CHAPTER 58: BUT WE’RE WEAK

The cafeteria buzzed with the low, constant hum of voices, the scrape of forks against trays, overlapping conversations, and the shuffle of feet.

The smell of reheated bread, under-seasoned rice, and canned sauce lingered in the air.

Just another goddamn morning at this academy.

Saya, always the first to talk, cut through the lunch line with a kind of energy that didn’t belong there.

Scott trailed behind her, yawning like a bear that hadn’t quite finished hibernating.

Mina walked in silence, her hands wrapped around her tray, eyes locked on her shoes.

Since their first group training session — a brutal, early-morning drill run by a sadistic instructor — something had formed between them.

Something thin, fragile, but real. Maybe friendship.

Or at least that quiet sense of solidarity that outcasts feel when the world either ignores or despises them.

They sat at their usual table. The one farthest from the cliques grouped like tribal circles around the stone pillars. Away from judging eyes.

The one no one else ever chose. The "corrupted" table.

— "I still can’t believe the way he talked to us," Saya muttered, stabbing her spoon into her bowl. "You think he was serious? About this ’training’ thing?"

Scott shrugged, his mouth full of overly dry rice.

— "Could be crap. That guy’s creepy as hell. I’ve never been able to look him straight in the eye."

— "I did," Mina whispered. "I listened, too..."

Scott raised an eyebrow.

— "Listened to what?"

Mina fidgeted with her sleeve, already blushing.

Her voice shook, but she kept talking.

— "Last week... I was in the hallway. At night. By accident. Kinda. I heard Dante talking to someone. I don’t know who—maybe a girl. He spoke really softly, like... really soft. I felt something from him. Not like the other corrupted carriers. It was... gentle. Sad, but gentle."

— "You spied on Dante?!" Saya gasped. "Minaaa!"

— "I just... wanted to know if he was sincere," she murmured. "I almost got caught. I left before he saw me."

Scott groaned, biting into his bread like it might help chew through his frustration.

— "You’re nuts, Mina. We’re all gonna end up in a ditch with rocks tied to our feet because of you..."

Saya smacked him lightly on the arm.

— "Oh, come on. Mina’s got guts. I’m just saying... maybe we should take him seriously. At least he is a hero who doesn’t treat us like trash."

Mina gave a small, shy nod.

But the moment didn’t last.

Loud, mocking laughter suddenly rang out nearby — harsh, forced, aggressive.

The kind of laughter that always meant trouble was coming.

A group of students in red uniforms strolled between the tables like they owned the place — which, in a way, they probably did.

Judging by the number of buttons on their sleeves and the red shade of their coats, they were third-years.

Dravon House.

Arrogant. Violent. Powerful. The kind of students even some staff avoided locking eyes with.

And walking with them... was Reis.

Scott stiffened. Mina went pale. Saya narrowed her eyes.

Reis — their former classmate.

The one who had warned them about Dante just a few week.

Now, he was part of the nightmare.

— "Well, look what we’ve got here," one of the Dravons said, voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Reis told us about you. Heard you’re looking for friends ?"

They surrounded the table.

Saya half-rose from her seat.

— "We didn’t ask for anything."

— "Not yet," one of them breathed, trailing a finger across Mina’s cheek. "Cute one. Shame she’s tainted."

Mina looked down, trembling. Scott clenched his fists.

— "Touch her again, and I’ll—"

But the swing never came.

A hand grabbed him by the hair and slammed him to the ground.

Before he could get up, a flurry of kicks and punches rained down on him.

— "Big guy like you hits like a twig," the attacker laughed. "You low on calcium, or what?"

Then came the hot canned sauce — splashed across Scott’s face, burning, sticking.

No one moved.

The other students looked away.

Some shrugged.

Others smirked awkwardly, like they were watching a bad play.

Even their "friend" Reis didn’t move, watching their humiliation initially with fear and then a sadisticsmile.

Only one group — first-years in pale green uniforms, SylvianHouse — jumped from their seats and ran for the exit.

Saya gritted her teeth. She wanted to scream. To throw her chair and fight back.

But... they were Dravons. One wrong move, and they could get expelled. Orworse.

Silence suddenly fell.

The doors slammed open.

A tall student in a yellowcoat with a yellow red armband.

His dark-rimmed eyes scanned the scene with no emotion.

— "Playtime’s over. Back off, you snakes."

The Dravons froze.

Their leader clenched his jaw but obeyed.

They backed off slowly, shooting Scott a dirty smile.

One of them dragged two fingers across his throat in a mock execution gesture.

Then they were gone.

— "Tch. Damn B-rank punk." one of them muttered on the way out.

Thesupervisor watched them disappear, then turned to look at Saya, Mina, and Scott.

His name was Kairo Nox. B-rank. Solheim House.

A dangerous student and also supervisor — rumored to be half-psychopath, but completely incorruptible.

His coat fluttered briefly in the hallway breeze before he vanished just as quickly as he came.

Saya helped Scott to his feet. He winced but said nothing.

They left the cafeteria with their heads down, drowning in shame.

---

The boys’ bathroom lights flickered every ten seconds, buzzing with an annoying hum.

The cracked tile floors were filthy. The air reeked of industrial soap and dried blood.

Scott stood hunched over a sink, hands braced against the porcelain.

Water trickled as he tried to wash the sauce and shame out of his sticky hair.

The sauce had clotted in thick red clumps, like open wounds.

He winced with every move. His ribs ached.

But more than that, it was the humiliation. Being beaten like a dog in front of everyone.

Like he wasn’t even human.

Mina sat on the floor nearby.

Back against the wall. Knees hugged to her chest. Arms wrapped around her legs. Her face buried in her skirt.

She hadn’t spoken a word. Hadn’t looked up once.

Saya stood by the mirror, silent.

She looked at Scott. Then Mina. Then herself in the cracked reflection.

Her hands trembled slightly. Inside... she was a storm.

Why ?

Why were they going through this?

They hadn’t done anything. Just... existed. Tried to study, tried to live.

But the label on their file — low-tiercorruptioncarriers — was like a curse.

No one sat next to them. No one partnered with them for projects.

And now, even Reis — their only "friend" — had traded them in for power.

Sold their pain for a seat at the top.

A growl broke the silence. Scott punched the wall beside the sink, cracking the tile.

— "Goddamn it... I should’ve hit harder. Should’ve smashed their faces in."

— "And end up locked away ?" Saya said quietly. "You know how this place works."

— "Exactly! That’s the problem! Everyone knows, and no one does a thing!"

He gasped, a tear of rage sliding down his cheek.

Mina kept sobbing, quietly.

Saya felt a knot rise in her throat.

Enough.

She took a deep breath, staring into the mirror.

Maybe at herself.

Maybe at the others.

Maybe at all the versions of herself she’d buried just to survive.

— "No." Her voice was steady.

She turned. Met Scott’s eyes. Looked down at Mina.

— "We can’t keep going like this. I’mtired.

Tired of looking down. Tired of biting my tongue. Tired of pretending things will magically get better.

It’s been two months and every day’s worse than the last. You wanna know something ?"

She stepped up to the wall and slammed her fist against it.

The skin scraped, but she didn’t flinch.

— "Nothing changes if we don’t. It’s that simple. We can cry. We can complain. We can blame everyone else, or..."

She paused, then continued, calmer but no less intense.

— "...or we decide this ends here.

That the next time someone tries to step on us,

they’ll meet people who aren’t just victims — they’ll meet people willing to fight back."

Mina slowly raised her head, eyes swollen with tears.

— "But... we’re weak."

Saya knelt in front of her.

— "For now, yeah. But we can change that. Dante... he reached out to us. Maybe he’s crazy. Maybe he’s got wild ideas. But at least... he saw something in us. He talked to us like people. Not trash."

Scott looked up slowly.

— "You think he’ll help us? Even after how we ignored him?"

— "Yeah, we screwed up. But he’ll understand. He knows we’re just trying to survive. He won’t turn us away. He believes that one day, those Dravon bastards will look us in the eye—and they’ll be the ones shaking."

She stood abruptly.

— "I’m going."

— "Where ?" Scott asked.

— "To our last shot."

She threw open the door, eyes blazing.

Scott hesitated, then stood.

— "Shit. She’s serious."

Saya ran through the halls, her loose uniform flapping around her legs, arms out like a child running from punishment.

She didn’t even know exactly where to go.

Dante was a blur in her memory — someone she’d only watched from afar during training.

She turned sharply left, almost slipping on the dirty floor, caught herself on the wall, and kept going, tears of rage blurring her vision.

A janitor stepped into the hall, hands in his pockets, barely awake.

— "Hey! No running in the halls!"

She didn’t slow down.

— "Hey! I’m talkin’ to you!"

But she was already gone.

House Igris. Room 33. That’s where Dante stayed.

She’d overheard it in class. A random comment. Something she kept in her memory for no reason.

Now, it was all she had.

She bolted up two flights of stairs without stopping.

Breath ragged. Legs burning. Her side aching.

But she refused to stop.

She knocked.

Once.

Twice.

Then rested her hand on the door.

Her body trembled. Her heart felt like it would stop.

It was... pressure. Like her entire life was about to change.

The door creaked open.

Dante stood there in a black t-shirt and sweatpants.

He stared at her. Calm. Almost amused.

— "Saya, right? What brings you to my door?"

— "As I expected they finally came, Mina must have told them about what she felt." He thought to himself.

She dropped to her knees, forehead to the floor, arms outstretched.

— "Please... help us."

— "You were right. Since we got here, we’ve been stepped on. Treated like garbage. But... I’m tired. We’re tired. So please. Help us become something more."

Silence.

Saya trembled. Shame, relief, fear — she didn’t even know anymore.

She was just a kid. Fifteen, maybe eighteen. Broken by the system. Begging someone she barely knew.

— "You’re serious, huh?" he murmured.

He knelt.

— "Get up. Strength doesn’t start on your knees."

That’s when Scott and Mina arrived, breathless and wide-eyed.

They rushed to Saya and instinctively helped her up.

Saya sniffled, wiped her tears on her sleeve.

— "You guys coming?" she said with a sad smile. "I already jumped."

Dante smiled like a proud teacher.

— "Perfect timing. I need members to reopen the SpiritualityClub, now the Meditation Club. You might’ve just saved me a paperwork headache. We start tonight. 11:00 PM. Gym C."

— "Not a word. Or I will be forced to kill you." He added with a dark tone that sent a chill through their spines.

Then he smiled warmly and shut the door.

Scott opened his mouth to speak... but said nothing.