The echoes of the sparring match clung to Ash''s thoughts as he stepped through the academy''s sterile, brightly lit halls. His ribs still ached with every breath, the dull throb reminding him of the fight''s aftermath. Yet, it wasn''t the physical pain that unsettled him; it was the way people looked at him now.


    Before, Ash had been a ghost in these halls. He blended into the background, unnoticed, unseen. He was an afterthought—at best, a quiet student who kept to himself; at worst, the subject of ridicule for those who found amusement in his quiet, unremarkable existence. But after almost defeating Takeshi Mori, everything had shifted.


    The whispers had started early, even before breakfast.


    "Did you hear? He almost took down Mori."


    "No way. He got lucky."


    "Lucky or not, he''s different."


    Ash felt their eyes on him as he passed—some curious, some calculating, some just… watching. They weren''t the same students he had known before. Even Takeshi''s usual entourage of sycophants no longer sneered at him with the same fervor. They still had that arrogant glint in their eyes, but it was tempered now, as if they were trying to figure out what had changed, what had shifted beneath the surface.


    Ash kept his gaze forward, ignoring the murmurs and the subtle shifts in behavior. He didn''t need their attention. He wasn''t interested in being seen—he wasn''t sure he ever wanted to be seen. But as he walked, he could feel the weight of their stares pressing against him, heavy and constant.


    By the time he reached his classroom, his chest was tight with something that wasn''t pain. He slid into his seat near the window, leaning back and trying to find the rhythm of his breathing. The classroom was filled with the usual chatter, but Ash couldn''t focus on it. His mind was far too distracted by the shift in the air, the way the space felt charged, different.


    "Hey, you made quite the impression yesterday," Kenji''s voice broke through his thoughts, and Ash turned to see his friend leaning over the desk, a grin on his face. The excitement in Kenji''s eyes was palpable, his enthusiasm uncontained.


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    Ash exhaled sharply, rubbing his temples. "That''s not what I was trying to do."


    Kenji''s grin only grew wider, a glint of amusement flashing in his eyes. "Doesn''t matter. People notice now. And not just the students."


    Ash frowned, his gaze drifting around the room. Not just the students? Before he could ask Kenji what he meant by that, the classroom door slid open with a soft hiss, cutting through the tension in the room.


    Instructor Oda entered with his usual precision, his sharp gaze sweeping across the students like a predator scanning for prey. His eyes briefly met Ash''s, but only for a second—just long enough for Ash to feel the weight of it. The instructor''s eyes lingered, just for a heartbeat too long, and then moved on.


    The moment passed, but the weight of it remained. The instructors are watching me now? Ash felt a cold ripple of unease run through him. He had never felt the eyes of his instructors quite like this before. He wasn''t sure whether it was the fact that he had nearly defeated Takeshi or if it was something else entirely. Either way, he wasn''t sure if he liked the feeling.


    The lesson started, and Ash tried to focus on the words droning on in front of him, the curriculum that had always seemed so irrelevant to him. But now, everything felt different. Every glance, every motion, every shift of his weight in his seat—he felt like someone was watching him, judging him. As if there was something he didn''t know, something he couldn''t quite grasp.


    And then there was her.


    Tsukihime Rei sat across the room, her back straight, her posture perfect. Her face was as unreadable as always, the sharp, delicate features betraying no emotion. He knew she had seen the fight. He could see it in her eyes—the sharpness, the quiet assessment. She hadn''t spoken to him since yesterday, and that silence felt heavier than anything.


    What does she want? What is she thinking?


    The room seemed to shrink around him as his mind raced. Rei was smart, calculating. She was different from the others. She was the one who made Ash feel like he wasn''t in control of the game anymore. She was a player in a game he didn''t understand, one he wasn''t sure he wanted to play. But her silence, the way she observed him, made him feel like he was a part of something larger now, whether he liked it or not.


    As the lesson continued, Ash''s thoughts remained scattered, unfocused. His mind kept wandering back to the match, to the strange surge of power he had felt, to the way Takeshi had looked at him afterward—something different in his eyes, something that made Ash''s skin prickle with unease.


    The game had changed. He wasn''t sure who had changed it, or why, but it was no longer the same. And he wasn''t sure he knew the rules anymore.


    But one thing was clear.


    He was no longer invisible.