"Akashic! Thank you!" Lena cried, tears streaming down her face. She had been terrified after receiving Sya's text, and when she saw Nik at the door, she had frozen in fear.
Luna clung to him, silently sobbing as she thanked him over and over.
Both girls caught a glimpse of Nik's body but assumed he was merely unconscious. They didn't consider the alternative, as the thought that Akashic might go to jail for saving them was too much to bear.
Akashic spent the next few minutes comforting them, keeping a watchful eye for any more potential threats.
Meanwhile, Lena was preoccupied with how easily Nik had gained access to their dorm. They couldn't stay there any longer. She had some money saved from her influencer work and planned to rent an apartment close to the school. For now, she decided they would stay in a hotel until something permanent was available.
Just as she was about to ask Akashic to stay while they packed, he spoke first.
"You two, it's dangerous to stay here any longer. How about you pack your bags and come with me?"
Seeing their shocked expressions, he continued.
"You know about Naomi's place, right? Tomorrow, I'll set up her house, and there are plenty of extra rooms. Why don't you stay with her?" His house also had room but he had other plans for it.
The twins were extremely grateful.
Lena, overwhelmed, could hardly think straight. Akashic had taken over her thoughts recently, even appearing in her dreams. Now, once again, he had swooped in during her time of need.
Her heart fluttered every time she glanced at him. Desperately trying to keep her emotions in check, she and her sister expressed their immense gratitude.
Sensing another round of endless thank-yous, Akashic cut them off and helped them pack.
Despite his composed demeanor, the increasing [SP] showed his true feelings.
{SP: 1,365}
…
"Woah…" pulling into the driveway elicited a gasp from the twins as they saw Akashic's home for the first time.
[+10 Satisfaction Points]
~
-Inside the house-
"Just pick any room downstairs, Naomi's over there as well."
'She's in a bad mood though…' He added in his mind.
Thinking about Naomi's dejected look ever since she arrived at his house, he could only shake his head.
Tired from the events of the night, and seeing how late it was, there was no time for hellos as everyone was already fast asleep.
The twins went to bed and Akashic headed upstairs, finding Alexia still awake.
"Ah, you're back already?" Looking up from the book she was reading, a small smile appeared on her face as she saw him.
Nodding, Akashic replied as he got ready for bed "Everything was fine, I got there in time luckily. Though…" trailing off, he thought about the actions he took inside the dorm.
He didn't regret them, but he worried if there would be any trouble for his girls because of it.
Sensing his worries, Alexia wrapped her arms around him as he sat on the bed.
Resting her chin on his shoulder, she simply comforted him as they sat there.
The rest of the night passed quietly, but elsewhere, there was a large commotion happening.
~
The President of MoonCity University was stirred awake by the spam calls incessantly coming from his phone.
When he answered he was immediately assaulted by loud yells and a panicked voice. His tired mind barely registering the words they were saying, but once it did…
"There's a…what?" President Quail was wide awake now, hurriedly standing from his bed as he moved to get dressed, leaving the phone on speaker.
"I don't—yes! In the girls dormitory! I don't know what's happening—just get here soon!" Quail finished putting on basic clothes and rushed out of his home, speeding to the campus in record time.
As he arrived he noticed the flashing of police lights and his stomach sank as reality truly set in.
Parking and exiting the car, he was approached by a man who seemed to be in charge.
They shook hands and Quail was filled in on the situation.
"Firstly we have a member of your staff who was taken to the hospital. It is unlikely he will survive but it was stated to be a heart attack." He paused before continuing
"The victim was identified by other students as Nik Asyn. Further details revealed that he was causing a disturbance for several minutes before it abruptly stopped. We have detectives working on getting some more information for us." The officer finished speaking, the pale Quail just stared blankly and rested his hands atop his head in an effort to regulate his breathing.
This was the biggest event to happen in his time as President. Everything seemingly came to a standstill as the situation persisted in that tense state for a while.
Soon, another man rushed out and whispered something to the lead officer. He nodded before sending the messenger away.
"We need to see the room registration logs. According to witnesses, the victim was creating the commotion at that room." Quail agreed and several minutes later, a book with every room number and students living there was in front of them.
Looking down the list they found two names.
[Room 414: Lena Starr & Luna Starr]
Upon seeing the names, Quail grew more confused as he knew the two to be good students.
"We first tried knocking on her door but we received no response. After gaining entry, many items were missing and scattered about."
"That, along with the damaged security cameras concerns us that the two were harmed in some way by the killer. Asyn is a fairly well off family, so I don't imagine their son would be caught up in the wrong side of this." The detective paused before continuing.
"It is likely Nik tried to help the two, but someone killed him for interfering." The lead gave his personal opinion on the matter.
Quail, on the other hand, had a deeper understanding of his students and knew that this was probably far from the truth.
However he knew the Asyns would arrive shortly, so he did not combat that course of events.
"No!" Speak of the devil…
An older woman in a nightgown rushed into the building, hurrying towards Nik's body.
Many officers tried to stop her but were blocked by a tall man with killing intent visible in his eyes.
The lead officer sighed and rubbed his temples, ordering his men to let them pass. He knew he'd get in trouble for this, but it didn't matter.
Mrs. Asyn approached the body with tears in her eyes, each shaky step seemingly a prelude to her bodies imminent collapse.
Following her was Mr. Asyn, he remained calmer but his clenched fists spoke of his rage deep inside.
Looking at the mark around his son's neck only intensified his feelings.
He took time to comfort his wife before approaching the lead detective and demanding to know more information.
Due to their status, the Asyn's received special treatment so they were filled in on the current situation.
Hearing about the two girls connection, he shrugged it off as unimportant. His son wouldn't use such open means to save or pursue some women, so he didn't believe them to be that involved.
Besides, it seems that their phones were currently off as no calls went through.
They spent the next hour gathering information to no avail. So far there weren't any traces of a potential culprit.
And unfortunately the news spread even further as more and more students arrived to watch.
"Come morning we'll have news crews swarming the place…" Quail spoke exasperatedly.
Next, the body was to be taken in for more extensive examination, leaving a distraught Mrs. Asyn sobbing in her husband's arms.
Soon they were the only ones standing at the entrance of the dorms.
Until they were approached by a man in a security guard uniform.
Mr. Asyn, or Daltin, recognized the man from earlier as he was brought in for questioning.
It was obvious the guard had more to say, so Daltin invited him to sit.
"I have information on the suspect…" Those words shook his wife, Dianne, as her head shot up from his arms.
"Why did you withhold this?" Daltin spoke calmly, his anger returning.
"I-I…I need money!"
Those words rang out into the air, the quietness that followed sent a shiver down the guards spine, but his fear of the little bit he did see was stronger.
"You don't get it…what he did to my friend…that was no simple heart attack. I need to get out of here, far, far away." The words the guard spoke intrigued the couple.
Urging him to continue, they found out more.
"We have a small hidden camera pointed at the entrances that only record motion. The others don't know about it since us guards use it for…different reasons. It's not an official one placed by the school."
"Anyway! There's a glimpse of who I'm talking about!" Handing over the picture he took with his phone, the couple saw a blurry image of a man with long light blue hair.
Before him was a man sprawled out on the floor unresponsive.
Being able to put a face to his hatred, Daltin acquired the photo quickly and paid the guard.
Now with a target, the couple left and returned home to get an investigation started.
Unfortunately for them, things may not go as planned…
~
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Keven…why'd you bring this trouble to me?!" With newly acquired money, the security guard scrambled to pack the bare minimum before beginning to flee.
He had no wife or kids, not even any immediate family. So he was free to escape easily.
With him he kept a picture of the man who haunted him, just in case he came to take him out.
His final card.
Running, he knocked over many people as he made his way to the bus stop.
Soon he reached a crowded section, glancing all around he managed to find a gap that led to a back alley that was empty.
'It'll be faster!' He shouted in his mind before taking that route.
He ran and ran, passing a dog on a leash, a brown fence, broken glass, and discarded food.
A few minutes of running, constantly checking his time to make sure he wouldn't miss the bus.
He ran and ran, passing a dog on a leash, a brown fence, broken glass, and discarded food.
The money he received was enough to hide away for a while and lay low, at least until the man was captured and arrested.
He ran and ran, passing a dog on a leash, a brown fence, broken glass, and discarded food.
'Huh? Didn't I…?' Shaking his head and forgetting those thoughts, he ran and ran, passing a dog on a leash, a brown fence…broken glass…
"What?!" Abruptly the vision around him shattered and he woke up.
Looking around hurriedly, he realized he wasn't in a back alley, in fact he was in some random woodsy area.
It was pitch black still, he could just barely see in front of him.
"Congratulations on breaking out of the low level illusion."
The sudden noise startled him, and once his eyes adjusted, the sight he saw terrified him.
Standing just a few steps away from him was a tall old man dressed in black formal attire. He held both arms behind his back as he stood upright.
But what scared him the most was the look in the old man's eyes.
It was dull and emotionless.
The guard sat in fear for an unknown amount of time before the old man spoke again.
"I believe you have some information you shouldn't. Hand it over." Though the old man seemed frail, the guard who was fairly trained in hand to hand combat held zero confidence in winning.
There was a primal fear as he watched the calm man.
Shakily, he handed over everything he carried, including the years of blackmail materiel he held.
Surprisingly, the old man tossed those aside and only took possession of his phone.
He plugged something into it before a loud beep was heard and a voice sounded from it.
[Data Copied & Erased From Device of Origin.]
[Origin Device Destroyed.]
For extra measure, the old man crushed the phone to a powder before looking up at the next piece of evidence that needed to be erased.