Krai stopped in his tracks, staring into the classroom.

  Leon followed his gaze. Inside, scattered across the floor near the D4 section, were personal belongings—clothes, notebooks, supplies, small personal items all pulled from somewhere and dumped carelessly onto the ground.

  A group of D3 students stood around the mess, some with their arms crossed, others leaning against desks. At the center of the group was a tall guy with sharp features and an air of casual authority. Rone. Leon had seen him in class before, always surrounded by other D3 students who seemed to defer to him.

  Rone was holding something small between his fingers. A locket, dangling from a thin chain.

  Krai's entire demeanor shifted. His usually composed face went rigid, eyes locked on the locket. He tried to school his expression back to neutrality, but it was too late. Rone had already noticed.

  "Well, well," Rone said, a slow smile spreading across his face. "This something precious to you?"

  Krai swallowed hard. For a moment he didn't respond, then he gave a slight nod. "Yes."

  "How precious?"

  "Very." Krai's voice was steady but quiet. "Please. You can destroy anything else there. All of it. Just... leave that."

  Rone examined the locket more closely, turning it over in his hand. The smile didn't fade. "Interesting. You know what? I'll make you a deal."

  He pulled a lighter from his pocket, the cheap plastic kind, and held it out toward Krai.

  "You burn all this stuff—yours and your friends' things—everything on the floor here. Do that, and I'll give this back to you."

  The classroom went completely silent. Students who had been chatting stopped, turning to watch. No one spoke.

  "Are they serious?" someone whispered from the back. "You can't just light a fire in the classroom. The alarms will go off. They'll get expelled or something."

  Another voice: "This is crazy."

  Krai stared at the lighter in Rone's outstretched hand. His jaw clenched. He looked down at the pile of belongings on the floor—his notebooks with lecture notes, a jacket, some pens, a water bottle. Mixed in were things belonging to the other two D4 students who'd been punished with him this morning.

  Those two students stood nearby, watching. Their faces showed resignation, exhaustion. One of them—a shorter guy with messy hair—spoke up quietly.

  "It's alright, Krai. There's nothing in that pile I care about. Like you care about that locket."

  The other one nodded. "Yeah. Seriously. Just do it. It's just stuff."

  Krai's hands trembled slightly as he looked between them and the lighter. "But it's your things too. I can't just—"

  "We're telling you it's fine," the first one insisted.

  Krai closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then reached out and took the lighter from Rone. His hand was shaking.

  "I'm sorry," he said to the other two students, voice low.

  Krai knelt down beside the pile of scattered belongings. He flicked the lighter once, twice—the small flame appearing on the third try. He held it there for a moment, hesitating, then touched it to the corner of one of the notebooks.

  The paper caught immediately. The flame spread quickly to the pages, then to a shirt that had been tossed onto the pile. Smoke began rising, thin at first but thickening rapidly.

  Students backed away from the spreading fire. Some looked horrified, others fascinated. The crackling sound of burning paper filled the room.

  Then another D3 student stepped forward—Alvin, who usually sat near the front of the D3 section and rarely participated in the harassment. He was holding a large water bottle. Without a word, he unscrewed the cap and dumped the entire contents over the flames.

  Water splashed everywhere, soaking the pile and extinguishing the fire. Steam and smoke mixed together, the burnt smell filling the classroom.

  "What the hell, Alvin?" Rone spun around to face him, anger flashing across his face.

  Alvin didn't look intimidated. "Do you want the fire alarm to trigger?" he asked calmly, gesturing up at the ceiling where the smoke detectors were mounted. "Faculty gets involved, we all get questioned about why there was a fire in the classroom. Want to explain that to the administration?"

  Stolen story; please report.

  Rone opened his mouth to argue, then closed it. He couldn't counter that logic. His jaw worked silently for a moment before he turned back to Krai, frustration evident in every movement.

  "You know what?" Rone said, his voice tight with anger. "Forget it."

  He held the locket up, dangling it in front of Krai's face for just a moment. Then, before Krai could react, he threw it down onto the floor with force.

  The locket hit the hard tile with a sharp crack. The glass face shattered, tiny fragments scattering. The thin chain broke, pieces skittering in different directions.

  "No—" Krai dropped to his knees instantly, hands scrambling to gather the broken pieces. His fingers moved frantically, collecting every fragment he could find—the bent metal casing, the shattered glass, the broken chain links.

  He held the pieces in his cupped palms, staring down at them. His shoulders were shaking.

  Then he looked up at Rone, still kneeling on the floor.

  "Motherfucking bastard," Krai said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly through the silent classroom.

  The words hung in the air.

  Rone's face darkened. "What did you just say to me?"

  He moved forward, fists clenching at his sides. Several other D3 students shifted, ready to follow his lead.

  Leon stepped between them without thinking, arms stretched out to either side to create physical distance between Rone and Krai. "Wait, just—let's just calm down for a second—"

  "Get out of my way," Rone growled, not even looking at Leon properly.

  "Look, everyone's already upset, there's no point in making this worse—"

  Rone's hand shot out and grabbed Leon's outstretched wrist—the left one, the one with the bracelet. Leon immediately tried to pull back, but Rone's grip tightened. He felt Rone's fingers brush against the beaded bracelet.

  Rone's eyes followed Leon's reaction, then looked down at what he was holding.

  "Oh." Rone's anger shifted into something else—cruel amusement. "Looks like you've got something precious too, huh?"

  His fingers moved to the bracelet's clasp. Leon tried harder to pull his arm free, but Rone held firm.

  "Let's see how you like—"

  A hand clamped down on Rone's shoulder, hard. Alvin had moved up beside him.

  "That's enough," Alvin said firmly.

  Rone looked back at him. "Are you serious right now? Jason ordered this punishment. He's not going to be happy with you getting in the way."

  "You already broke that guy's locket. You made your point. I said that's enough." Alvin's voice was level but there was steel underneath. "I'll talk to Jason myself. Personally. You've done what you needed to do."

  They stared at each other for several long seconds. The classroom seemed to hold its breath.

  Then Rone released Leon's wrist with a sharp movement and shrugged off Alvin's hand. "Fine. Whatever."

  He stepped back, addressing the room loudly. "Everyone back to your seats. Now." He pointed at a couple of D4 students near the pile of wet, burnt belongings. "You two. Throw that garbage out. I don't want to look at it anymore."

  The classroom slowly came back to life. Students moved to their seats—D3s to the front section, D4s to the back. A couple of D4 students gathered up the ruined belongings, carrying them out to the hallway trash bins.

  Leon sat down in his usual spot. Noah took the seat next to him, and Krai sat on Leon's other side. Krai was still holding the broken locket pieces, carefully placing them one by one into his jacket pocket. His hands had stopped shaking but his face remained blank, carefully controlled.

  "You okay?" Noah asked quietly, leaning over.

  "I'm fine."

  "Krai, seriously—"

  "I said I'm fine." Krai's voice was flat, final.

  Leon and Noah exchanged a glance but didn't push further. There was clearly more to that locket than just sentimental value, but this wasn't the time.

  The professor entered a few moments later, professional and oblivious to what had just transpired. "Alright, everyone settled? Let's begin."

  The lecture started. Leon tried to pay attention, taking notes mechanically, but his mind kept drifting. He glanced at Krai several times. His roommate sat perfectly still, pen in hand, eyes on the professor, but Leon could tell he wasn't actually processing anything being said.

  The class dragged on. Fifty minutes that felt like hours.

  Finally, the professor concluded. "That's all for today. Remember, chapters 7 and 8 for next class. Have a good evening."

  Students started packing up immediately, the usual end-of-day noise filling the room—zippers closing, chairs scraping, conversations starting up.

  Then every phone in the classroom buzzed at exactly the same moment.

  The sound was jarring—dozens of notification tones going off in unison. Everyone stopped what they were doing and reached for their phones.

  Leon pulled his out. A notification from the academy administration system sat at the top of his screen.

  ANNOUNCEMENT: Changes to Upcoming Tournament Structure

  He tapped it. The message that opened was brief, official-looking:

  Significant rule changes have been made to the upcoming tournament. The first rule modification will be announced tomorrow morning at a compulsory assembly. All students are required to attend.

  Event Title: MANDATORY TOURNAMENT

  Further details to follow.

  Leon read it twice, then looked up at Noah, who was reading the same message with a frown.

  "Mandatory?" Noah said. "I thought you said these tournaments were optional?"

  They both turned to Krai, who was staring at his phone screen with genuine confusion written across his face.

  "They are optional," Krai said slowly. "They've always been optional. Students can choose to participate if they want to earn CPP, but no one's ever been forced."

  "So what's this about?" Leon asked, gesturing at his phone.

  Krai shook his head, still looking at his screen. "I have no idea. There's never been a mandatory tournament before. Not in the academy's history, as far as I know. I've never even heard of the concept."

  "Then why now?" Noah pressed.

  "I don't know."

  Leon looked around the classroom. Everyone—every single student—was staring at their phones with similar expressions of confusion and concern. Even in the D3 section, students were talking in low, uncertain voices. Rone and his group were clustered together, looking at their phones and gesturing. Even Alvin, usually so composed, had his brow furrowed as he read the message.

  "This doesn't make any sense," Noah muttered. "If tournaments have always been optional, why would they suddenly make one mandatory? What changed?"

  Krai was still staring at his phone.