He is a bit of a battle maniac. You can go fight, um, the person you want." The brunette then grabbed Toonka by the wrist and pulled him away.

Cale watched the whole thing go down from the bench he hadn't moved from.

Hannah, seventeen years old, twin sister to Jack. Sent here by the Church of the Sun God to expand their influence and to learn about the outside world.

Toonka, nineteen years old, held back because he didn't pass most of his classes. Came here because of the insistence of Harol, who is starting to regret it, to learn about other cultures.

The novel is quite useful in its explanations. Cale couldn't help but think. He watched Choi Han get dragged by Hannah to the training grounds. Cale planned on waiting until everyone else pairs up to get the last person. He wasn't so mean to pick off people who had others to spar with. It's natural selection. 

That's what he usually did whenever they had to pair up, and since no one wanted to be with the lout, they often tossed him the weakest person or someone with little friends.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case today.

Cale and the Crown Prince locked eyes, being the only people not paired up.

Why. What god had cursed me in my past life for me to deserve such a terrible fate.

Usually, the Crown Prince paired up with Hannah, one of the few people who could keep up with him. But with Hannah being currently occupied with someone else, that left him without his blonde counterpart. And because he was quite strong, no one wanted to fight him. Also because he was the Crown Prince and no one wanted to risk hurting him in fear of punishment, a problem his normal sparring partner didn't have.

So now, two of the most well known people in their class had to pair up.

Cale and Alberu.

The Trash verses the Crown Prince.

Chapter Text

Alberu heard all kinds of rumours about Cale Henituse.

And although he would rather form his own opinion on people when he meets them, as people tend to exaggerate certain aspects, the rumours were pretty consistent.

The first time he met the infamous Cale Henituse was when they both were in year nine. Alberu had been at the school for multiple years at that point, but Cale had just been enrolled.

It wasn’t a very noticeable encounter, but Alberu remembered it quite clearly for some reason.

The fifteen year old had a perpetual scowl on his face, even as he laid eyes on the Crown Prince. Alberu had to greet every newly enrolled student as he was the face of the school.

Standing next to the trash was his step sibling and half sibling, Basen and Lily, who were also being enrolled.

At that time, Alberu had only heard of the colourful rumours surrounding the Count’s eldest son, so he was quite opinionated with his views, despite trying not to.

As he inspected the redhead, he noted how he looked to want to be anywhere but there. He guessed the talk about Count Henituse making all of his children go to the academy was true.

The two of them didn’t exchange words, as the heir to the County did all the talking. The youngest of the three stayed at the back, opting to watch everything from behind the safety of her brothers.

All in all, it was an uneventful experience, yet Alberu could remember it quite well.

He and Cale never had any interactions past that.

Occasionally, the redhead was in a couple of his classes, but he never did much in any of them. He never spoke to the teachers beyond what was necessary, he never conversed with any of his classmates, hell, he hadn’t even made any snarky remarks or make life difficult for people near him.

He was so invisible that despite his reputation, sometimes Alberu forgets that Cale was ever in his class. The rumours surrounding him were contradicting everything he saw about him, and frankly, he didn’t know what to believe.

So he kept the enigma of Cale Henituse’s circumstances in the back of his mind, as he had much more important matters than whatever was going on with the Count’s first son.

So imagine his surprise when he locked eyes with that exact person, both of them being the only ones without a sparring partner.

Well, I guess this is a great time to figure him out.

Cale wanted to jump off a cliff.

Figuratively, of course.

Because that would be painful if he didn’t die on impact.

Cale stood before the shining star of the kingdom, Crown Prince Alberu Crossman, in a training ground, with a wooden sword in his hand.

He was going to fight the Crown Prince.

Just kill me now. He lamented mentally to the gods. You all obviously want me dead, so end my suffering.

Cale took an unsteady stance, not wanting the prince to overestimate him, and raised his sword.

The Crown Prince struck first, both swift but with caution, Cale noted. Good. I am weak, don’t hurt me.

Cale dodged to the side and parried the sword that followed.

It continued with Alberu on the attack and Cale on the defence for a couple of minutes, neither sharing words.

He is holding back. Cale knew as he stepped out of the swing of a sword.

Cale checked how much time there was left until they got a break. Nine minutes. I don’t want to do this for that long!

The redhead kept weaving between attacks, but not too well, not wanting Alberu to go harder on him. Cale made sure to get out of the way just in time to miss the blunt wooden sword.

Just when Cale redirected the weapon, his head thrummed with pain. He quickly took multiple steps back to collect himself.

Out of all times, why now?

Cale saw Alberu eyeing him with slight concern and confusion, but continued to attack, leaving only a couple of seconds for recovery.

The redhead had no choice but to defend, deciding he could hold on for a couple more minutes instead of claiming he was hurt and draw unnecessary attention to himself.

He kept ignoring the dull pulsing in his head while defending against the Crown Prince.

It was a minute later when a wave of dizziness washed over him, causing him to loose his footing and trip over a loose stone. A spike of pain shot through his ankle, making him fall to the floor.

“Fuck…” That feels sprained. He lightly shifted his foot. Definitely sprained.

The Crown Prince stopped his attack and observed Cale, before a fake concern covered his expression. “Are you okay? That didn’t look good. Would you like me to take you to the nurses office?”

Cale had to hide his scowl at the many questions. “No, your highness, I am fine.” He forced himself to be polite. “I will go there myself.”

He stood up and brushed off the dirt from his legs. It was when he put pressure on his injured foot did he discover something that almost made him smile.

At least the Vitality of the Heat is working properly. While his ankle did still hurt, it wasn’t the type of pain that would prevent him from walking.

Cale began to leave the training grounds, ignoring the whispers of his class.

“So weak.”

“What a dumbass.”

“-not even showing any embarrassment-”

He quickly left the gossiping behind and walked to the infirmary.

Should I stop the healing? Something he found out was that he could change the rate he healed at, as well was what injuries he could selectively heal. It was very useful, as he didn’t want his powers to heal small injuries before big ones and make him exhausted.

Cale eventually decided to halt the healing, and would wait until he left the nurses office to start. He needed an excuse to lay around and do nothing, after all. Even if he had to have a little pain during it.

Choi Han hated Cale Henituse.

He hated him with every inch of his body.

He just couldn’t comprehend why someone would be such an asshole.

Maybe he was spoilt from a young age and wasn’t taught what was right and wrong?

That sounded right.

But even a spoiled young master should know not to insult the dead. That was common sense.

So even if Choi Han could figured out what he thought was the reason to Cale Henituse’s behaviour, he still couldn’t wrap his head around his sheer disrespect.

Choi Han was sitting outside at the base of a tree.

After swordsmanship, it was first break. The black haired sword master did notice that the trash had disappeared sometime in the middle of class, but it was only after Alberu had explained what happened.

Choi Han couldn’t hold back the snort that erupted from him.

So weak. Trash really is trash.

Choi Han sat with Rosalyn and Lock underneath a pretty red tree they found.

The Crown Prince didn’t join them as he usually spend his lunchtime in the student council room doing paperwork. Such is the struggles of the Student Council President.

Choi Han bit into the school provided sandwich, trying to ignore the loud cawing above him.

Lock, also eating, glanced between his food and the multiple crows on the branches of the tree.

Rosalyn just stared at the black birds in contemplation.

It was minutes before Choi Han finished his food and glared up at the extremely noisy crows did he speak.

“Do they just want food?”

Rosalyn looked away from the birds and towards Choi Han with a confused frown. “I don’t think so...”

Lock took one last bite of his food. “It sounds like a mix of a warning and annoyance.” The two others looked at him weirdly. “I was raised in a forest. I know how birds communicate.” He quickly looked away, trying to push down the tightness in his throat at the thought of his long gone home.

“Oh, should we move then?” Rosalyn suggested.

“Yeah.” Choi Han didn’t want his ears to bleed for any longer. “I wanted to practice my swordsmanship anyways.” After his spar with Hannah, he had gotten a lot more experience. Of course, she didn’t beat him, but it was difficult.

When they stood up and left, Choi Han couldn’t help but think that the crows were laughing at them.

The bell that signalled lunch was a couple minutes ago, and Cale was lazing around on one of the infirmary beds.

He took a short nap when he got there, but woke up a the deafening bell that was positioned just outside the room for some reason.

He couldn’t go to sleep so he just stared at the ceiling, contemplating life.

The room was empty for the first hour or so, but some time mid lunch a man entered.

Long blonde hair, a large scar over one of his eyes, and pointed ears.

Pendrick.

The elf before him was the head nurse.

“Oh- I didn’t know that there was someone here! I’m so sorry, how long have you been here?” Pendrick fretted over the thought of a student being neglected.

“Not that long.” Cale lied. “I got here a couple of minutes ago. Tripped and sprained my ankle.”

“I’ll fix it immediately.” The elf rushed over and quickly located the injured ankle. The ankle that only had a little bit of redness, as Cale had healed most of it already.

A golden glow emitted from his hands, surrounding the redheads foot.

Cale could feel the warmth of the magic running through his veins as the rest of the pain slowly ebbed away.

“All better! Please be careful, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt again.” Cale nodded.

Me neither. But I understand why he doesn’t want to heal me. I am trash after all.

“Can I stay here for the rest of the break?” He asked. I’ll eat next time. A few hours won’t kill me.

“Of course, I don’t mind, but have you eaten-” The door slammed open and a young lady with bobbed brown hair entered with clear distraught.

“Pendrick! There was a fight in one of the junior classes! One has a broken bone!”

The elf quickly shot up and speed walked to the door. “What happened?”

“We don’t know the details yet, but there was five injured boys…” their voices drifted off as they ran away.

Cale watched in a daze as the commotion left. I wonder what happened? It was a brief thought, but he quickly banished it. Not my problem.

He continued to lay down and daydream, at least until there was light tapping on the window.

Cale glanced over and was welcomed with the sight of three crows on the window sill outside.

“What the-” he stood up and slowly made his way to the glass. The crows cawed happily when he approached. Cale opened the window and in flew a dozen or so crows.

The black birds flapped around him and began to perch on every part of his body. Birds on his head, shoulders, arms that were now held out to prevent them from hanging from his clothes, birds dangling from the clothes he tried not to give them. He was covered in living, breathing creatures with black feathers and beaks.

The birds hanging from his shirt were flapping while trying to find a secure place on him, while the ones on his shoulder began to fiddle with his hair in their beaks. All of them had their claws digging through the fabric, scratching his skin underneath.

There was a laughing sound from the crow on his head as its talons brushed against his scalp. It wasn’t a human laugh, to Cale’s relief, but the crackle of a crow.

“Yeah, yeah. Seeing me drowning in feathers is funny, can you get off now?” He tried to speak politely to the birds he didn’t know would understand.

Eventually the crows flew off and settled on a nearby bed.

“What are you all doing here?” He asked, three crows still perched on his body.

The birds didn’t answer, not that he expected them to, but instead, the ones on his shoulders started to fly off and peck at his clothes. Once their beaks caught on the fabric, they dragged him towards the bed with the crows on it.

“Do you want me to rest?” He asked incredulously.

The crows only cawed in confirmation.

Cale sighed and laid down on the space the crows made for him. The birds quickly swarmed him and clambered all over him. Soon, he was covered in crows yet again.

He stared at the birds for a couple moments then glanced at the clock.

I’ve got half an hour. There is time for a small nap. Cale shifted to get comfortable under his bird blanket and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Alberu was still confused about Cale Henituse.

When the counts son had fallen, he had obviously sprained his ankle, pretty badly too, by the looks of it.

But he still stood up and walked away.

Alberu did feel a little bad about being the cause of it, but he wanted to know what he was hiding. He wasn’t so dumb to realise that the redhead wasn’t doing his best.

Cale didn’t accept his offer to help him, even when he saw him limping in pain. 

The most confusing, and slightly maddening thing about the redhead was that he didn’t know what he was thinking.

He always had this annoyed and indifferent look, but although Alberu knew it was an act, he didn’t know what was underneath.

It was driving him crazy.

And whether it was lucky or unlucky, literature was after lunch, and he had that class with Cale.

When Alberu walked into class, he was welcomed with the two people he was expecting.

Cale Henituse, who was sitting at the back staring out the window.

And Tasha, the Literature teacher, as well as his aunt from his mother’s side.

His aunt, in her human form, greeted him with a tight smile. She had heard of what happened from him during lunch.

Cale hadn’t looked up from his daze, either ignoring him or didn’t notice him.

Alberu just sat down at his desk at the front of the class room, deciding not to dwell on it.

Cale hoped he got all the feathers out of his hair.

He woke up five minutes before the bell signalling the start of third period, covered in birds along with ruffled clothes and hair. It was the picture of someone who just took a nice nap, minus the feathers.

He arrived only second to his teacher to Literature. He made sure not to face her, as he still had creases on his face from where the pillow pressed into it.

The next to arrive was the Crown Prince.

Cale didn’t even try to bring attention to himself that lesson, as per usual.

After the boring literature lesson, he had an even more boring subject.

Maths.

Cale needed to arrive early, as he didn’t want the new students to take his window seat.

Choi Han wouldn’t start a fight over something small like a seat if Cale was already there, but if he or one of his friends had chosen that one seat, Cale was going to riot.

Not really, but he would most likely do small petty things to him. Things that couldn’t be traced to him and could be excused as bad luck.

It might seem like not a big deal, but Cale loved that seat. It had nice sun in the morning when it was cold, a beautiful view of the scenery outside, and it was away from the prying eyes of people. That seat was the only reason Cale showed up for the lessons.

With the help of shortcuts he knew that Choi Han and his friends didn’t, he was the first to arrive, even before the teacher.

He slid into his seat, folded his arms before him, and laid his head on his limbs.

Cale listened to people entering and shuffling around. He couldn’t identify the group of heroes, but he definitely was not going to look up to see if they arrived.

Throughout the lesson, Cale could feel one specific heated glare occasionally landing on him. I guess Choi Han is here.

Despite the obvious hatred directed at him, Cale didn’t lift his head up once since he placed it down.

Although falling asleep and waking up every ten minutes probably had something to do with it.

The next time he woke up, the classroom was filled with silence. No whispers, no rustling around, no obnoxious teacher droning on. It was peaceful.

What time…

He lifted his head and glanced at the clock in the corner of the room. Class ended six minutes ago.

Cale shifted around and got to his feet. Ow. My legs are numb. He ignored the uncomfortable needle like sensation in his feet and continued to walk.

I don’t want to go to the cafeteria. He stood at the door of the classroom. I can just eat a lot after school. Yeah, I’ll do that.

Cale slowly wandered the halls until he is eyes landed on his tree.

More specifically, under his tree.

So I was worried about Choi Han stealing my seat, but not my tree? Is this karma?

He stood, watching the three multicoloured haired teens conversing with bright smiles from behind the corner of a building.

Cale was about to turn and leave, but loud squawking brought his attention.

He looked up to see a flock of crows, around a dozen or so, soaring above.

“Huh?” One of the black birds glided down and landed on his shoulder, the rest landing on the grass before him. It was only then, he realised that each of the crows had small rocks and pebbles in their beaks and claws. “What are you- are you going to attack them?!”

The birds tilted their heads to the side. Cale didn’t know it they understood, or were pretending not to. He knew they were mediums to the shaman guard, but didn’t know if it upped their intelligence or not.

“No, don’t do that.” Cale grabbed the small rock in the beak of the crow that was on his shoulder and gently tried to remove it. “No, let go. I know you know I don’t want you to do this.”

The crow made a weird sound between a growl and a croon as it pulled against him.

“Let. Go.” Cale hissed, tugging with more power on the stone. “No. You are going to get me killed.” When the crow finally let go of the rock, Cale sighed in relief. “You idiots are going to be the death of me.”

He turned to the rest of the black birds.

“Drop the stones.” He was blinked at. “I don’t care. Drop them.” One by one, small pieces of ammo had fallen to the ground. “Thank you.”

The crows didn’t leave. “I don’t have food, so you need to go somewhere else.” None of the birds even shifted. “Come on. Off you go.”

When they still didn’t move, Cale let out a defeated sigh and slid down to wall and on the grass. “What is up with you all today?”

The redhead just accepted his fate as the birds, for the second time that day, hopped on top of every part of his body.

Cale sat there in the grass, hidden from sight, as he watched the clouds in the sky under his blanket of live crows.

It was the last period of the day, and it was Etiquette.

The day before, the school let them have a free lesson due to a gap in teacher availability. But if there hadn’t been a cancellation today, than means he had a new teacher.

Cale had no idea who to expect. None of the main characters had etiquette, except for Rosalyn, but she was in a different class.

So he fell into the assumption that his new teacher would be an insignificant side character, just like him.

His theory fell apart almost instantly when a face he had only heard of in words appeared at the door.

Long blue flowing hair that shimmered in the light. Scars of all sizes scattered across her visible skin. A bright grin, with an underlying tone of determination and mischief.

Um. Well fuck.

Standing before the fifteen or so students stood one Witira. Princess of the Whales, next in line for the throne, and most definitely, not an insignificant side character.

Cale laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Dropping out sounds nice.

I’ll run away with money I transferred from my main bank account to a side one. I’ll go into hiding. Buy some disguise artefacts and live in a nice country town with Ohn and Hong.

Sounds like a solid plan.

He rolled over and turned to look out the window. The sky was turning a pretty shade of pinkish orange. The sun was golden and slow slipping into the horizon.

Cale just thought about everything that happened today.

I’ve been getting a lot more mood swings lately.

It wasn’t the usual fake mood swings that he had presented to everyone with his trash acts.

It was something far less intentional.

So far, Cale has categorised them into four types.

The Cale mood. It was his personality that this body has had for the past decade or so. This one was the most frequent.

The Kim Rok Soo mood. One where his personality was essentially the exact same as Kim Rok Soo. It was self explanatory.

Then, there was the conflict mood. This one was the most annoying as both of his previous moods fight the other for control.

Lastly, there was the mixed mood. Where he was a mix of both sides of him. Neither fighting, and completely peaceful.

Cale knows he is bad at naming, and his new recent addition isn’t much better, but that is what he called them in his head.

The only reason he can think of this happening is due to the strange soul situation he has going on at the moment. He guesses this is just another weird side effect, similar to the symptoms he has been showing lately.

Cale frowned as the sky slowly ebbed into a deep orange red. The kittens haven’t showed up yet.

Usually they are in his room when he finishes school, if not an hour after. It has now been two hours. Could the have gotten caught? In trouble? Should I have been more worried?

Cale sat up and donned a coat.

I could ask the crows. Show them a rough drawing maybe. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll try contacting the shaman. He is also a beast person, as well as a confirmed ally, so he wouldn’t do anything to harm them.

He hadn’t even finished the thought when he opened his door and was welcomed with his sister raising her hand to knock, along with two familiar kittens in her other arm.

“Orabeoni!” The brown haired ten year old quickly shoved the kittens into his arms. “I got into a fight in school today ‘cause I saw some bastards trying to hurt the kittens! They are fine, the other people, not so much. You can ask Basen or something since I told him, but I need to get back to my dorms before curfew. Bye bye!” Lily zoomed off, leaving Cale standing at the edge of his room with two silent kittens in his arms.

He blinked. Did she just swear?

Cale looked down at the felines who avoided eye contact.

He let out a sigh and turned and walked back inside. I guess I don’t need those plans at the moment.

The door closed behind him and the siblings jumped out of his arms. “What on earth happened?”

“It was a complete accident-”

“We didn’t know, I swear-”

“They came out of nowhere-”

“I thought nobles were supposed to be, you know, noble!”

Cale sighed again. “One at a time please.”

The two kittens glanced at each other.

“Okay,” Ohn started, “we were wandering around the junior section, Hong was eating whatever plants he laid eyes on and I was keeping watch, when some kids showed up out of nowhere.” Cale found it funny that a child was calling someone else a kid. “And of course, we quickly ran away. They started to follow us, and since we were there for the first time today, we didn’t know where to run, so we ran into a dead end.” Ohn’s ears drooped slightly.

“The bastards were talking to each other about what they would do to us, then bam! Lily showed up and beat them with a broom!” Hong looked pumped up, while Cale was just wondering where Lily got the broom. “Lily hit them so hard the broom broke, and then the kids ran away crying! It was funny.” The little red kitten’s tail flicked with joy.

“Wow.” Cale really didn’t know what to say. “And did any of you get hurt?”

Ohn shook her head. “Not from what I saw. Lily was very strong and they couldn’t touch her.” Cale raised an eyebrow and the silver kitten finally realised what he was also asking for. “Me and Hong aren’t hurt either. Just tired.”

He nodded, satisfied with her answer. “When was this?”

“Um, first lunch.” Cale then knew that the commotion that drew Pendrick away was indeed his sister.

“If it happened then, why were you both late?” That was one thing that didn’t add up.

““Hans.”” Ohn and Hong answered at the same time.

“Oh, that makes sense.” Hans definitely pampered them. “Have you eaten yet?”

Both shook their heads.

“Okay, let’s get some food.”

Chapter Text

The next day was Wednesday. Cale loved Wednesdays, as they were the only day he didn't have swordsmanship.

He woke up happy, for about seven seconds.

Then he remembered that he had to go to school. 

For the second time in his life.

Alongside someone who wants to most likely murder him. 

At least I only have to be in two of his classes today instead of the usual three? Cale thought, before submitting to his urges and wrapped himself back into his blankets. My handsome self needs his beauty sleep. Cale flinched at the vain thought. I guess it's one of those days. He huffed and returned to snuggle into the warmth.

He often wakes up earlier than he needs to, a habit he inherited from his Rok Soo side. A little annoying, but that just gave him more time to doze before he had to go to the academy.

Cale vaguely felt the kittens shift around at his feet, eventually hearing the sound of clicking claws as their paws touch the floor. 

He didn't know how long he had slept in for, but when he came to, there were small pinpricks on his hand caused by two kittens trying to wake him up.

"Yea, yea, 'm awake..." Cale waved his hand to escape the tiny little teeth nibbling at him.

He sat up on the edge of his bed as he waited for his head to clear up. When it didn't after a minute, he accepted his fate. Looks like it isn't going to be good today.

Cale slowly got ready for the day, not noticing Ohn watching him with worry. 

"Cale?" He turned towards the silver kitten. "Are you feeling bad again?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but his words died on his tongue. His jaw began to ache more, and his throat tightened like it usually did these days. So he hummed in agreement instead, knowing he couldn't talk at the moment, despite speaking just before. Those bouts of muteness were random, and Cale didn't like it.

"You won't collapse today, right?" Ohn shifted on her feet. Cale suddenly felt guilty for making her see one of his dizzy spells. 

He shook his head, instantly regretting it as pain flashed through his skull.

Ohn obviously didn't believe him. "Just... be careful. And if you do feel like you're going to faint, don't smash your head open." Cale huffed at that. Ohn had quite the sense of humour. 

First was Eastern Language. A class he unfortunately had with Choi Han.

But it wasn't like their usual classes.

Because this prestigious academy with "top of the line management" had accidentally made two classes crossover, scheduling Glenn's Eastern Language class and his magic class at the same time.

So the poor guy has to teach two classes at once until when, or if, management changes the schedule.

The Wednesday last week wasn't that bad, since a large majority of the magic students were away due to injuries they sustained the day before because of a student's spell gone wrong.

Now, Glenn had to teach almost forty students two very different subjects.

"And that is why we are gathered in the training grounds." The purple haired mage finished. "So today, I have some work sheets for my Eastern Language class to go through while I supervise my magic class. After I hand these out, just sit on the benches here or under the trees over there until you are done. If you have completed them, you can do anything as long as you don't wander away or distract your classmates."

-———-———-———-

Cale sped through the worksheet in five minutes. 

It was not difficult to decide what to do next.

He slumped against the tree and took a nap, hoping to shave off the constant headache, even if it had been slowly getting better.

Cale was quite proud of the tree he found. 

It was large, the trunk being slightly wider than his torso, and the green leaves were thick enough to block the migraine inducing sunlight. There was a slight breeze that twisted through the trees around him, and the rustling of leaves gave a nice sound to doze off to. Well, if he ignored the shouting and crackle of magic that was nearby. 

Thankfully, not everyone chose to sit next to trees, with most of his class stationing themselves near the training grounds so they could watch their fellow students perform magic.

Even more thankfully, Choi Han and Lock were among the people watching the other class, so he didn't have to be under Choi Han's judgmental gaze.

Cale folded up his sheet and tucked it in his spatial pouch before quickly falling asleep.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, vaguely hearing some sort of commotion, but only waking up when the bell for the next period rang.

Mentally checking his timetable, he noted that it was now etiquette. 

Cale slowly stood up, standing for only a couple of seconds until his legs weren't numb and his head was less clouded by fog. He was in a much better state than this morning, but he still didn't feel great. Cale frowned in thought. I don't think I've felt healthy since I merged. 

He brushed the thought aside. If it gets worse, I'll figure something out. My body is probably getting used to the shift.

Cale had taken his time moving so he didn't have to move in a group. He didn't need to rush. Thankfully, there weren't any of the heroes in his etiquette class, so the chances of drama drastically decreased.

At lunch, Cale was glad to find his spot unoccupied.

Well... unoccupied by humans.

Cale looked from golden eyes to silver eyes to golden eyes.

"Hello."

Ohn and Hong's tail swished at the sight of him. 

"We made new friends!" Hong announced, looking up at the multiple crows perched above. Like agreeing, the crows squawked, flapping their wings as they flew down. 

"I see." Cale sat down next to the kittens, a tray of food in his hands. "Have you eaten yet?"

Ohn nodded. "Hans fed us before lunch. Said something about being busy during his usual feeding times."

Cale hummed and continued to eat, noticing the worried glances Ohn shot him now and then. 

He didn't say anything as she slumped next to him, her head on his leg. 

Hong was leaping at the crows who either quickly ducked out of the way or let him tackle them. Cale couldn't help but think that the crows didn't have any survival instincts as he watched Hong pin one lightly to the ground.

In 3rd period maths, their teacher, Professor Ecross, led them to the library to "self study", which basically translates to "I didn't want to teach brats, so I only supplied them with the minimum equipment needed to learn".

Cale arrived late to the library, as he didn't know they were moving rooms. He had always arrived right as the bell rang to signal the start of the lesson for maths, and due to that, he was five minutes late to the class, which was on the other side of the academy.

The first thing he noticed when he stepped into the room was that most of the seats were taken.

The second thing he noticed was that the only table that was the emptiest was the one furthest from everyone else, with only Lock sitting there.

The third thing he noticed was that Choi Han was missing.

All the other tables were full, holding six students each. All the students were casting looks towards Lock who looked seconds away from passing out from stress. 

Cale took one look at the only available table and had to physically stop himself from sighing. I don't really have a choice, do I?

At least it's Lock. I like Lock best out of all the heroes.

But he is still scary. 

He isn't. Just a puppy.

Cale's mind flicked to some of the more violent scenes in the novel.

...Not scary at all, other side of my brain...

Making his decision, he trudged over to the side furthest from the beast person. 

He didn't bother grabbing any books, just slumped down and rested his head in his arms. 

The voices quietened down before they started up again.

"That guy was so violent." 

"I'm not surprised he isn't here."

"-is definitely going to get expelled."

"He is a commoner after all."

"Filthy."

Cale briefly wondered what Choi Han did before a memory struck him.

Wasn't the second day when he got in trouble for beating the shit out of a mage that was bullying Rosalyn for her ex-princess status during the double class? I guess that's what the commotion was. I don't remember the details though.

It was a minute or so after he had stopped thinking along that line of thought that a realisation passed him. 

... why can't I recall the story properly? 

Is Record damaged? Is my brain not ready for my Records and that's why I have migraines? Shit, what if it's deteriorating? No, I can remember that Eastern Language dictionary perfectly. The only memories that are patchy are the ones of Rok Soo's- my life. It would make sense. This brain isn't ready for the perfect details of every memory for over a decade. 

Cale was brought out of his thoughts by a small whine. He slightly lifted his head, his eyes landing on Lock who was staring at his work like it personally offended him. 

Cale straightened up and could see which questions he was struggling with. 

Oh. I remember those. The teacher kept mixing up the formulas. 

The dumbass. 

Cale watched for a couple of minutes, Lock not making any progress within that time. He weighed up the pros and cons of helping before sighing. 

It hurts to watch. It's bad for my conscience.

And the poor thing deserves a decent education.

That too I guess. 

"You're supposed to subtract the one, not add." He whispered, knowing even if he spoke quietly, Lock would hear him, as he was a beast person.

Lock stiffened and slowly looked up, making eye contact with Cale. "W-what?"

"Don't add the one. Minus it." He repeated. 

Lock blinked, looked down at his work, then began to write.

A minute of silence later, Lock had finished and was staring at him.

"What?" Cale lightly huffed, trying not to be too loud.

"I- umm, thank you." Lock whispered, fiddling with the quill he was holding.

"It's pretty simple. The teacher is just shit at teaching." Cale rolled his eyes. Reason two of ninety-three why I don't listen to a thing he says.

"I don't think he is that bad-"

"Half that shit he is teaching isn't even in the exam. And the rest is so horribly explained that he even confuses himself. Case in point." He pointed at the sheet in front of the beast person. 

"Oh." Lock's eyes widened, then he tilted his head. "How do you know what is on the exam?"

Cale shrugged. "I got my hands on an exam from last year, and from what I've heard, they haven't changed the material. And if it did change, Count Ecross doesn't have the clearance to make edits to it, so he could be fired for that." Cale smirked at the thought of getting rid of the man.

Lock nodded slowly. "I'm- I'm sort of having trouble with division. Was he teaching that properly?" He cast a glance at Cale. So he wants help.

"He never teaches properly." Cale reached into his pouch and pulled out a piece of paper and a quill. He scribbled down a step by step guide for simple division. And while he did write down the formula that their teacher uses, he also changed a couple of things to make it more straightforward, as well as add a couple of quick notes to help.

Cale folded it in four, and lightly tossed out at Lock. "Use this." 

The beast person unfolded it and began to read it. 

"...that's it?" Lock looked confused at the formula.

"That's it." Cale nodded. 

Lock sorted through his papers and continued to write. Cale went back to sleep, occasionally lifting his head up to answer any questions that Lock had. 

Lock picks up things fast. Can't believe that he was close to failing all because of that shit teacher. 

Maybe I could ask the crows to shit on him...

"Cale, what does this-" before Lock could ask anything else, the bell rang. He didn't notice Lock's wagging tail or the admiration in his eyes.

Cale didn't move and waited for most of the students to leave. Only after the last stranglers left, did he walk towards the door. 

It was when he began to go to his next class, art, did he realise that he was being followed.

"... what are you doing?" Cale turned to the boy behind him. 

"Going to class!" Lock answered way too cheerfully. Where did that confidence come from?

I miss being feared.

"Why are you following me?" 

"We are going in the same direction, so of course I would follow you." Lock just smiled, and Cale could see his tail wagging behind him.

"You always go right, not left." Cale sped up, trying to shake the beast person off. 

Lock kept up anyways. "You noticed?" 

"Obviously. I don't want to be near Choi Han." Cale stopped speed walking after it did nothing.

"Why doesn't Choi Han like you? He never really answered when I asked." Lock hopped next to him and tilted his head in question.

"I said something he didn't like so he beat the shit out of me." Cale rolled his eyes. "Now, why aren't you going the other way?"

"I usually walk Choi Han to his next class. So because he isn't here, I'll follow you!" So this will be a one time occurrence. Good.

"Where is he anyway?" 

"Maybe the principal's office. That's where he was at lunch with Alberu and Rosalyn. They should've been done by now." Lock tilted his head in thought.

He does that a lot. Is it a dog thing?

Cale kept quiet for the rest of the walk, hoping that it would make Lock realise that he didn't want to talk.

It didn't work.

"-and even after all that, Maes still tried to catch the bird. He didn't get it though, since we scared it away just before he jumped." Lock's tail was wagging with such ferocity that Cale was worried it would fall off. "You have siblings right? They must do dumb things right?"

He huffed at the thought. Cale didn't know what provoked him to answer, probably a certain one of his sides happy to talk about his siblings, but he did. "Lily likes to throw herself off high places at me and hopes I catch her." Multiple times she almost took us both out. "Basen had a habit where he bites on his quills, making them explode and ink goes in his mouth. He still does it for some reason." He rolled his eyes. Ink doesn't even taste good.

"My sister does a similar thing where she eats anything she finds-"

"Lock?"

They both turned to look behind them, eyes landing on the red haired mage.

"Rosalyn! I made a new friend!" The beast person proudly announced, lightly dragging Cale closer.

"Not friends." He hissed, trying to pull away, but the wolf was strong.

"We are on our way to art! Want to join us?" Lock smiled brightly, either not noticing, or ignoring the awkwardness in the air.

"...okay." Rosalyn nodded slowly and they started to walk again. 

Cale didn't miss the glances that the mage occasionally shot his way. 

Lock continued to chat about his siblings, but Cale didn't respond this time.

Lock trusted his instincts a lot. 

Sometimes he had to smother them down, like when his body was screaming at him to help his pack when they were attacked.

But they are always right when judging people.

So he didn't understand why Choi Han hated Cale when his first impression of him was that he was quiet and non-confrontational.

He did ask, but the answers were always vague. 

Lock understood his hatred even less when the redhead helped him with his maths without asking. He decided then that Cale was his friend.

And even after he maybe slightly pestered him, he didn't snap at him, and only gave off a light annoyed scent.

Maybe the answer would be clearer if he asked-

Nope.

Still vague.

But at least he knew what might've started it now.

Choi Han was good. Even when he is violent sometimes.

Cale was good. Even if he smelled strange, and somehow familiar.

But they both hated each other. 

So he came to the conclusion that there was just a big misunderstanding.

Lock really wanted to resolve it so he could spend time with all his friends together. 

But he didn't know where to start.

"Lock." He turned to Rosalyn. "Why were you with him?" She whispered when they separated from Cale when they entered the art classroom. 

"He's my friend now. I don't think he has accepted it yet, but he is." He could feel his tail unconsciously wag at the thought of his recently acquired friend.

"... and how did that happen?"

"Cale saw me struggling with a maths question and helped me. He easily explained it to me. See..." Lock pulled out the paper Cale gave him and passed it to Rosalyn. "He has really neat handwriting."

"...yeah... plus a unique thought process..." Rosalyn stared at the sheet a little more before passing it back to him. 

Art was fun. Mrs Henituse let them paint today. She said it had to reflect a precious or significant memory in your life.

Lock's mind instantly shifted to that day.

But he didn't want to do that. 

So he painted the lake that his family loved to visit on birthdays. 

Or, well, tried to.

It didn't look anything like it. 

The colour is wrong. The lake is too small and the trees are wonky. 

He could feel his ears droop in disappointment. He spent half the lesson sketching the outline, and the rest trying to get it done in time.

He glanced over to Rosalyn and saw a half completed, but very beautiful garden. Rosalyn is so talented.

He looked towards Cale, and his eyes widened. It's so pretty.

Before Cale was a rough shape of a rose in a vase. But even if it wasn't done, Lock could see the talent and care that was put into it. 

Lock was about to turn away, but Cale started to pack up. But there is still time left? 

It was when he looked closer did he notice that the redhead's hands were trembling. 

What...?

Lock quickly whipped his head back when Cale looked towards him. 

Is he okay?

The thought plagued the rest of his mind for the remainder of the lesson. 

Lock and Rosalyn were the last ones to leave, since they were still packing up their things. 

Cale left just before them, and Lock wanted to catch up to him so he quickly rushed out of the room with Rosalyn close behind.

He rounded the corner he smelt Cale go past when he skidded to a stop. 

As Lock watched Cale stumble into a wall and lean on it for support, did he remember that scent that he had unconsciously recognised.

Death.

Cale smells of death.

Cale had to practically drag himself through the corridors.

Shittt.

Ow.

His head throbbed with pain and his vision began to blur. 

Fuck. Not here! Not in the hallway...

Cale stumbled again, but this time he wasn't tilting to the wall. He quickly made himself collapse to the floor so the fall wasn't from too high. Gotta make sure I don't smash my head open. 

He would've scoffed at the thought, but he stopped when he noticed hands on his arms.

Who...?

Cale slowly lifted his head up and made eye contact with worried silver eyes. Oh. Lock. He could see his mouth moving and hear the sounds, but couldn't process the words. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but the words caught in his throat. I'm fine. Just leave.

He felt himself get lifted off the ground by another pair of arms. He didn't know who, but from the red hair he caught out of the corner of his eye, he could make as much of an educated guess as someone seconds away from passing out could.

Cale was moderately aware of what was happening, Rosalyn had moved him to Lock's back, and the beast person was running to somewhere, but everything was being prevented from going to his brain.

Where am I going...?

Seconds blended together in a haze, and before he knew it, they entered a room.

Smells clean. And like alcohol. Everything is white too. 

Cale forced his eyes to focus, and laid eyes on the bed he visited yesterday.

Oh. The infirmary. 

There were loud sounds everywhere, and shouting was all he could hear. The noise drilled new pain into his head.

Oh my god- just shut up!

He let out a groan and planted his face into the crook of Lock’s neck. The voices died down, and soon, he felt himself get lifted off Lock’s back and onto a soft bed. 

This is nice. Much better than the floor. He brushed his hand across the sheets. Not as soft as my bed, but it’ll do.

His eyelids drooped down, and he succumbed to his sleep.

Cale woke up to a throbbing head.

Well, that’s one sign I’m alive.

He couldn’t hear much of anything, so it’s either quiet or his hearing cut off. 

His body also seems to be refusing to cooperate with him and has decided that it likes to be locked in place.

Okay, so before I fainted I… memories of who knows how long ago crashed into him. I should be in the infirmary, if I wasn’t moved.

Shit, Lock carried me to the information, right? And the shortest route to get there from the place I collapsed… His brain stabbed with pain at the overuse, but he kept going. It’s a quiet area of the school, and is only really used to get to classes, and since it was second break, that means there shouldn’t have been many people who saw that, if any. I’ll be fine. Not like anyone would care if the trash faints or anything. 

His hand clenched onto the fabric beneath him. He silently cheered in his acquired sense of movement, and used the touch to ground himself. 

What time even is it? Did I faint for hours? Did the kittens eat anything? Cale put all his strength into lifting his eyelids. 

He didn’t know how much time passed during his struggle, but eventually he finally opened them. 

Sunset. Only a couple of hours then.

Unless it's sunrise, or the sunset of the next day.

Cale ignored the thoughts and stared out the window at the orange sky before turning to examine the room.

Yeah, it was the infirmary. But shouldn’t there be at least someone here? Especially someone who fainted- oh. It’s probably because of me. No one wants to look after trash. 

He could feel his strength slowly returning, so he slowly pushed himself up. Should I leave? I feel like I could walk in a minute or two. Or do I need a doctor’s permission or something?

But before he could make a decision, the door opened. 

“Oh? You’re awake already? That’s lovely.” Pendrick walked in, followed by the same brown haired lady he saw the last time he was here. “Please lay back down. You’re still not okay.”

Cale slowly laid back down on the bed, ignoring the strange looks he was receiving from the lady. 

Pendrick seemed to notice and hissed something towards her. “Apologies, this is Cage, my apprentice. She had picked up some… odd things about your condition.” 

Cage? The favourite priestess of the God of Death, Cage? How did I miss- right, memory isn’t the best. He cast a wary glance towards her. I’m pretty sure she is very proficient in curses, so it’s a bit worrying about what she saw. 

“You don’t look like someone that likes to beat around the bush, so I’ll be straightforward.” Cage declared with her hand on her hips. “What’s your connection with the God of Death?” 

[Error 404]

[Cale.exe not loading]

“What?”

“Oh? So you don’t know about this?” Cage looked him up and down. “Poor thing, you also got dragged into his schemes.”

… 

What?

Dragged into- was he the reason behind the merging souls?! 

That would make sense.

Why do gods hate me?

Cale grabbed his face with his hands and groaned.

“Aaaand that’s the sound of realisation.” Cage announced from her place on the bed next to him. “Let me guess. Something has changed recently, and you didn’t know the cause behind it?” Cale reluctantly nodded. “And it looks like this something is very annoying to you.” He let out a deep sigh. An understatement. 

“Cage, what did the God of Death even do?” Pendrick asked, concern written all over his face. “Will he be okay?”

“…ehhh, I don’t know the details, but-” she turned to Cale and spoke seriously, “do you want someone else to know? He is a legal nurse and everything, but you don’t have to tell him if you want it private. I’m probably the more qualified one to deal with this situation than him anyways.” 

Cale took a couple seconds to process that. So she most definitely knows the soul thing. And I don’t really need to tell Pendrick, so…

“Private, please.” He muttered. I want the least amount of people to know.

“You hear the kid! Clear out!” She shooed the poor nurse out the door and slammed it shut. Before she turned towards him though, she placed her hands on the door and muttered something under her breath. “There! Now no one can eavesdrop.”

The priestess plopped herself down on the bed she was at before. “Okay, I’ll start with what I can see, then you can tell your part, yeah?” Cale gave a huff and gestured for her to continue. “Great. So first off, wow. Your soul is fucked! I don’t know how I didn’t notice that last time!” 

“…that doesn’t sound promising.”

“Not the best, if I’m being honest, but it can get better.” She pointed at him. “Right now, I see two half souls that while they are essentially identical at the core, have grown in different, and most likely separate, ways and have been joined together by some outside force and are now trying to merge with each other.”

That sounds about right, from what I had guessed. “I sort of assumed that already.”

“That's great, at least you aren't blind to what's happening.” 

“I would have to be pretty dumb to not notice.” Cale rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah. Well, other than that, I can sense some residual power from the God of Death surrounding your soul.” Cage had a hand on her chin and was staring intently at his chest, or where he assumed was where his soul would be. “I don't know why it's there, or what it does, but it doesn't look to be causing your symptoms. Those were most likely the after effects of the soul merging thing.”

Cale sighed. “So it's not something you can just get rid off?”

“Absolutely not. If anyone attempts to separate one of the halves, the other will quickly die since they are too intertwined. And speeding up the healing process is a no go too. There would be side effects affecting the memory, mind, body, and soul caused by rushing the process.”

“That's lovely to know.” Cale scoffed. “How long would you estimate I would be like this?”

“I'm bad at estimates… but maybe around the couple of months mark?” Cage gave an awkward grin.”

“Oh, so it could be for either around two or ten months. Sounds fine.” Cale deadpanned.

“It's definitely going to heal, I just don't know how fast. Sorry I can't do anything. But I can give you a place to chill for a bit if the symptoms get too much? It also comes with a side of cursing the God of Death, if you are interested?” Cage gave a sharp smile.

“I won't say no.” Cale returned the look. 

“Cool. I won't tell Pendrick about this whole thing, just say that you are welcome to come in whenever.” Cage stood up and walked to the door. “I'll also give you a spare key we have on hand, if it's ever locked, which I doubt. You can leave whenever you're ready.” The priestess gave a last wave and left through the door. 

Cale stared at the door for a minute before-

What the hell.

I didn't expect to be found out, much less like this. Cale grumbled and sunk further into the bed. 

At least I got a chill out spot out of this.

Chapter Text

Students:

Name / Age / Year level / Subjects

- Cale / 17 yrs / Year 11 / Arts, Literature, Mathematics, Etiquette, Swordsmanship, Eastern Language

- Choi Han / ?? yrs / Year 11 / History, Mathematics, Creatures, Swordsmanship, Eastern language, Battle Strategies

- Alberu / 17 yrs / Year 11 / Literature, History, Mathematics, Swordsmanship, Economics, Politics

- Rosalyn / 17 yrs / Year 11 / Arts, History, Etiquette, Agriculture, Magic, Business

- Lock / 16 yrs / Year 11 / Arts, History, Mathematics, Creatures, Agriculture, Eastern Language

- Basen / 14 yrs / Year 9 / Arts, Literature, History, Mathematics, Eastern Language, Business

- Lily / 10 yrs / Year 4 / Arts, History, Mathematics, Etiquette, Agriculture, Swordsmanship

- Hannah / 16 yrs / Year 11 / Arts, History, Agriculture, Swordsmanship, Battle Strategies, Politics

- Jake / 16 yrs / Year 11 / Arts, History, Creatures, Agriculture, Magic, Eastern Language

- Toonka / 19 yrs / Year 11 / History, Creatures, Agriculture, Swordsmanship, Eastern Language, Battle Strategies

- Harol / 17 yrs / Year 11 / History, Creatures, Agriculture, Swordsmanship, Eastern Language, Battle Strategies

Staff:

Beacrox / 20 yrs / Chef

Count Ecross / 51 / Mathematics

Violan / 36 / Arts

Gashan / 68 / Chief of Surveillance

Glenn / 29 / Eastern Language and Magic

Bud / 31 / Swordsmanship

Pendrick / 81 / Nurse

Witira / 214 / Etiquette

Cage / 21 / Assistant Nurse

Note: I couldn’t bother researching all of the teacher’s canonical ages, so I did whatever sounded close enough