Chapter 75 (Part 06)
The news spread before Alok even realized it had left the table.
By the time the lunch break ended, it had already taken root in every corner of the classroom whispered between desks, passed through glances, carried in half suppressed laughter.
Alok was joining the Summer Festival.
For most students, that sentence meant nothing more than participation.
For this class… it meant disruption.
Because Alok was not someone who participated.
He was someone who stayed distant.
Detached.
Uninvolved.
And now suddenly
He had stepped forward.
The classroom atmosphere shifted the moment the bell rang.
Students returned to their seats, but their focus wasn't on the board, nor on their books.
It lingered.
On him.
Alok sat quietly near the window, his posture unchanged, his expression calm. If not for the faint tension in his fingers resting against the desk, no one would have guessed anything had changed.
Rihan leaned back in his chair beside him, lowering his voice slightly.
"You realize this is going to attract attention, right?"
Alok didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Because both of them already knew
There was one person who would never ignore something like this.
The classroom door slid open.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
But the effect was immediate.
Several conversations died mid-sentence.
A few students straightened unconsciously.
Even the air itself seemed to tighten.
Footsteps followed.
Slow.
Measured.
Confident.
Ravel Mendis entered the room like someone who had never once questioned whether he belonged anywhere he stepped.
Tall, well built, sleeves casually rolled, a worn band wrapped around his right hand every detail about him carried the same message
Strength without apology.
His gaze swept across the classroom once
And then stopped.
Directly on Alok.
A faint smile formed.
Not friendly.
Not hostile.
Something in between.
"Well… well…"
The words were quiet.
But in the silence, they carried.
Rihan exhaled slowly.
"…Here we go."
Ravel didn't rush.
He walked forward step by step, unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world and everyone else simply existed within it.
He stopped beside Alok's desk.
Close enough to cast a shadow over him.
"I heard something interesting," he said, tilting his head slightly.
"Our quiet little Alok…"
There was a pause.
"…is finally joining the Summer Festival?"
A few students let out nervous laughs.
Others remained completely silent.
Waiting.
Watching.
Alok slowly lifted his gaze.
There was no irritation in his expression.
No fear.
Just calm acknowledgment.
"Yeah."
A single word.
Simple.
Direct.
Unshaken.
For a brief moment
Something flickered in Ravel's eyes.
Then his smile widened.
Without warning
He moved.
Fast enough that several students flinched.
His hand shot forward, gripping Alok's collar and pulling him slightly up from his seat.
Gasps spread through the room.
"Oi…!"
Rihan stood instantly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor.
But Ravel didn't look at him.
Didn't even acknowledge him.
His eyes remained fixed on Alok.
"Say it again."
The grip was firm.
Strong.
But Alok didn't resist.
Didn't tense.
Didn't react like someone being threatened.
He simply looked back.
"I said I'm joining."
A second passed.
Then Ravel released him.
Not violently
But not gently either.
Alok's body shifted slightly back into the chair.
Ravel exhaled through his nose, cracking his neck subtly.
"…I see."
Then
His fist slammed into the desk beside Alok.
THUD—!!
The wood cracked under the impact.
Several students jumped.
The sound echoed through the room like a warning.
"So our baby finally decided to grow up."
His tone was mocking.
But beneath it
There was something sharper.
Interest.
Excitement.
He leaned closer.
Lowering his voice.
Close enough that only Alok could hear.
"You're dead."
The words were soft.
Almost casual.
Which made them worse.
Then, a faint smirk.
"So… try to be a good boy, okay?"
Rihan stepped forward immediately.
"Back off, Ravel."
Ravel finally glanced at him.
Bored.
"Relax," he said lightly. "I'm just welcoming him."
The tension in the room didn't fade.
If anything
It deepened.
Alok adjusted his collar slowly.
Then looked back at Ravel.
No anger.
No challenge.
Just quiet certainty.
"Then I'll survive."
Silence.
For the first time
Ravel didn't respond immediately.
His smile paused.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Because that answer
Wasn't defiance.
Wasn't fear.
It was something else entirely.
Then
He laughed.
Low.
Satisfied.
"Good."
He straightened and turned away.
"Don't embarrass me at the festival."
And just like that
He walked back to his seat.
As if nothing had happened.
But something had.
Something subtle.
Something important.
Alok's hand moved slowly to his chest.
The pendant beneath his shirt pulsed.
Stronger than before.
Not reacting to Ravel.
Not reacting to fear.
But to something deeper.
Something distant.
"…not him…"
The whisper came faintly.
Unclear.
Almost like a memory that didn't belong to him.
Alok frowned slightly.
Far away
In another country
Under a different sky
Ceya suddenly stopped walking.
Her body froze.
Her fingers trembled.
This time
Stronger.
More violent.
Inside her mind
Chains tightened.
Light coiled.
Control reinforced.
Lisa's voice echoed coldly
"Not yet."
Ceya's lips parted slightly.
A fragment of something broken slipped through
"…Alok…"
Then
Silence.
Her expression smoothed.
Perfect.
Controlled.
Incorrect.