The academy grounds were silent—too silent. After their first group training, most teams were resting, but Jin couldn't sleep.
The moonlight filtered through the skylight of their dorm hall. Bo snored loudly on the top bunk, Meiqi talked in her sleep, and Rei Han was scribbling something into his secret notebook. Jin sat cross-legged on the floor, a candle lit beside his private journal.
"Dad… if you're still out there, I'll find you."
Just as he closed the journal, a soft knock came at the door. It creaked open—and there stood Yooha, wrapped in her cloak, her long silver hair falling freely. Jin blinked. "You okay?"
"I had a vision," she said calmly. "About the match tomorrow. Something… dark is waiting."
Jin frowned. "Another one of your divine headaches?"
Yooha nodded, then whispered, "We need to change strategy. If not… someone might fall."
From the shadows, Xie Luan stepped in, holding two steaming mugs of tea. "Couldn't sleep either. Figured we'd have a team moment. Come outside?"
The three of them sat under the moonlight in silence. Suddenly, Meiqi burst through the door dramatically, "BO STOLE MY PILLOW—wait, are we having secret tea?!"
Soon, the whole team gathered outside in the night, each with a mug, wrapped in blankets, forming a strange but beautiful circle. Jin laughed softly. "We're a bunch of weirdos, huh?"
"Maybe," Yooha said, "but we're strong weirdos."
A shooting star passed overhead.
Tomorrow, battles would begin. But tonight, they were just… them.
Together.
To be continue...