---

The house was unusually quiet after the nine o'clock news ended. The old 16-inch television had been switched off, leaving the room bathed in the warm glow of a single lamp. Outside, faint city noises drifted through the cracked window — the low rumble of carts, the metallic clang of workshops shutting down, and the distant laughter of drunkards from the Red City alleys.

Kael-X sat comfortably on the couch, one knee bent, hands folded behind his head, as if this modest home were a royal palace. Across from him, Maya leaned on the edge of the dining table, chewing at her bottom lip while her eyes darted toward the hooded figure lounging in their house. Elijah, meanwhile, busied himself at the counter, wiping his hands clean with a cloth even though they were spotless. The silence stretched until Maya finally broke it.

She crossed her arms, her expression sharp. "Hmm, the thing I want to ask now is… what are you going to be doing from now on?"

Kael turned his head lazily, raising a brow beneath his hood. "From now on?"

"You can't just sit at home doing nothing," Maya pressed, her voice firm. "Even if you're our… tenant, or whatever you think you are, you can't just stay here all day eating our food and hiding behind that hood."

Kael chuckled softly. "Your food? You mean that tasteless thing I almost spit across the kitchen?"

"Hey!" Maya snapped, throwing a glare sharp enough to pierce steel.

Elijah cleared his throat before she could explode further. "Maya…" he warned gently.

But Maya wasn't finished. "And even if you want to start doing something," she added, pointing at Kael's hood, "your hair is a problem. You can't just keep hiding your face forever. People will notice. And when they notice, trouble follows."

Kael gave a slow, lazy shrug, as though the matter weighed nothing. "Don't worry about my hair. It's not your problem."

"It is when people start staring," Maya muttered.

Kael tilted his head. "And by the way…" He paused, as though choosing his words carefully. "I can follow you to your Lyce—umm… school."

The word sounded foreign on his tongue. His voice had almost slipped into another accent, another language. He quickly corrected himself, but Maya caught it.

Her eyes widened. "My school? You're kidding, right?"

"Lyceum," Kael said casually, repeating the term with a kind of nostalgic fondness. "That's what schools are called in Zypher—" He stopped himself mid-sentence, lips pressing shut. "Anyway. School."

Maya blinked, caught between confusion and disbelief. "If someone like you follows me to school, who knows how the whole place will turn upside down?"

Kael smirked beneath his hood. "Would that be such a bad thing?"

"Yes!" Maya snapped instantly. "It would be a disaster!"

Elijah finally stepped into the conversation, rubbing his temple like a weary father dealing with squabbling children. His voice was calmer, but carried weight. "It's actually… a good idea."

Maya spun toward him, nearly choking. "Elijah, what are you saying?! You really want him to go to my school? My school?!"

Elijah exhaled. "I really don't want him to. But we don't have much of a choice."

Kael raised an eyebrow. "No choice? Care to explain?"

Elijah glanced at him. "If you sit here all day, someone's going to notice you eventually. Neighbors, visitors, maybe even the city patrol. Red City isn't exactly kind to strangers. You'll draw suspicion. If you blend into the daily life of the city… it'll buy us time."

Maya scowled. "So your brilliant solution is letting him march into my classroom and make me the laughingstock of the entire school?"

"It's not about your reputation," Elijah said patiently. "It's about survival."

Kael, amused, leaned forward, his tone light but curious. "What's the promise?"

Elijah straightened, looking him in the eye with a steady seriousness. "That you won't cause any trouble or alarm in the school. No fighting, no showing off your powers, no unnecessary… incidents. If you go, you blend in. That's the condition."

Kael tilted his head, considering. His lips curved into a half-smile. "I agree. Moreover…" His voice softened, teasing just enough to sting. "I'm not a troublemaker."

"Liar!" Maya shot back instantly, her voice echoing in the room.

Kael laughed lightly, the sound smooth and oddly disarming. "I see you don't trust me."

"Trust?" Maya repeated with a scoff. "You, of all people, talking about trust? You appear out of nowhere, pay us with mayanium that probably belongs to Dee Valley, and now you want to stroll into my school like everything's normal. Of course I don't trust you!"

Elijah raised a hand, cutting the tension before it snapped. "Maya. Enough. Let's think this through."

Kael leaned back again, relaxed as ever, his hood slipping slightly to reveal the faint glow of his jade-toned skin beneath the lamplight. His hair, long and blue, still shadowed his eyes, adding to the eerie aura he carried so effortlessly.

He let the silence sit a moment longer, then said, "You'll see. I'll behave. I'm a good student when I want to be."

Maya snorted. "Somehow, I doubt that."

But despite her words, Elijah could see the faint flicker of curiosity in her eyes. As much as she resisted the idea, some part of her wanted to know just how this mysterious boy would act in a normal classroom.

Kael stretched, standing up from the couch in one fluid motion. "Alright then. Tomorrow, I'll walk with you. Consider it… part of my rent."

"You can't just decide that on your own!" Maya protested.

"Too late," Kael replied with a grin she couldn't see beneath his hood.

Elijah sighed again, muttering under his breath, "This house is never going to know peace again…"

----

The sun had barely crept past the horizon when Maya tugged her schoolbag onto her shoulder. Her short flair skirt swished lightly as she turned, her white shirt neatly tucked in, her hair tied into a ponytail that shimmered in the morning glow. She looked like every definition of a bright, beautiful high schooler—organized, polished, ready to face another normal day at Red City High.

Kael, however, was the exact opposite. He strolled into the living room in his orange hoodie, the same one he wore yesterday, hands lazily buried inside his pockets. His hood dangled low, covering much of his face. Beneath the loose folds, a faint grin tugged at his lips as he adjusted the strap of a non-existent bag.

He didn't plan to walk into school with empty hands though. His idea was simple—when no one was watching, he would open his space room and pull out a sleek backpack he had stored from Zypheron-5. It would look ordinary enough to blend in with humans, yet stylish enough to raise quiet envy. If not that, he might just stroll into a shop, pick the best bag on display, and leave—no payment, no hassle. Humans were too slow to stop him anyway.

Maya glanced at him from head to toe and shook her head. "You're seriously going like that? No bag, no books, nothing? You'll stick out like a neon sign."

Kael smirked under the hood. "Don't worry. I'll manage. Besides, I don't need books to understand your school."

"Ugh, you're impossible," Maya muttered as she grabbed the house keys.

Elijah walked in behind them, stretching his arms. His shirt was crumpled, hair still messy from sleep, but his eyes followed the two like a referee who already knew a fight was brewing. And right on cue, Kael stopped mid-step at the doorstep, his gaze shifting toward the driveway.

"Wait," Kael's voice dropped into mock disbelief. His hood tilted as though his eyes were analyzing a puzzle that made no sense. "Don't tell me you don't have a car."

Maya frowned. "What's wrong with walking?"

Kael's mouth curved into a slow grin. "Walking? You're a mechanic's family, and you don't have a car? That's… that's ridiculous." He began pacing dramatically, waving his hands like someone trying to solve a mathematical riddle. "A mechanic… with no car. That's like a doctor with no medicine, or a baker who can't afford bread."

Elijah rubbed his temple. He knew where this was going.

Maya crossed her arms. "We do have a car."

Kael stopped pacing, interest sparking beneath his hood. "Then where is it? Why are we walking to school like peasants?"

Elijah finally cut in, voice low. "We have a car, but… it's for other uses."

Kael froze for a second. Then he slowly turned his head, incredulous. "For other uses?" His tone dripped with disbelief. "What the hell is the essence of having a car when you can't use it to go to school? Or to work? What's it for, storing groceries? Guarding the garage from rats?"

Maya stomped her foot. "That's enough! It's not your business how we use our car!"

But Kael wasn't done. He leaned forward, his hood shadowing his grin. "Correction—it is my business, because right now, I'm supposed to squeeze my feet on this cracked sidewalk while you have perfectly functioning wheels rusting in the driveway."

Elijah sighed. The argument had escalated fast, like everything else involving Kael. He knew the best way to end it was compromise. "Fine. We'll take the car today."

Maya whipped her head toward him. "Elijah, you can't be serious—"

But Kael already clapped his hands once, satisfied. "Good choice. See? Not so hard. Humans just need a little push of logic."

Maya glared, cheeks flushed with frustration, but Elijah's firm gaze told her resistance was useless. Finally, with a groan, she muttered, "Fine. But only today."

Kael chuckled, following them to the driveway. "That's more like it."

---

The drive to school was silent, except for Maya occasionally glancing at the hooded figure lounging in the passenger seat. Kael didn't act like a student heading to school. He acted like he owned the car, the road, and the very air they breathed. His posture relaxed, one arm against the window, eyes scanning every detail of Red City's streets as though calculating all escape routes.

By the time they reached the school gates, students were already gathering in clusters. Some were chatting, some playing with their phones, while others darted into the main hall. But the moment the orange-hooded figure stepped out of the car alongside Maya, whispers rippled across the courtyard.

"Who's that?"

"Look at his hoodie. Weird."

"Wait, he's with Maya?"

"Is that a new boyfriend? What of Deric?"

Maya's cheeks flared pink as she quickly shook her head. "Don't get the wrong idea! He's… uh…" She forced a smile at her classmates. "…He's my younger cousin. He just came from another country."

The explanation only half-worked. Some nodded slowly, though their curious eyes didn't fade. Others exchanged skeptical looks. A hooded stranger with a mysterious aura, walking beside one of the most recognizable girls in school? The rumors would spread faster than wildfire.

Kael's expression remained unreadable under his hood, but inside, his blood simmered with irritation. Younger cousin? he scoffed in his mind. Who is your younger cousin? Do I look like some charity case tagging behind you?

He bit back the retort, deciding to play along—for now. After all, Elijah had made him promise not to cause trouble. But if one more human dared to call him "cousin," he swore he'd snap.

Maya quickened her pace, dragging Kael by the sleeve of his hoodie as though hurrying him away from the crowd. "Don't just stand there like a statue! Move!" she hissed.

Kael smirked but followed, his long strides making it easy to keep up. His sharp senses caught every gaze, every whisper, every heartbeat around him. The humans were fascinated, and he couldn't deny it—he liked the attention, even if he pretended otherwise.

Elijah, parking the car behind them, shook his head with a wry smile. This was only Day One, and already Kael had turned their routine upside down. School would never be the same again.

And Kael-X? He was just getting started.

---

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.