It was a cool morning.
Clean. Unremarkable.
Niv stepped onto campus holding a stack of books — sleeves rolled up, headphones around his neck, black T-shirt, jeans. Normal.
Almost.
Eyes lingered just a moment longer than usual. Conversations paused, then resumed as he passed. Two freshmen muttered something under their breath and looked away when he glanced over.
Someone had scribbled "🔥" on the engineering noticeboard. No one had the guts to take it down.
He didn't notice her at first.
Sera didn't study here.
But she'd looked him up. Engineering department. Campus map. A well-timed walk past the fountain. That's all it took.
She was flanked by one of her friends, walking past the water feature like it was coincidence. Sharp blazer, sunglasses, presence like a quiet hurricane.
She noticed him immediately.
Their eyes met.
He blinked.
"Hi," he said, voice a little too fast. A little too soft.
Sera paused.
Smiled — just enough to be unreadable.
"You clean up well," she said.
Niv opened his mouth to say something — maybe "thanks" or "you too" or something witty.
But she was already walking away.
She didn't look back.
Not then.
Only when she turned the corner, just before disappearing behind the building, did the smile finally slip out.
Small.
Real.
The campus was alive again. Sunlight bounced off steel and glass. But there was static under the ease. Some students moved in lazy waves between classes, sipping matcha lattes and quoting Nietzsche like it was TikTok philosophy.
Others sat still too long. Watching.
A girl actually curtsied when she passed him near the lab.
Two professors in the hallway went silent as he walked by.
At a metal table beneath a tree that had probably cost a donor thirty grand, Niv and Ethan sat with two open takeout boxes between them. One quiet. One smirking.
"So," Ethan said. "Yesterday."
Niv kept eating.
"Yeah."
"You turned a guy's face into a chemistry experiment. And then apologized."
"He escalated."
"He said slurs and tried to punch you. You set him on fire."
Niv looked up. Calm. "And no one else got hurt."
Ethan shook his head, half-laughing—but there was something off in it. A pause. He picked up a dumpling, stared at it too long, then set it down.
"My sister called this morning."
Now he had Niv's attention. Slightly.
"What'd she say?"
"Wanted to know what the hell happened last night. Apparently, the Caldwells are gone."
"Gone?"
"Like, gone gone. No press statements. No damage control. Nobody knows where they are."
Niv blinked. "That was fast."
"Not just fast." Ethan leaned in.
"Tidy."
"They were already on thin ice. You just kicked the last support beam."
"They were blocking an acquisition deal. Major one. My family's been trying to get in for months."
"And now?"
"Now the deal's ours. Whole pipeline opened up overnight. They didn't just erase a threat, man. They left a gift bag."
Niv paused, genuinely surprised. He glanced down, expression tightening for a beat.
He hated that feeling.
When the world rearranged itself around his actions before he even understood them.
He hadn't made a move.
He'd just... reacted.
And now someone somewhere had drawn a line straight from his wrist to a billion-dollar contract.
"I didn't know. I wasn't trying to make a statement."
"Yeah," Ethan said, quieter now. "That's what worries me."
He poked at his noodles.
"People who make statements get in trouble. People who don't even mean to? They get studied."
Niv said nothing.
Ethan grinned—his default shield. "Anyway. I'm calling my sister."
Niv frowned. "Why?"
"Because I'm collecting."
"...Collecting what?"
"Profit." Ethan jabbed a finger toward his chest.
"My friend just handed them a billion-dollar acquisition. Least they can do is kick back a little to me. 10% would be fair, right?"
Niv stared. "You're serious?"
"Deadly."
Niv shook his head, exasperated.
They ate in silence for a moment, the buzz of campus life swirling again—too normal, too fast. Niv refocused on his rice. Ethan tapped his phone, maybe already texting a cousin in legal.
Then, with zero warning, Ethan said:
"Sera was watching you the whole time."
Niv froze for half a second.
"I know."
"You talk to her?"
"Bumped into her this morning."
"Oh?" Ethan perked up. "That why you looked like you'd forgotten how verbs work when you walked in?"
Niv gave him a look.
"It was brief."
"Did you faint? Or just blush and drop your books like a Disney protagonist?"
"I will drop you."
"You like her."
"Shut up."
"You do. You're crushing. You're a whole tragic poem."
"I will end your bloodline."
"Too late. Your family already did that to the Caldwells."
Niv exhaled, face in hands. Ethan just grinned.
"Unbelievable. You can dismantle dynasties in a hoodie but you can't ask a girl out."
Niv muttered something that sounded like "fuck off" into his noodles.
Ethan raised his drink.
"To dangerous friends and disastrous crushes."
Niv's chopsticks paused mid-air.
His eyes flicked upward. Not at Ethan.
At a man in a suit—too old to be a student. Too stiff to be faculty.
Gone by the time Ethan turned around.