Date: Two Weeks Before the Final Exam
Location: Academy Dormitory – Study Hall of the Damned
---
The final exam draws near.
The tension is real. The papers are cruel. The ink tastes like suffering.
So, naturally, Leander named our study room "The Study Hall of the Damned."
He even carved it on the door.
With a fork.
No one stopped him.
---
Today's study session began like any other.
Lily sat beside me, flipping through advanced theory scrolls with one hand, solving formulas with the other, and probably writing a poem in her head at the same time. I tried to keep up — truly — but I swear half the questions were written in demonic cipher.
She leaned in to show me a diagram. Our hands brushed.
Then the chaos began.
---
"Commander, you're flirting with danger," Leander grinned from across the table.
"I'm doing mana flow equations," I said.
"With her," he replied, pointing at Lily like she was a war crime.
---
By lunch, Leander had started an official betting pool:
> "Will Nitsuo build a harem before the second year?"
Anna immediately joined.
Gideon did not respond.
Elric just looked tired.
Alice, on the other hand, heard the word "harem" and sat down beside me with a cold smile and colder aura.
"Interesting joke," she said.
Riya, who had just walked in, quietly turned around and walked back out.
She returned five minutes later, sat near the window, and opened her book in silence.
(She didn't look at me once, but I noticed her ears were pink.)
---
Leander, not satisfied, decided to name the "sides."
> "To the right: The Moonflower."
(Lily narrowed her eyes.)
"To the left: The Commander's Fang."
(Alice leaned forward just enough to make Hugo twitch in the hallway.)
"And somewhere beyond reach: The Silent Sunburst."
(He looked at Riya. She threw a pencil at his face.)
---
Studying? Barely happened.
Elric made tea that was too relaxing. Gideon passed out face-first into a textbook on magical beasts. We left him there.
Anna enchanted her notes to sort themselves. They sorted Leander's notes instead, alphabetically, by level of stupidity.
Lily and I ended up writing answers on the same paper. Our spells contradicted and caused the sheet to scream before catching fire.
We stared at it for five seconds.
Then Lily said, "That one's your fault."
I accepted the judgment. I was too tired to argue.
---
Eventually, Alice stood up, stretched, and said:
> "If this is what studying with humans feels like, I understand why vampires evolved alone."
Leander clapped. "See? Even Alice supports the bet! The harem is real!"
She looked at him with eyes that promised eternal pain.
He didn't clap again.
---
Lily finished her scrolls and leaned back beside me.
She looked up at the ceiling and whispered,
> "Do you think… we'll all be here next year too?"
I didn't answer.
Not because I didn't want to —
But because I did.
Too much.
---
[Note scribbled at the end]
They called it chaos.
I called it home.
If this is what damning feels like —
I'll happily stay in this hall.