The food coma hit about ten minutes later as everyone’s adrenaline finally crashed. Jordan actually fell asleep sitting upright, his head tilted back against the booth with his mouth hanging open. Belle poked him twice to confirm he was alive before giving up and finishing her fries.

Naomi leaned against my shoulder. "I’m so tired I could cry."

"Please don’t cry in the diner."

"I won’t. But I could." She yawned. "Can I crash at your place tonight? My roommate has friends over and they’re being loud."

My brain short-circuited briefly. "Uh. Hikaru might be home."

"I know. I’ll be quiet." She looked up at me. "Unless you don’t want me there."

"I didn’t say that."

"Good." She settled more firmly against my side. "Then it’s decided."

Belle observed this with her calculating expression. "I’ll make sure sleeping beauty here gets to his apartment."

Jordan opened one eye. "You are?"

"Yes. Someone needs to make sure you don’t die in your sleep from exhaustion."

"That’s... surprisingly thoughtful."

"I’m a thoughtful person."

"You literally called me a sleepy idiot yesterday."

"You are a sleepy idiot. But you’re our sleepy idiot." She stood and grabbed her jacket. "Come on. I’m not carrying you if you pass out on the walk home."

Jordan slid out of the booth with the enthusiasm of someone heading to their execution. "This is my life now. Being managed by a five-foot-six gold digger who steals my fries."

"Five-six and a half," Belle corrected. "And I paid for dinner, so technically those were my fries."

"You paid with gate money we all earned."

"Irrelevant." She grabbed his arm and started steering him toward the exit. "Text the group when you’re alive tomorrow."

They left, Belle practically dragging Jordan while he complained the entire way.

Misato checked her phone one more time, frowned, and stood. "I’m heading back to Summit. Blair wants to... talk."

The way she said ’talk’ suggested it would be the opposite of talking. Probably involved a lot of Blair yelling while Misato stood there and took it.

"Good luck," I said.

"I don’t need luck. I need patience." She looked at Naomi. "Get that arm checked again tomorrow if it’s still bothering you."

"I will."

"And Jace." Misato’s expression sharpened. "Nice work today. The Overclock timing was perfect."

"Thanks."

"Don’t let it go to your head. You’re still the weakest link statistically."

"Noted."

She left without another word, her ponytail swishing as she walked.

Which left me and Naomi alone in a booth surrounded by empty plates and half-finished shakes.

"So," she said.

"So."

"Your place?"

"My place."

She smiled and grabbed her jacket with her good hand. "Let’s go before I fall asleep right here."

We paid at the counter, splitting the bill despite Belle’s earlier claim. Outside, the California night was cool and clear, with stars visible overhead despite the light pollution from campus. We walked slowly because Naomi’s arm hurt and because neither of us was in a rush. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Hey," she said after a minute of silence. "Thank you. For today."

"I didn’t do anything special."

"You burned essence you could have kept to save me. That’s pretty special." She bumped her shoulder against mine. "And you exploded a boss monster from the inside out. That was cool."

"It was kind of cool," I admitted.

"Just kind of?"

"Okay, it was very cool. I felt like an actual hunter for like thirty seconds."

"You are an actual hunter." She stopped walking and turned to face me. "You killed an alpha last week. You killed a Silver boss today. You’re ranked 141 out of 250. That’s top half, Jace. You’re not a lottery charity case anymore."

The words hit harder than they should have. Because she was right. A week ago I was 250th. Dead last. The fat kid everyone expected to wash out before November.

Now I was 141. Middle of the pack. Rising fast.

And I’d gotten there by drinking milk, stealing abilities, and running a harem operation that would make a trashy light novel protagonist proud.

But Naomi didn’t know that. She thought I was just a guy who worked hard and got lucky with a support ability.

Which made her belief in me feel both validating and completely unearned.

"Come on," I said. "Let’s get you home before your arm falls off."

We made it back to Building C and took the elevator up. My apartment was dark and quiet when we entered, Hikaru’s door closed with no light underneath. Probably at the gym or the library or wherever she went when she needed to avoid me.

Naomi followed me to my room and immediately claimed the bed, kicking off her shoes and climbing under the covers fully dressed. "I’m staying like this. Moving is terrible."

"You need to change out of your tactical suit."

"Too hard. Accepting my fate."

I crossed the room and helped her sit up, then carefully worked her good arm out of the jacket sleeve. The injured arm required more attention, and she hissed when I moved it wrong.

"Sorry."

"It’s fine. Just hurts."

I got the jacket off and tossed it over my desk chair. Underneath she wore a black compression shirt that was significantly easier to remove. She lifted her good arm and let me pull it over her head, leaving her in just her sports bra and tactical pants.

"Better?"

"Much." She flopped back down. "Now you."

I changed quickly into basketball shorts and nothing else because my room was warm and I was too tired to care. When I climbed into bed beside her, she immediately curled against my side with her head on my chest.

"This okay?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Because I’m not moving." Her breathing evened out almost instantly.

I lay there staring at the ceiling, feeling her weight against me and her hair tickling my jaw. The shell necklace pressed cool against my ribs.

My phone lit up with a message from Belle: She asleep?

Yeah, I typed back.

Good. She needed it. Don’t wake her up for your weird vampire shit.

Wasn’t planning on it.

Liar. See you at training tomorrow.

I set my phone down and closed my eyes.

The system was playing me. I knew that much. Everything was too convenient, too perfectly aligned. The upgrades coming exactly when I needed them. The essence bottles unlocking right before I faced a boss that required Overclock.

Someone was managing my progression. Making sure I survived long enough to be useful.

The question was: useful for what?