(PoV: Rei)

  The door to the school closed behind us with a soft chime, and I watched Papa walk away. His steps were long and purposeful, like they always had somewhere to be. The kind of walk that forgot to look back.

  I didn’t wave.

  Nia didn’t notice. She was already pulling her backpack around, chatting to herself about some dream she had st night involving a flying squirrel and chocote milk. She bounced ahead, sunshine stuffed into too-small shoes.

  I stayed behind.

  Not because I hated him.

  It’s just… he looked so different st night.

  Slouched on the couch, eyes half-shut, his tie still clinging to his neck like a noose. The moment felt… still. Like a gss before it cracks.

  I stood there for a while in the hallway before putting the bnket over him. I didn’t even know if he was asleep. His breathing wasn’t loud, but his face… it looked tired in a way I hadn’t seen before.

  So I pced it over his shoulders like Mama used to do for me. I didn’t think. I just acted. And when he pulled me into that hug, pretending to be asleep, I didn’t say anything.

  Because I didn’t want to pull away either.

  Not that I’d admit that out loud.

  Nia saw and screamed, “No fair!” and dived in, and then somehow the three of us were curled up on the couch like we were trying to remember how to be a family. It felt warm.

  I hadn’t felt warm like that in a long time.

  "Rei! C'mon, you’re gonna get locked out!"

  My.

  She was waving at me from the cssroom door, a half-eaten cheese bun in her hand and her red-patterned cloak dragging on the floor behind her. Even in third grade, she wore everything like it was part of a py. And somehow, she’d decided I was the lead actress in it.

  I didn’t really mind.

  I walked in quietly and took my usual seat near the window. Third from the back, second row. Same as always.

  My plopped into the desk beside mine, pulling out her crystal-core workbook with a dramatic sigh. “Ugh. I hope today we get to try double-cycle meditation again! My dad says my aura’s definitely gonna break through to solid red soon!”

  “Mm,” I replied.

  That was enough for her.

  Our teacher, Ms. Elra, came in a few minutes ter and cpped her hands. “Good morning, css! Let’s begin our core-stabilization lesson. Remember—quiet minds, steady breaths.”

  The room dimmed as the mage-lights responded to the instructor's command, and small candle-sized light spheres floated overhead, casting soft yellow glows across each desk.

  I sat still.

  Around me, kids closed their eyes, pressed their fingers to their sternums, and began focusing mana toward their cores. We’d been taught this since we were five. “Cycle, breathe, expand. Focus, breathe, stabilize.” A rhythm like a heartbeat.

  I closed my eyes, but instead of mana, I saw my father's face again.

  Tired. Lonely. Holding Nia like she was made of air.

  And then I remembered the story he told her.

  A “knight” who once defeated a monster by himself. A man who didn’t speak much but carried the weight of everyone’s fear. A hero who walked alone so others could walk free.

  He said it was just a story.

  But it wasn’t. I knew that now.

  Papa was that knight.

  I opened my eyes.

  Everyone else’s auras were faintly visible now. A few flickering orange glows, one solid red, mostly light pink and bck trails of mana swirling in practice formations.

  Mine hadn’t even lit.

  I didn’t try.

  “Rei?” Ms. Elra’s voice was gentle. She didn’t pressure. She never did.

  My leaned over and whispered, “You’re saving up for something big, huh?”

  I gave a small nod. Just to end the conversation.

  She smiled like she believed it.

  We moved into math lessons next, and I lost myself in numbers. Numbers always behaved. 7 always came after 6. Unlike people.

  At lunch, we sat on the grass behind the pyground. My had brought her own bento, hand-packed by a mom who apparently shaped rice balls into bear faces.

  I stared at the choco bread Papa bought me from the store. It was a little squished from my bag, but the chocote cream hadn’t leaked.

  I peeled back the wrapper.

  “Hey, Rei?” My said, in between mouthfuls. “Do you think you’ll be the first white core mage in 500 years?”

  “No,” I answered pinly.

  “But your reading was AA! Everyone says your talent is huge!”

  I shrugged.

  She looked like she wanted to argue, but then took a giant bite of her rice bear instead.

  The rest of the day passed like usual. Environmental studies, some nguage writing, and then basic magic theory. I didn’t participate, but Ms. Elra never called on me. She had kind eyes. I liked that about her.

  When the bell rang, Nia shot out of her cssroom like an explosion.

  “DADDYYYYY!”

  I stepped out a few seconds ter, just in time to see her wrap herself around Papa’s leg like a stuffed animal with a mission.

  He ughed a little. It sounded like he didn’t expect to.

  I stood by the cssroom door for a while, watching.

  He looked different than this morning. Less tired. Or maybe… less alone.

  His eyes searched the crowd.

  When they nded on me, he smiled. Small, quiet, but real.

  “Let’s go home,” he said.

  I walked to him slowly, hands behind my back, school bag swinging lightly with each step.

  “Mm,” I replied.

  He offered his hand.

  I hesitated for only a second before I took it.

  Nia grabbed his other hand immediately. “Let’s eat pudding tonight! Rei said we could if you bought it!”

  “I didn’t,” I muttered.

  “She definitely did!”

  Papa just smiled. “Alright. Pudding it is.”

  As we walked home, I gnced up at the sky. The clouds were moving fast, pulled along by magic wind currents from the outer district. They looked like they were racing.

  I squeezed his hand.

  Not tightly.

  But enough to say: I’m still here.

  And maybe… I still want you here too.

  Even if I don’t say it out loud.