Sunny was sitting comfortably in his seat facing a mountain of food.
"Sorry for not showing up yesterday." - He spoke to Cassie.
The lady that had interviewed him yesterday was also there, and he had greeted them both upon arrival; it was just that amongst the 2, Sunny had a lot more he could speak to a fellow sleeper about than academy staff.
"It's fine, really; you passed out. That's not your fault," Cassie responded with a soft smile.
There was an awkward silence that followed.
Sunny had a lot more than he could speak with her about; it was just that, well...
'She is still nervous around me...'—It was a natural reaction in whatever way you looked at it. Sunny was the only sleeper who was speaking and engaging with her, but she still did not know him well enough to hold a real conversation.
'Well then I can just build some conversation points.'
"Have you decided on what classes you are taking?"
She raised her head from her food—"Yeah, I'm going to take one to help with my... flaw."
"Hmm, that's a good idea. You'll adapt quickly."
She put down her spoon—"You don't need to keep being nice, you know..."
"What do you mean?"
The helper still stood there silently listening to the conversation. Her opinion of Sunny had changed now that she knew the extent of his abilities—or at least the extent that he had revealed.
It seemed almost bittersweet now that he was trying to comfort Cassia because of everyone in this batch of sleepers, he very likely held the highest chance of survival, and she held the mantle of the one destined for death.
"Even my family, no matter how much they pretend to hope, know that I'm not coming back."
"Well. I'm not your family, so what's your point?"
Cassie let out an almost broken chuckle as tears started to well.
"My point is that you don't need to act like I'm going to live because of a bit of classes."
Sunny stopped eating in that moment; his spoon too was left on the plate. He turned to the helper at Cassie's left.
"Can we have a few minutes together?"
The woman looked at him; confusion was held in her eyes, but she listened to his request and left with a nod—"I'll be back in a little bit."
The odd silence returned after she left for a few moments before Sunny sighed.
"Cassie, you may not know this, but I am connected to fate too."
There was no one more connected to fate than him, really.
"What...you're an oracle?"
Her tone was confused, very confused. Was he trying to divert the conversation from what she had said?
Sunny chuckled—"Of sorts."
He was, or rather he was and will be once the Weaver's Mask is back in his hands.
This was one of those situations where his future memories were an aid to his deceit. Sunny was an oracle of sorts, but this Sunny was not, and yet he was Sunny, so he was.
"So imagine my surprise when I see myself in the Dream Realm alongside a silver-haired girl and a blond."
"...What?"
"That's right, Cassie. You're going to survive, and I will be there too."
Her foggy blue eyes had started leaking tears—"Please tell me you aren't just trying to be nice...please."
"Sunny had walked around the table and sat on the bench beside her; he used his hand to pull her head onto his shoulder. It definitely helped that Sunny was only a bit taller than her.
"I'm not just trying to be nice, Cassie. It's true."
No one was paying attention to what was happening in the corner of this desk. No one wanted to look at someone destined for death—much less look at 2 of them.
He rustled his fingers through her hair as she sobbed quietly, tugging at his tracksuit jacket.
"Now stop crying; focus on dealing with your flaw. I'll take care of you, okay?"
She didn't speak; she just nodded into his shoulder.
The assistant had returned now too, and she watched as Sunny comforted the blind girl.
The woman's smile was still of the bittersweet nature. She did not know that Cassie was going to live, so that reaction would remain for the entirety of their time here.
"Have you 2 spoken?"
"Yeah... It's okay now."
Sunny moved away slowly and returned to his seat after patting Cassie's head, who wiped her eyes and continued eating. Her crying had created that annoying lump in her throat that sat there when she spoke.
After a bit of comfortable silence and the sound of people in the background, that sound became louder, and the comfort was no more.
'What the hell are these idiots screaming about...' He turned and looked in the noise's direction.
'Ah, I forgot about that. Where am I...?'
Sunny was looking at the leaderboard.
His name was there; it was right at the top, in fact, above Nephis.
'Huh?'
The name Sunless was there with the number 1 beside it, and below that was his true name. The curious thing was that there was another name with the number one beside it.
That was naturally, Nephis.
'Looks like we tied.'
It was not that difficult to understand, really; both of them possessed healing abilities, which were the most valued.
But their abilities after that diversified.
While the remainder of Sunny's abilities divided into scouting and a bit of physical strengthening, Nephis's ability seemed to focus on destruction entirely.
It must have been a difficult decision to make, really. If someone could scout out a Nightmare Creature and avoid it, they would be able to live, but if a Nightmare Creature approached and someone had the ability to deal with it, there was risk, but there was reward too.
And the fact that they both had true names had also aided in the tie.
"Sunny, what happened?" - Cassie had heard the commotion.
"There was a sleeper ranking put up." - He sounded annoyed.
His senses were quiet, and he had already heard the bastards whispering about him and Nephis, and unlike Nephis, who put on the disposition of one unconcerned and aloof, Sunny had made himself seem a bit approachable, if not pitiable.
And who here wouldn't want to approach him now that he is first?
Cassie spoke again—"Let me guess? I'm at the bottom."
Her voice was sad but not that sad; she was told she was going to survive.
There were a few of the sleepers who sat at their table now along the bench with them, listening to Sunny and Cassie's conversation, waiting for an opportunity to congratulate him.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't worry about that thing. If the first place is dropped in front of an Unholy, a little ranking isn't going to help anyone."
He took a sip of his water and spoke again after making sure that those around him were hearing.
"Do you know why I came to sit by you, Cassie?"
His voice was almost hollow; the nervous speech he portrayed to the others had left.
"Why?"
He took in a deep breath and allowed the side of his lip to curl.
"Because people heard I'm from the outskirts, they had already made the decision that I'm going to die. It was quite annoying. You, on the other hand, did not speak to me like that."
"Well... that's because I thought you were like me..."
She meant that he was going to die too, that he was ostracized too, and that he was alone too.
He let out a sigh—"Doesn't matter the reason. I don't mind being deceived; I'm very deceitful myself, so when I find a person that is honest to me... well, I like to be around that person."
He turned his head and made eye contact with the people around the table.
He saw Caster in the distance and Rock as well.
The instructor had already been eyeing him before this too. He was awakened, and the awakened had a good ability to judge people.
When he lifted up Sunny and grabbed his hand, he felt the way the boy had moved his hand ever so slightly, as if his body was preparing to naturally defend itself even in his state.
That was not the quality of a weak outskirts rat; that was the quality of a combatant and a well-seasoned one.
His kindness to the blind girl was also a point of interest—those chosen by the spell often had a sense of superiority amongst their peers, especially towards the weaker one.
But not him; he avoided the crowd and sat quietly beside her.
'I want to test his strength.'
Sunny stood. "We should go to our classes now. Do your best, okay?"
He nodded to the assistant who watched the whole display.
He spoke to Cassie, who smiled—"You too."
He walked away towards the wilderness survival classroom, ignoring the looks everyone gave him, and those he saw moving towards him got a scowl and narrowed eyes that sent a good message.
'I wonder what to do after class?'