Monday – Tenkaichi Elite Academy, Morning
Aeron sat in his seat, arms crossed behind his head, gazing absently out the window.
The classroom buzzed as usual. Girls chatted, chairs scraped, and laughter echoed. But his mind was miles away — anchored in a memory that refused to fade.
Not the kiss.
Not Mirei's confession.
Just… the weight of being noticed.
Behind him, Tatsuki tapped his shoulder with a pen. "You didn't touch your lunch yesterday. Everything okay?"
Aeron replied without looking, "Not hungry."
"Liar. Your stomach growled in the middle of math class."
Yume, across the aisle, glanced over. "You should eat, Aeron-kun…"
He nodded slightly. Just slightly.
Yume smiled… but inside, she was screaming.
---
Class Representative's Perspective – Arisa Minato
Arisa Minato, top of the academic rankings, sat at her desk near the front. Her glasses rested perfectly on her nose. Her notes were color-coded. Her pen moved with surgical precision.
But she wasn't paying attention to the board.
> She was watching him.
Aeron Kael. The anomaly. The ghost in a crowd of noise.
She had seen the shift.
Before, he was just distant. Now, he was quietly magnetic — like gravity pulling everything around him in slow, spiraling collapse.
"They're all circling him," Arisa thought, pushing her glasses up.
"Mirei Asagiri, Yume Hoshino, Ayaka Kael… it's not just hormones. It's obsession."
Arisa wasn't immune. She just didn't believe in losing control.
Yet.
---
Hallway – Between Classes
Ayaka bumped into Aeron near the lockers.
"Going somewhere?" she asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Class," he replied, moving past her.
She stepped in front of him.
A moment passed in silence.
"…Why didn't you tell me about the dinner?"
He blinked. "It wasn't planned."
"That's not an answer."
Aeron sighed, stepping around her. "I didn't think it mattered."
Ayaka's fists clenched, but she smiled sweetly.
> "You really are cruel, you know that?"
He didn't respond.
---
Library – After School
Arisa approached Aeron while he was sitting alone, browsing a book on architectural design.
"Strange choice," she said calmly.
He looked up. "I like clean things."
She sat beside him — uninvited, but unbothered.
"I've been watching you."
Aeron stared. "That's not creepy at all."
"I analyze everything," she replied, opening her notebook. "People. Behavior. Patterns."
"…And?"
"You're broken."
He blinked once.
"But you're still standing. I want to know why."
That earned a rare look from him — not shock, not anger… just interest.
---
Side Story – Ayaka's Late-Night Research
Ayaka sat in her room, scrolling through forums.
"How to seduce your stepbrother without ruining everything."
She shook her head and slammed the laptop shut.
> "I need help…"
She opened her contacts and clicked: Misora.
[Ayaka]: "Can we talk? It's urgent."
[Misora]: "Let me guess… about Aeron?"
> "Please… I think I'm going crazy."
---
Closing Lines
That night, Aeron stared out his bedroom window again.
It wasn't storming outside.
But he could feel it.
Every girl around him was changing.
And something deep inside him whispered...
> "You're not just being watched anymore."
"You're being wanted."