----
The sleepover happened because Jiwoo asked.
That was all.
No one had planned it.
No one had agreed to it in advance.
Seongha had looked at Wooin, who had looked quietly uncertain, which had made Jiwoo smile and ask if he wanted to stay a little longer.
Inhyuk had said it was fine.
Jisuk had said, very loudly, that he was only staying because Inhyuk would drag him back to Shinhwa otherwise.
Inhyuk had said, "Yes."
Jisuk had stared at him.
Then, somehow, night fell.
The apartment settled slowly, softened by warm light, scattered blankets, and cats who had accepted the visitors with varying levels of judgment.
Jisuk took the couch.
Not because he asked for it.
Because he claimed it first and refused to move.
He lay on his back with one arm tucked beneath his head, staring at the ceiling like he had been sentenced to emotional imprisonment.
Jiwoo and Wooin had futons on the floor near the low table.
Jiwoo had insisted he could sleep there comfortably.
Asuka had placed extra pillows around him until he looked less like a teenager and more like a carefully protected offering.
Wooin had taken the futon beside him without complaint, lying stiffly at first as though he did not know what to do with an actual blanket that had not been assigned by a laboratory or a temporary lodging.
Asuka took the other couch.
Quiet.
Still.
Blindfold still over her eyes, one hand resting near the grey cat curled beside her ribs.
Kayden had chosen a pillow near the stairs.
Then moved to a pillow near Jiwoo.
Then moved to a pillow near Asuka.
Then, after pretending this was all tactical repositioning, settled between the couch and the futons where he could see everyone.
The other cats had scattered.
One on Jiwoo's blanket.
One near Wooin's feet.
The black-and-white cat on the back of the couch like a queen overseeing peasants.
The room was dark except for a small lamp near the kitchen.
Peaceful.
Strange.
Full.
Jisuk stared at the ceiling.
Then spoke into the quiet.
"Why am I here?"
Jiwoo giggled.
Softly.
A little breathless.
Still careful because laughing too much hurt his ribs.
Jisuk turned his head.
"Hey, Jiwoo Seo."
Jiwoo looked over.
"Why do you keep laughing like that?"
Jiwoo tried to stop.
Failed immediately.
"Hehe…"
Jisuk frowned.
"What?"
Jiwoo smiled into the dim room.
"Because this is the first time I've ever had friends over."
Silence.
Jisuk blinked.
"What the hell?"
He sat up slightly on one elbow.
"What friends?"
Jiwoo's smile did not fade.
"I've never been to a friend's house before," he said. "And I've never had friends come over until now."
The room went quiet again.
Not awkward exactly.
Not at first.
Just quiet.
Wooin's eyes lowered.
Asuka did not move on the couch, but her attention sharpened.
Jisuk stared at Jiwoo.
Then something Inhyuk had told him came back.
Jiwoo had not known about the awakened world.
Not properly.
He had been afraid of his ability.
Afraid someone would find out.
Afraid he and his sister would be taken away or used or worse.
So the Seo family had moved.
Again and again.
Their mother, Jiwoo, Asuka.
Never staying long enough.
Never getting close enough.
Naturally, people drifted away.
Naturally, they lived lonely lives.
Jisuk's mouth pressed into a line.
He huffed.
"Hmph."
That was all he could offer.
Jiwoo turned his head toward Wooin, eyes bright in the low light.
"Wooin."
Wooin looked at him.
"Have you ever slept over at a friend's house?"
Wooin was quiet for a moment.
Then answered honestly.
"Nope."
Jiwoo blinked.
Wooin's gaze stayed on the ceiling.
"I've been traveling with the professor since I was young."
The words fell flat.
Simple.
Plain.
Like he was reading a fact from a report.
But something about them made the room heavier.
Jiwoo's smile softened into something sadder.
"I see."
Jisuk stared at them from the couch.
Fuck.
Now it had gotten depressing all of a sudden.
These pathetic losers.
No friends at all.
Then, from the other couch, Asuka spoke.
"How about you, Jisuk?"
Jisuk froze.
Everyone looked toward him.
Or, in Kayden's case, opened one eye.
Jisuk sat up more fully, expression immediately defensive.
"Do you think I'm like you guys?"
Jiwoo blinked.
Wooin turned his head slightly.
Asuka remained still beneath her blanket, blindfold covering her eyes, voice calm.
"I asked a question."
Jisuk lifted his chin.
"Of course I—"
He stopped.
The sentence did not finish.
Because his mind, traitorous and horrible, searched for an example.
A friend's house.
A casual sleepover.
Someone coming to his home without it being tied to Shinhwa, politics, family, training, obligation, surveillance, or his sister's position.
Someone staying over because they wanted to.
Someone he had invited.
His mouth stayed open.
No memory came.
None.
The silence took shape.
"…"
Jiwoo stared at him.
Wooin stared at him.
Asuka's head remained turned in his direction.
Kayden, lying against his pillow, looked at him with the flat disbelief of a cat who did not believe a word he was about to say.
Jisuk began to sweat.
No.
No, no, no.
He could not be like them.
He was Jisuk Yoo.
He had status.
Power.
Popularity, probably.
People knew him.
People were intimidated by him.
That counted.
It had to count.
Jiwoo slowly sat up a little.
Wooin's eyes softened faintly.
Jiwoo said, very gently, "I see."
Jisuk's entire face flushed.
He shot upright.
"The hell do you mean by I see?"
Jiwoo blinked.
Jisuk pointed at him.
"I'm not like you guys!"
Wooin looked at him.
Asuka's head tilted slightly from the couch.
Kayden's expression did not change.
The black-and-white cat on the couch back narrowed its eyes.
Jisuk felt judged by literally everyone in the room.
Including animals.
"It's not what you think!" he snapped.
No one said anything.
Their silence somehow got worse.
Jisuk flailed internally.
"I just find sleeping in other people's houses tedious!"
Jiwoo's expression softened further.
Jisuk panicked.
"And I couldn't bring friends over to my house for obvious reasons!"
Wooin blinked.
Jiwoo nodded slowly.
"I see…"
Kayden sighed.
The kind of sigh that carried centuries of disappointment.
Jisuk's eye twitched.
"Stop saying that!"
Jiwoo startled.
Jisuk pointed at him again, red-faced.
"You're pissing me off!"
Jiwoo pressed his lips together.
He looked like he was trying not to smile.
That made it worse.
Asuka let out the faintest breath from the couch.
Fond.
Amused.
Jisuk whipped toward her.
"Don't laugh!"
"I did not."
"You did emotionally!"
Asuka considered that.
Then said, "Perhaps."
Jisuk grabbed a pillow and pressed it over his own face.
"Argh!"
The tabby cat, apparently deciding this was an invitation, jumped onto the couch and stepped on his stomach.
Jisuk made a strangled sound.
The tabby sat.
Directly on him.
Jisuk slowly lowered the pillow.
The cat stared down at him.
He stared back.
"What do you want?"
The tabby purred.
Jisuk's face twisted.
"Don't look at me like that."
It purred louder.
Jiwoo giggled again.
Jisuk turned his head sharply.
"You too! Stop looking at me like that!"
Jiwoo tried very hard to make his face neutral.
It did not work.
Wooin looked away, but his mouth had softened at the edge.
Jisuk saw it.
"Hey. You too?"
Wooin said nothing.
"You're looking at me like I'm pitiful!"
Wooin answered, very calmly, "A little."
Jisuk sat up so fast the tabby almost slid off.
"You bastard!"
The tabby dug its paws into his shirt.
Jisuk froze instantly.
Because claws.
Tiny claws.
Painful claws.
"Okay. Okay. I'm not moving."
The tabby settled again.
Kayden watched from his pillow.
Amateur.
Jisuk looked toward Kayden and immediately scowled.
"And you! Why do you look so smug?"
Kayden's tail flicked.
To everyone else, he looked like a fat orange cat half-asleep on a pillow.
To Jisuk, he looked like a judge delivering a guilty verdict.
Jiwoo whispered, "Casein Nitrate always looks like that."
Kayden's eye opened fully.
Jiwoo immediately looked away.
"Sorry."
Kayden's eye narrowed.
Asuka's voice came softly from the couch.
"Do not be embarrassed, Jisuk."
Jisuk stiffened.
"I'm not embarrassed."
"You are red."
"I'm angry."
"You are also embarrassed."
"I'm not!"
Jiwoo looked at him with such gentle understanding that Jisuk wanted to throw himself out the window.
Wooin said quietly, "It is not strange."
Jisuk froze.
Wooin's gaze stayed lowered.
"I have not had friends either."
That was worse.
So much worse.
Because Wooin did not sound like he was mocking him.
He sounded honest.
And now Jisuk had no safe direction to aim his anger.
Jiwoo smiled.
"Then this can be all of our first sleepover."
The words settled into the room.
Soft.
Warm.
Deadly.
Jisuk stared.
Wooin looked at Jiwoo.
Asuka's mouth softened.
Kayden closed his eye, pretending he had not heard anything emotionally inconvenient.
Jisuk's throat felt weird.
He hated it.
So he did what he always did.
He complained.
"Why are you making it sound meaningful?"
Jiwoo blinked.
"Is it not?"
Jisuk froze.
Wooin's eyes lowered again.
The tabby kneaded once against Jisuk's stomach.
Jisuk hissed in pain.
Not because it hurt much.
Because it gave him an excuse to look away.
"Whatever."
Jiwoo smiled.
Jisuk muttered, "Don't smile."
Jiwoo smiled more.
"I said don't."
"Okay."
"You're still smiling!"
"I'm trying not to."
"No, you're not!"
Asuka shifted slightly on the couch, the grey cat tucked near her side.
"Oppa has always been bad at hiding happiness."
Jiwoo looked over.
"Asuka…"
"It is true."
Wooin glanced at Jiwoo.
Then said, "It is easy to tell."
Jiwoo's cheeks flushed faintly.
"Really?"
Jisuk pointed at him from under the tabby.
"See? Now you're embarrassed!"
Jiwoo laughed, then immediately clutched his ribs.
"Ow."
Asuka sat up at once.
"Oppa."
"I'm okay."
"You are not allowed to laugh aggressively."
"Is there a gentle way to laugh?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Quietly."
Jiwoo tried a tiny, silent laugh.
It hurt less.
He looked pleased.
Jisuk stared.
"What are you two even doing?"
"Practicing safe laughter," Asuka said.
Kayden made a sound from his pillow.
Not quite a meow.
Something dangerously close to a snort.
Jisuk stared at him again.
"That cat laughed at me."
Jiwoo looked at Kayden.
"I don't think cats laugh."
Kayden's eyes said he absolutely could.
Asuka lay back down.
"He is talented."
Kayden's tail stilled.
Jisuk groaned and dropped his head back onto the couch pillow.
"This house is insane."
Wooin looked at the ceiling.
"It is warm."
Jisuk glanced at him.
Wooin did not elaborate.
He rarely did.
But Jiwoo heard it.
Asuka heard it.
Even Jisuk, despite himself, heard it.
Warm.
The apartment was warm.
Too full.
Too messy.
Too strange.
But warm.
Jisuk clicked his tongue.
"Yeah, well, don't get used to it."
Jiwoo looked over at him.
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because?"
"Because I said so."
Jiwoo smiled softly.
"You can come over again."
Jisuk's face went red again.
"Who said I wanted to?"
"No one."
"Then why would you say that?"
"Because you can."
Jisuk opened his mouth.
No words came out.
Wooin turned his head slightly toward Jiwoo.
Jiwoo looked at him too.
"You too, Wooin."
Wooin blinked.
"You can come over anytime."
The black cat sleeping near Wooin's futon stretched and placed one paw against his blanket.
Wooin looked at it.
Then at Jiwoo.
His voice was quiet.
"Okay."
Simple.
Small.
But it mattered.
Jisuk watched them.
Then scoffed.
"Seriously. Pathetic."
Jiwoo's smile did not fade.
Jisuk pulled the blanket over himself.
"I'm sleeping."
"Good night, Jisuk."
"Don't say it like that."
"Like what?"
"Like we're actually friends."
Jiwoo went quiet.
For a second, Jisuk regretted saying it.
Then Jiwoo smiled again.
Softer this time.
"Good night, Jisuk."
Jisuk turned his back to him.
His ears were red.
"…Good night."
Wooin looked toward Jiwoo.
Jiwoo smiled.
"Good night, Wooin."
Wooin was silent for a moment.
Then, softly, "Good night."
"Asuka?"
From the couch, Asuka answered, "Good night, Oppa."
Jiwoo's expression warmed.
"Good night, Casein Nitrate."
Kayden did not move.
Jiwoo waited.
Kayden kept his eyes closed.
Then, very quietly, a small meow came from the pillow.
Jiwoo's smile became radiant.
Jisuk groaned from the couch.
"I heard that."
Kayden's eyes opened.
Jisuk immediately felt danger.
He pulled the blanket higher.
"Never mind. I heard nothing."
Asuka's shoulders shook silently.
The room settled again.
The cats curled into new places.
The tabby remained on Jisuk's legs like a weighted punishment.
The black cat slept near Wooin.
The grey cat stayed tucked against Asuka.
Kayden rested close enough to hear Jiwoo's breathing.
And Jiwoo lay on the floor beneath a borrowed blanket, staring up at the ceiling of his own living room with eyes too bright for someone so tired.
Friends over.
For the first time.
A sleepover.
For the first time.
It was such a small thing.
So ordinary.
So painfully ordinary that it felt precious.
Jiwoo closed his eyes.
His smile remained.
Jisuk, on the couch, stared at the wall with his face hidden from everyone.
What friends?
He had said it automatically.
Defensively.
Like the word was embarrassing.
But the apartment was warm.
The blanket smelled like laundry detergent.
A cat was sleeping on his legs.
Jiwoo had told him good night like it mattered whether he heard it.
And Jisuk, against his will, thought—
Maybe.
Maybe this was not the worst place to be.
Across the room, Asuka opened her eyes behind the blindfold.
She did not move.
She simply listened.
To Jiwoo's breathing.
Wooin's quiet stillness.
Jisuk's restless shifting.
Kayden's faint tail flick against the pillow.
The cats purring.
Her mouth softened.
A long time ago, Haruka had lost a classroom full of ordinary nights she had never realized would become memories.
Now Asuka lay in a small apartment with her brother, a hidden monster cat, two awkward boys, and too many rescued animals.
The future was still dangerous.
The awakened world still waited.
But tonight—
Tonight, it was just a sleepover.
And for once, that was enough.
Morning came quietly.
Not peacefully, exactly.
There were too many cats for complete peace.
A paw pressed into Jisuk's side sometime before dawn.
A tail brushed across Wooin's face.
The black-and-white cat walked across the back of the couch like a patrolling queen and stared down at everyone as if disappointed they were still breathing in her territory.
Jiwoo slept through most of it.
So did Kayden, though he would later claim he had simply been conserving energy with his eyes closed.
Asuka did not sleep deeply.
She rarely did.
Her body rested.
Her awareness did not.
So when Wooin's breathing changed, she heard it.
A small hitch.
A tension in his shoulders.
The faintest tremor of fingers tightening around the edge of the blanket.
Wooin dreamed.
Not of monsters.
Not of awakened battles.
Not of Jisuk's wind or Delein's laboratory in its most obvious horrors.
He dreamed of school.
A classroom he had entered too late in the year.
Faces turning.
Whispers starting.
A teacher saying his name too loudly.
A desk near the back.
A transfer student.
Again.
Always again.
He had moved because the professor moved.
Because there was another place to hide.
Another project.
Another facility.
Another apartment that never became home.
At first, children had been curious.
Then wary.
Then dismissive when he did not respond the way they expected.
"Why doesn't he talk?"
"He's creepy."
"Is he staring?"
"He's leaving soon anyway."
Wooin had learned not to unpack properly.
Not to answer too much.
Not to expect names to matter.
One day, someone had pushed his books off his desk.
The class had laughed.
He had stared at the books on the floor.
Not angry.
Not then.
Just empty.
The professor had told him attachment was inefficient.
Temporary things did not require effort.
So Wooin had bent down, picked up his books, and left the classroom when the bell rang.
The next week, they moved again.
The dream shifted.
Another school.
Another hallway.
Another set of faces.
Another desk.
Another leaving.
Then Jiwoo's voice, from the night before.
"You can come over anytime."
Wooin woke with a start.
His eyes opened sharply.
For a second, he did not know where he was.
The ceiling was unfamiliar.
The blanket was soft.
A cat was sleeping near his feet.
The room smelled faintly of tea, laundry detergent, and animals.
He breathed in.
Then out.
His hand moved to his phone.
6:03.
The numbers glowed coldly against the dim morning.
Wooin stared at them until his breathing settled.
Then his gaze drifted toward the couch.
Asuka was there.
Sitting up now, though he did not know when she had moved.
The grey scarred cat rested against her lap, half-sprawled over her blanket, safe and heavy with sleep. Asuka's hand rested lightly over its back, fingers still.
Her bandages were still on.
He could not tell whether she was awake.
Then, from the other couch, Jisuk stirred.
"Tch."
Wooin looked over.
Jisuk pushed himself up with a grimace, hair messy, shirt wrinkled, expression already offended by the existence of morning.
"It's too uncomfortable to sleep here."
He scratched the back of his neck and stood.
The tabby, which had apparently spent part of the night on him, slid off the blanket and meowed in protest.
Jisuk stared down at it.
"What? I'm leaving."
The tabby blinked.
Jisuk clicked his tongue and walked toward the door.
Wooin watched him.
"Where are you going?"
Jisuk glanced back.
"What's it matter to you where I go or not?"
Then he opened the door and slammed it behind him.
The sound cracked through the apartment.
Several cats jolted.
Jiwoo startled awake.
"Huh…?"
Kayden's ears shot up.
His eyes opened, sharp and murderous.
Asuka was already sitting fully upright, one hand near her temple.
Not from pain.
From irritation.
Jiwoo blinked blearily, pushing himself up carefully.
"Huh? Where's Jisuk?"
He looked around.
"Did Jisuk go out just now?"
Wooin had already folded his blanket.
The futon beneath him was made with neat, almost military precision.
"Yes," he said.
Jiwoo rubbed his eyes.
"Oh…"
Wooin stood.
"I'll head out first."
Jiwoo looked up.
"You're leaving early too?"
"Yeah."
Wooin's gaze moved briefly toward Asuka.
Then toward the grey cat.
Then to Jiwoo.
"See you guys later."
Asuka yawned softly.
"Hm."
Jiwoo smiled, still sleepy.
"Alright. See ya."
Wooin slipped on his shoes and left quietly.
This time, the door closed gently.
For a few seconds, the apartment was silent.
Then Asuka sighed.
She reached up and tugged at the edge of her bandages.
They had loosened during the night.
One pull was enough.
The cloth slipped down her face and fell into her lap, revealing sky-blue eyes dimmed faintly with sleep but still impossibly bright in the morning light.
Jiwoo blinked at her.
Then smiled.
"Asuka, your bandages."
"I know."
Kayden stared at the door.
Then exhaled dramatically.
"Whew."
His voice finally broke through the quiet.
"Thank god they left. I couldn't talk with them around. I had to watch my actions too."
He shook himself once.
"The stress was driving me crazy."
Jiwoo turned toward him at once, sitting on his knees despite Asuka's immediate disapproving glance.
"I was worried about you too, Mr. Kayden. I knew you'd be very uncomfortable."
Kayden's eyes narrowed.
"Ha! You worried about me?"
Jiwoo blinked.
Kayden pointed a paw at him.
"You were happy spending time with those two. You sure you were worried about me?"
Jiwoo flushed.
"Yes. Yes, I was."
Kayden huffed.
"Stop lying. Bullshit."
Asuka tilted her head, eyes bright with quiet amusement.
"I do not think so."
Kayden looked at her.
Asuka folded the loosened bandages neatly.
"You simply had to behave like a cat. You slept, got carried around all day, and were spoiled rotten by Inhyuk."
Kayden froze.
"So it could not have been that hard."
Kayden's fur seemed to puff.
"What do you know?!"
Asuka's mouth curved.
"A great deal."
"I was humiliated!"
"You were fed."
"I was called a wise chubby baby."
"You were also called dignified."
"That does not balance it out!"
Jiwoo immediately fidgeted with his fingers.
"I'm sorry."
Kayden snapped his gaze to him.
Jiwoo lowered his head.
"I should've paid more attention to you. It was just…"
His voice softened.
"My first time having friends to talk to."
The room quieted.
Jiwoo's fingers pressed together.
"I mean, I had friends that I talked to here and there. But I kept my distance because I was scared they'd find out about my abilities."
His smile turned small.
"I guess I got a little too happy."
Kayden stared at him.
Then clicked his tongue.
"Forget it."
Jiwoo looked up.
"You sure do blab a lot," Kayden muttered. "And I was merely joking."
Asuka coughed delicately into her hand.
"Ahem."
Kayden's eye twitched.
"For the most part," she added.
Kayden glared.
Asuka looked serene.
Jiwoo bowed his head again.
"Sorry."
Kayden's eyes sharpened.
"Forget it! Since you weren't able to work on your abilities, you can do it now that they're gone."
Jiwoo straightened immediately.
Kayden lifted his chin.
"You'll have to train hard if you don't want to lose to them again."
Jiwoo's expression firmed.
"Yes, sir!"
Kayden turned away, satisfied.
Then Jiwoo hesitated.
"But Mr. Kayden…"
Kayden stopped.
"What?"
Jiwoo pressed his index fingers together, fidgeting again.
"Perhaps…"
Kayden's eyes narrowed.
Jiwoo's voice became careful.
"Were you upset because they didn't pay attention to you?"
Asuka nodded sagely.
"Hm."
Kayden went still.
For one terrible second, silence filled the apartment.
Then—
"What?!"
Jiwoo flinched.
Kayden's eyes flashed.
"You little twit. You wanna die?"
Jiwoo immediately turned his face the other way.
"N-not at all. Sorry for the nonsense."
Asuka's shoulders shook.
Kayden snapped toward her.
"And you! Stop nodding like that!"
"I was considering the possibility."
"There is no possibility!"
"Of course."
"You don't sound convinced!"
"I am often mistaken for calm."
"That isn't an answer!"
Jiwoo pressed his lips together very tightly.
Safe laughter.
Quiet laughter.
He was trying.
Asuka moved behind him before Kayden could continue.
"Sit still, Oppa."
Jiwoo blinked.
"Huh?"
She sat behind him, knees folded neatly, eyes glowing faintly in the soft morning.
Not enough to alarm him.
Enough that Kayden noticed.
His gaze sharpened.
Asuka placed two fingers lightly near the back of Jiwoo's shoulder.
Warmth spread.
Not ordinary warmth.
A clean reversal of strain.
The fatigue settled in Jiwoo's muscles began to unwind. The soreness around his ribs softened. The lingering discomfort from sleeping on the floor eased. The ache in his pathways smoothed out like tangled thread being carefully untied.
Jiwoo inhaled.
His shoulders relaxed.
"Asuka…"
"Only fatigue and discomfort," she said softly. "I am not fully healing the injuries. Shinhwa will notice."
Jiwoo nodded.
"Thank you."
Her hand lifted.
"You are welcome."
Kayden watched with narrowed eyes.
RCT.
Reversal.
Healing that did not belong to this world's awakened logic.
He understood enough now not to ask every time.
That did not mean it stopped annoying him.
Not because it was bad.
Because it was too useful.
Too quiet.
Too dangerous if anyone else learned about it.
Jiwoo stood slowly.
This time, he did not wobble as much.
"I'll go on my usual route."
Kayden looked up.
"Feeding strays?"
Jiwoo smiled.
"Yes."
Kayden clicked his tongue.
"Fine. Consider it light exercise."
Jiwoo brightened.
"Really?"
"If you overdo it, I'll knock you out myself."
"Yes, sir!"
Asuka stood too.
Then stopped.
Her bandages remained folded in her hand.
The morning light reflected in her sky-blue eyes.
Jiwoo noticed.
"Are you coming?"
Usually, she did.
Usually, she walked with him, carrying a bag of food or keeping pace a step behind, quiet and familiar.
Asuka looked toward the window.
Then shook her head.
"Not today."
Jiwoo blinked.
"You're tired?"
"A little."
That was not entirely true.
Not entirely false either.
She did not feel like putting her bandages back on.
And without them, walking through the neighborhood would draw attention.
Too much attention.
Her eyes had always done that.
In both lives.
Beautiful, people said.
Strange, others thought.
Dangerous, those who knew enough understood.
Jiwoo nodded immediately.
"Okay. Rest, Asuka."
Kayden jumped down from the pillow.
"I'll go."
Jiwoo smiled.
"With me?"
"Someone has to supervise."
"Thank you, Mr. Kayden."
"Tch."
They left soon after.
Jiwoo with a bag of food.
Kayden walking beside him like a king accompanying a servant through his domain.
Asuka watched from the window as they went.
She already knew what would happen.
A few streets down, two large dogs would bark harshly from behind their owner, dragging at their leashes.
Jiwoo would freeze for half a second, worried more for Kayden than himself.
Kayden would look at them.
Just look.
The dogs would stop.
Then lower themselves.
Both of them.
Big, intimidating dogs bowing down to a fat orange cat in the middle of the sidewalk.
Kayden would walk forward, pat one of their noses gently with a paw, and continue on his way as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
The owner would stand there speechless.
Jiwoo would sweat-drop and pretend he had seen nothing.
Asuka's mouth curved.
Yes.
That would be amusing.
She let the curtain fall back into place.
The apartment quieted around her.
Cats curled near her feet, on the couch, along the backrest. The grey scarred cat climbed into her lap again the moment she sat down, as if claiming the warmth she had left behind.
Asuka leaned back.
For once, she allowed herself to rest.
Not sleep.
Think.
Her force control moved quietly through her core.
Not Kayden's.
Hers.
She had been practicing the difference.
Kayden's force control was exceptional.
There was no denying that.
It was the work of a renowned awakened one who had refined his power through experience, battle, survival, and arrogance sharp enough to cut. His method carried electricity not merely as an element, but as pressure, release, acceleration, devastation.
It had direction.
Force.
Impact.
Her own was different.
Made from scratch.
Built from nothing in this world.
Rare enough that people would die for it if they understood what it could do.
Asuka's force control did not simply move energy.
It stabilized.
Bent.
Expanded.
Compressed.
It listened to space.
It remembered time.
It was hers.
Not Haruka's cursed energy.
Not fully.
Not Kayden's awakened method.
Something new.
Something between worlds.
She let a thin spark form above her palm.
Electricity crackled softly.
Then twisted.
Space folded around the spark, not enough to tear, only enough to curve the light around it.
The cats did not react.
They were used to impossible things by now.
Asuka watched the spark turn warmer.
Red.
Orange.
Yellow.
Flame bloomed where electricity had been.
Small.
Controlled.
Ordinary enough to pass.
Fire was useful.
Common enough not to frighten the awakened world too much.
Safe as a cover.
Her public ability, eventually, could be speed.
Like Jiwoo.
That would be easy.
She could move faster through Blue, dragging herself through space by attraction. Or she could stop time, though that would not be used unless it was small and could pass by as ordinary.
For range, fire would work.
Flames as an extension of electricity.
Electricity as a deviant of heat and force.
A believable lie.
A useful one.
She turned the flame between shades.
Red first.
Then orange-yellow.
Then white.
Then purple at the edges.
Then blue.
The blue flame burned clean and beautiful in her palm.
Asuka liked it.
Of course she did.
Blue had always suited dangerous things.
Blue eyes.
Blue technique.
Blue flame.
But it drew attention.
Too much.
She closed her fingers slightly, and the flame softened back to orange-yellow.
This was safer.
Less dramatic.
Less memorable.
Usually.
If the situation called for it, blue would be there.
If it truly called for more—
Her gaze dimmed.
Black fire.
The thought came with old myth.
Amaterasu.
In one memory from her previous life, she remembered reading about flames that burned hotter than the sun. Flames that continued even after their source had been reduced to ash. Seven days and seven nights, inextinguishable by ordinary means.
Water could not stop it.
Wind could not stop it.
Other fire could not consume it.
Only the user's will.
Or complete consumption.
A cruel technique.
A terrifying one.
If she imbued flame with space, she could make it cling to the target rather than the surface.
If she imbued it with time, she could make the burn persist beyond ordinary duration.
Not truly endless.
Nothing was endless.
But enough that, to anyone else, it might seem undying.
A flame that refused to obey the world.
Her fingers closed.
The fire disappeared.
The grey cat in her lap stretched, unaware of the danger that had existed inches above its sleeping head.
Asuka stroked it gently.
"I hope I never have to use it," she murmured.
The cat purred.
Her eyes lowered.
"But if I must…"
She did not finish.
She did not need to.
Cruelty was not something Asuka enjoyed.
Pain was not something she sought.
But hesitation in the wrong moment had killed people in both her lives.
If someone came for Jiwoo, for Kayden, for the fragile peace of this small apartment, then she would not hesitate.
No matter how cruel.
No matter how painful.
No matter how long the flames burned.
She exhaled slowly.
For now, the public story would be simple.
Jiwoo Seo had speed.
Asuka Seo had speed and fire.
Maybe people would assume the siblings shared a similar base ability.
Maybe they would call her an elemental type.
Maybe they would wonder why her senses were so sharp despite the bandages.
Let them wonder.
Wonder was safer than knowledge.
Asuka leaned back, amused despite herself.
In her previous life, everyone knew Gojo Haruka's techniques.
Six Eyes.
Limitless.
The sister of Gojo Satoru.
A second anomaly from a bloodline that had not produced such a user in over four hundred years before him.
Of course the world had watched.
Of course clans had studied them.
Infinity.
Blue.
Red.
Purple.
Reversal.
Domain.
Everyone wanted counters.
Few had any.
Domain amplification.
Certain inherited techniques.
Cursed tools.
The rare method that could slip past Infinity's logic.
Here, it was different.
Awakeners did not have cursed techniques.
They had cores.
Force control.
Abilities born from awakened power, not innate domains carved into the soul in quite the same way.
Asuka did not know of anyone here capable of a domain.
A true domain was the manifestation of one's innate world into reality.
A closed space where rules changed.
A cheat code, as she had once thought.
This world had dangerous people.
Monsters, even.
Kayden was proof enough.
But she had not sensed anything that could force its way past Infinity.
Not unless she allowed it.
And Infinity was passive now.
Always filtering.
Always deciding.
Jiwoo could approach.
Their mother could approach.
Cats could approach.
Kayden could approach, though sometimes Asuka considered revoking the privilege when he became particularly loud.
Harmless things passed.
Threats slowed.
Stopped.
Failed.
But she was not reliant on it.
She had not been in her first life.
She was not now.
Infinity made her untouchable.
It did not make her strong.
She was strong regardless.
With or without it.
Especially with time.
Toru would have teased her endlessly if he was here.
My darling overpowered little sister. Though you're still my cutie.
That was what he would have called her.
Then he would have leaned too close, grinning like the world was his toy, and asked if she wanted to see who could break reality more elegantly.
Asuka's chest tightened.
Her hand stilled on the grey cat's back.
She missed him.
She missed Satoru's laugh.
His arrogance.
His ridiculous sweetness hidden under layers of nonsense.
She missed Yuji's brightness.
Megumi's quiet irritation.
Nobara's sharp confidence.
Shoko's tired eyes.
Yaga's scolding.
Nanami's steadiness.
Even the noise.
Especially the noise.
She wondered how her old world was.
She had faith that Yuji defeated Sukuna.
He had to.
Not alone.
Never alone.
But with everyone.
She believed that.
She needed to.
Her future sight had not shown her past that point.
Death had cut the thread.
So all she had was faith.
Faith that they survived.
Faith that they rebuilt.
Faith that, somewhere, in another world, they were happy.
Or at least alive enough to complain.
Asuka's mouth trembled faintly.
Then softened.
"Be happy," she whispered.
The apartment did not answer.
Only the cats.
The grey one purred against her.
A black cat climbed onto the couch beside her and pressed into her hip.
The tabby stretched dramatically on the floor.
The black-and-white queen watched from the backrest with dignified approval.
Asuka looked down at them.
Then smiled.
"I am okay."
The words were not entirely true.
Not entirely false.
Like many things.
Outside, Jiwoo's laughter faintly carried from the street.
A startled shout followed.
Probably the dog owner.
Then Kayden's offended meow.
Asuka's smile grew.
Yes.
Her previous world was gone from her hands.
But this one was here.
Her brother.
Her teacher.
Their cats.
Their small, messy apartment.
The awakened world waiting beyond the door.
And whatever came next, Asuka Seo would decide how much of herself to reveal.
Speed.
Fire.
A harmless blindfolded girl with calm manners.
That was enough for the world.
For now.
Her eyes gleamed, blue and endless.
For everything else—
Space bent faintly around her hand.
Time stilled for less than a breath.
A spark of orange flame flickered once, then vanished.
For everything else, Asuka would remain what she had always been.
A blade sheathed by choice.
And if anyone mistook the sheath for weakness, that would be their mistake.
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