ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀꜱ : ᴛʜᴇ ᴜᴘʀɪꜱɪɴɢ

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• ＲＡＩＤＥＮ •

As we walked to school together, I gently put my arm around her shoulders. It felt strange at first, but she leaned into my touch. I did feel bad for forcing her to do this, though.

When we entered the hallway, the usual stares and whispers followed us. I felt her tense, so I tightened my embrace, giving her a comforting smile.

"They're noisy," I said softly. "Sorry for that." She looked at me with her gentle face that could make the world melt, and I forced myself to look away.

She was too pure for all of this.

First period passed in a blur. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Nara's face didn't make me feel any better. Sometimes she was a total mystery, and other times a literal open book.

"Any news?" Ember asked, looking at me.

"Nothing new," I replied. "But we need to stay vigilant."

We were all chatting and laughing for once without much tension. I sat next to Willow, smiling timidly at one of Ethan's jokes. Suddenly, my phone vibrated. I glanced at the screen, and my face went rigid.

"Excuse me, I have to take this call," I said abruptly, standing up. I walked away, my heart pounding. It was a number I didn't know.

"Raiden, it's your mom," the voice on the other end said, sounding hurried. "You need to be careful. The town is starting to do strange things, and you have to protect each other. Be very careful."

"Mom?" I said, my voice trembling. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine," she said quickly. "But I can't talk for long. Just stay safe." Before I could say anything else, she hung up. I stood there for a moment, my mind racing.

When I returned to the group, I could see the concern on their faces. I sat down silently, nervously fidgeting with my phone.

"Rai, are you okay?" Nara asked softly.

I nodded, but the worry in my eyes was unmistakable. Finally, I took a deep breath and spoke. "It was my mom," I said, my voice low and trembling. "She told me we need to be careful. The town is starting to do strange things, and we have to protect each other." I stopped, feeling overwhelmed. Aria took my hand, and I gripped hers tightly.

"It's the first time I've heard from her in a long time. She didn't have time to say much before she hung up." I looked down, the stress evident in my voice. "If she's taking the risk to call me, the situation must be really bad."

"Your mom?" Willow looked at me, her eyes full of concern. I nodded but didn't say much more, leaving her in the dark. No one else spoke about it either. Ember sighed, and no one dared to speak after.

I glanced around at everyone, feeling the weight of this unspoken truth. The rest of the day was quiet. I brought Willow to our place after a café. I was a bit anxious, but mostly excited for her. We told her about the training, and I could see she was eager to start, despite her uncertainty.

"We're going somewhere tomorrow. Take some comfy clothes with you, and tell your parents we will be back a bit late," I instructed. Willow nodded and went to Avani's room to change into gym clothes.

We all gathered in the basement for her first training session. Ember started off easy, guiding Willow through basic combat and defense techniques. The rest of us trained around them, but I always kept an eye on her progress.

Aria and I paired off for some one-on-one sparring. It was always intense with her, but today we seemed more connected, almost like we were reading each other's moves. I noticed Willow watching us, a flicker of something crossing her face. But she quickly refocused on her own training.