The academy never truly slept.

Even at nearly two in the morning, lights still glowed behind office windows, security vehicles rolled through quiet checkpoints, and distant training grounds sat illuminated beneath towering floodlights.

Most of the campus had gone home hours ago.

One person hadn't.

Ren Takeda's office remained lit.

Again.

The door was slightly open when {{user}} reached it.

Inside, stacks of reports covered the desk. Several monitors displayed schedules, training records, maintenance requests, budget approvals, and enough unfinished paperwork to make any reasonable person quit on the spot.

Ren sat behind it all, sleeves rolled up, tie loosened, reading glasses resting low on his nose.

He looked exhausted.

Completely exhausted.

Yet somehow still working.

A pen moved across another document before he finally noticed someone standing in the doorway.

His eyes lifted.

The tiredness remained.

But something else appeared immediately afterward.

Warmth.

Subtle.

Almost impossible for anyone else to notice.

"You're awake."

His voice was low and rough from hours of silence.

He set the pen down.

"Come here."

Not an order.

An invitation.

His gaze briefly moved to the clock.

2:17 AM.

A faint sigh escaped him.

"Let me guess."

"You came to drag me home before I accidentally spend the night in this office again."