The campus woke up like it had been waiting for today.
Not excited.
Hungry.
The air was colder than it should have been, wind cutting across the center square hard enough to make students hunch their shoulders. The bell rope swayed once, creaking faintly like a throat clearing before a speech.
XH stood in roll call line and watched how staff moved.
They were more visible today.
More staff stationed near exits. More clipboards. More radios on belts. They weren't preparing for a game.
They were preparing for an incident.
JP stood beside XH with his jaw clenched so tight the muscles twitched. TZ looked unusually quiet. HS's face was pale, eyes sunken, the kind of exhaustion that wasn't fixed by sleep. NS stood on XH's other side, posture straight, expression calm. Too calm.
Across the square, the girls were lined separately, jackets zipped, hair tied back. June's ponytail was tight, her highlights muted under the gray light. Kitty's blonde looked almost silver in the morning fog. NC stood a half-step in front of Anna and Jihye, protective without making it obvious. Cherry stood with her chin lifted like she refused to be intimidated by weather, staff, or fate.
No one talked about last night's argument in the girls' dorm, but it hung in the air anyway. You could feel it in the way June avoided Kitty's eyes. In the way Kitty's mouth tightened when June spoke to anyone else. In the way NC watched them like she was watching a cracked glass on the edge of a table.
A staff member walked down the line and announced, voice flat.
"Scrimmage assessment begins at 8:00. All students will attend. Performance points and discipline points will be logged. Violence results in redirection."
Redirection.
The word always carried the bell.
JP muttered, "Violence results in redirection, but they're trying to make us violent."
TZ didn't answer, but his hands flexed and unflexed inside his gloves, restless.
NS spoke quietly, as if he was discussing a lab protocol. "Keep your head. They want a reason."
XH didn't respond. He didn't want to talk to NS right now. He didn't want to hear NS's calm voice, because calm in this place felt like something else.
Breakfast was beans curry again. The dining hall smelled the same as always, but the mood was sharper. Students ate fast, eyes darting, conversations low.
A new sign had been taped near the serving line.
SCRIMMAGE PRIVILEGE BONUS
TOP TEAM RECEIVES ADD-ON MEALS FOR 48 HOURS
LOW TEAM RECEIVES EXTENDED STUDY HOURS
Bribery and punishment in one breath.
Cherry read it and smiled faintly. "Add-on meals," she murmured. "So the prize is eggs."
NC didn't smile. "The prize is control."
June stared at the sign longer than she should have, then forced herself to look away.
Kitty didn't comment, but her shoulders tightened slightly. She hated how much it mattered. She hated that the campus could make hunger feel like a trophy.
At 7:45, students were marched toward the gym complex.
The gym complex was enormous, built like a military training arena. Multiple courts. Metal bleachers. High ceilings. Loud echoes. The air smelled like rubber mats, sweat from past sessions, and cleaning chemicals that tried to hide it.
Staff positioned students by majors and cohorts. Health Track sat together in a block, not by choice. By instruction.
VT's batch sat across from them, relaxed, laughing, already acting like winners.
VT himself sat in the front row of his block, arms crossed, posture casual like he was watching a comedy show. His eyes scanned Health Track slowly, then paused on June and Kitty. His smile widened slightly. Then he looked at XH.
The smile became a smirk.
XH felt heat rise in his chest and forced it down.
Staff stepped onto the central court and introduced the scrimmage like it was a sporting event.
But the tone wasn't sports.
It was trial.
"Today we assess physical cohesion and composure," the staff member said. "You will be assigned into mixed-court scrimmages. Performance will be measured. Discipline will be measured.
Those who cannot maintain control will be identified."
Identified.
A word that sounded like punishment without saying punishment.
A second staff member held up a board listing teams.
Health Track's first scrimmage was against a mixed team heavily stacked with VT's batch.
Not random.
Never random.
JP read it and laughed once, sharp. "They're feeding us to wolves."
TZ's eyes narrowed. "Then we bite back."
NS spoke calmly, "No. We win clean."
XH glanced at NS. "You always say clean."
NS met his gaze. "Because dirty gets you redirected."
XH swallowed his irritation again. He hated that NS was right.
But he hated more that NS always sounded like he had accepted the rules as law.
Teams were called onto the court.
Health Track's five were chosen by staff, not by volunteers.
XH. NS. JP. TZ. HS.
The same core boys.
The audience murmured. Some cheered. Some laughed. Some stared like they were about to watch a fight.
Kitty's eyes followed XH as he walked onto the court. June watched too, posture rigid, face composed. Their truce demanded distance, but distance didn't stop their eyes.
On the opposite side, VT's team stepped onto the court.
VT didn't play yet. He stood behind the line, hands in pockets, smiling like he owned the arena.
His crew played instead.
Bigger boys. Sharper elbows. Movement too aggressive for a "scrimmage."
The whistle blew.
The ball went up.
For the first minute, it looked like basketball.
Then it started looking like something else.
An elbow to JP's ribs that was "accidental." A shoulder check into HS that pushed him off balance. A hand on TZ's jersey that became a tug.
Staff didn't stop it.
They watched.
Health Track tried to play clean. They moved fast, passed, used space. XH drove toward the lane and kicked the ball out to NS. NS sank a shot cleanly, expression blank.
JP grinned for half a second, then took another elbow that made his grin vanish.
HS was struggling.
Not because he didn't know the game, but because his body was already exhausted from days of conditioning and hunger. His reactions were slower. His balance less steady.
One of VT's boys noticed.
That was how predators work. They smell weakness.
He bumped HS again, harder this time. HS stumbled.
The crowd murmured.
Kitty's hands clenched in her lap.
June's jaw tightened.
NC leaned forward slightly, eyes sharp. Cherry watched with a faint smile like she enjoyed the tension. Anna's face went pale. Jihye's fingers curled around her sleeve like she was trying not to shake.
HS regained his footing, face flushed with embarrassment and anger.
XH saw it.
XH moved closer, instinctive, protective. He didn't speak. He just positioned himself between HS and the boy who kept bumping him.
The boy smirked. "Captain now," he whispered.
XH didn't answer.
The boy shoved again, shoulder into XH's chest.
The shove was small, but deliberate.
XH's body reacted before his mind could.
His hand shot out, grabbing the boy's jersey, pulling him back.
The arena went quiet for a beat.
Staff whistles stayed silent.
JP's eyes widened.
TZ stiffened.
NS's gaze sharpened.
XH released the jersey instantly, breathing hard, forcing his hands to unclench.
The boy smiled like he had won a point.
He leaned in and whispered, "Good. Show them."
Show them.
That was the trap.
Make Health Track look violent. Make them lose discipline points. Make them eligible for redirection.
XH forced himself to step back, shaking out his hands like he was calming a dog.
NS moved close, voice low. "Don't."
XH's voice came out strained. "He's targeting HS."
NS didn't blink. "I know."
"Then do something," XH snapped.
NS's eyes narrowed slightly. "I am. I'm keeping us in the game."
XH wanted to spit. Keeping us in the game sounded like justification for letting someone get hurt.
But the whistle blew again and the play resumed.
Health Track scored again. JP hit a three and shouted, "That's for the beans," loud enough to make the crowd laugh. TZ laughed too, but the laugh was sharp.
VT's crew responded with a hard drive and a foul that wasn't called.
HS took a hit to the shoulder and grimaced, trying to hide pain.
XH felt his rage rising again.
June's eyes followed every hit.
Kitty's gaze stayed on XH like she was worried he would explode.
The truce was holding, but it was stretched.
At halftime, staff called teams to the bench.
No water given freely. They had to request it.
XH drank quickly. His throat felt dry. His hands shook slightly, not from fear, from adrenaline trapped under skin.
JP leaned toward XH. "I swear I'll break his nose."
TZ muttered, "Not yet."
HS whispered, "I'm okay."
No one believed him.
NS looked at the team, posture calm. "We play clean. We win. Don't give them discipline deductions."
XH stared at him. "So we just let them hit us."
NS's voice stayed even. "We let them hit air. We move smarter."
JP scoffed. "That's soft."
NS's eyes flicked to JP. "It's survival."
The word survival landed heavy.
XH exhaled hard. He couldn't argue longer. The staff were watching.
So he nodded once, jaw tight. "Fine."
They returned to the court.
The second half escalated.
VT's crew got rougher. They pushed boundaries because staff allowed it. Every foul was a test.
XH drove again, was checked hard mid-air, landed awkwardly. Pain shot up his side. He swallowed it.
The crowd roared.
Some students cheered. Some winced.
Kitty's breath caught. June's hands clenched. NC's posture stiffened.
XH stood up quickly, refusing to show weakness.
One of VT's boys laughed. "Still standing."
XH looked at him and smiled without warmth. "Always."
Health Track won by a narrow margin.
Not because staff wanted them to. Because XH and NS sank the last shots, because JP played like rage was fuel, because TZ defended like he had something to prove, because HS forced his body to keep moving even when he looked like he might collapse.
The whistle blew.
Staff wrote on clipboards.
Not applauding. Logging.
The crowd murmured. Some students cheered, but the cheer felt uncertain. Like they weren't sure if cheering was allowed.
VT clapped slowly from the sideline.
Not applause.
Mockery.
"Nice," VT said loudly, so both teams could hear. "You survived."
Survived again. The same word.
JP glared. "Come play yourself."
VT's smile widened. "Soon."
Staff called for the next match. Health Track was ordered to remain seated and watch.
The watching was part of evaluation too.
How you reacted mattered.
Kitty and June watched the boys return to their seats, bruised and sweaty, faces tense.
Kitty's eyes met XH's for a second. She looked worried. She looked proud. She looked like she wanted to say something and couldn't.
June looked at XH too, expression controlled, but her eyes softened for a fraction before hardening again. Last night's dorm argument still bruised her. She didn't want to feel anything now, not here.
After the scrimmage session ended, staff announced preliminary results.
Health Track gained performance points.
But there were discipline deductions.
Not for VT's crew.
For Health Track.
A deduction for "physical contact escalation."
XH's jaw tightened. JP swore quietly. TZ's eyes narrowed. HS looked like he might cry from exhaustion and humiliation.
NS didn't react outwardly.
He just nodded once, like he expected it.
That made XH's stomach twist.
Outside the gym, in the corridor, VT's crew blocked their path casually.
Not fully, just enough to force proximity.
One boy smirked at HS. "You almost fell."
HS stared at the floor.
JP stepped forward. "Move."
The boy didn't.
XH felt his fists clench again.
NS stepped between them smoothly. "We're leaving," NS said calmly.
VT's crew laughed and moved aside slowly, like they were doing a favor.
As Health Track walked past, one of VT's boys bumped XH's shoulder deliberately.
XH stopped.
Everything inside him wanted to swing.
He heard June's voice in his head: survive first.
He heard Kitty's voice: truce.
He heard his grandmother's voice: don't break yourself trying to be kind.
He inhaled.
He kept walking.