On a quiet Monday morning, the golden rays of dawn spilled gently across the garden of EHHS. The school grounds glowed with a serene beauty—almost sacred in its silence. It was a rare kind of morning, the kind that made even the coldest heart feel a little warmer. Leon stood at the entrance, the calm air pressing lightly against his chest. For once, he felt... peace.
As he strolled through the empty corridors, something caught his eye—a silhouette on the rooftop.
Placing his bag in the classroom, Leon moved without hurry. He had arrived much earlier than usual; Hiroshi and Kami wouldn't show up for another half hour. On the stairs, he passed a few seniors chatting, their voices distant in his mind.
Then, he reached the rooftop.
There sat Ren—alone—perched on a bench beneath the soft sky. So that's who he saw.
"Yo, Ren. What're you doing up here so early?" Leon called out.
Ren turned slowly, expression unreadable. "You're early too."
"Nothing to do at home," Leon said, shrugging as he approached. "Figured I'd waste time here."
The rooftop was vast—surprisingly so. Wide enough to fit a baseball field. Around its edges were invisible barrier rods, shimmering faintly, designed to prevent suicides. But the space… it felt too empty. Almost too quiet.
Leon took a seat beside Ren. "How's your squad treating you these days?"
Ren didn't answer right away. He stared at the sky, as if it had answers he didn't. Then he said, flatly, "Same as always. I'm still their servant."
"You could switch. Join ours."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
Ren's gaze dropped to the floor. His voice lowered. "That girl you saw the other day... her name is Celestine Lysandra."
Leon's eyes narrowed.
"She's from one of the great noble families. The Lysandra name means something here. My family owes theirs a huge debt. She's known me since we were kids. Bullied me then, bullies me now. Being in her squad isn't a coincidence—she used her influence to place me there."
Leon didn't speak. He just watched.
After a pause, he asked quietly, "Is it just verbal?"
Ren let out a hollow laugh. Not because anything was funny—because it wasn't even close.
He stood, turned, and slowly pulled off his uniform top.
Leon's breath caught.
Across Ren's back, scarred and burned into the skin, were cruel, twisted words—Fuck, Asshole, Slut's child—each letter gouged with something sharp. But one word stood out in large, raw, permanent letters: Celestine.
"She carved them in with an iron nail," Ren said calmly. "Then this—" He lifted his shirt further, revealing a brand seared into his stomach. "Used a heated iron rod for that one."
Leon stared in horror.
That wasn't bullying.
That was ownership.
"That bitch…" he muttered.
Ren's voice dropped to a whisper. "She uses me, Leon. For sex. Not just once. Not for pleasure. Not for love."
Leon froze.
"She humiliates me... breaks me. Uses strange pills. Some days I bleed. Some days I can't walk. I haven't slept properly in months. I'm scared I'll lose the ability to be a father one day."
His voice trembled, but his eyes were dry. The pain was deeper than tears.
"I can't even tell my sister. What do I say? That I'm being raped by someone the world calls a noble angel? She's isolated me—cut off every escape. Now... I feel like she's all I have left."
Leon clenched his fists.
This wasn't just abuse. This was domination. Celestine wasn't a yandere—yanderes love. This… this was sadism, cruelty given power.
He forced himself to stay calm. "What do you know about her family?"
Ren took a deep breath. "The Lysandra family runs the Lysandra Transport Consortium. Universal buses, massive funding into EHHS. Her grandfather, Morein Lysandra, is the head. Rumor is... they run an underground assassination group too. But no proof."
Leon stood up slowly.
It was almost time for class.
But his mind was racing with questions. With fury. And with a strange sense of purpose.
"I'll head down," he said quietly.
Ren nodded. "I'll stay here for a bit."
As Leon walked back down the stairs, the warm morning felt different. The sunlight no longer felt gentle.
Something inside him had shifted.