You had noticed the way Asa looked at you.

At first, it felt like suspicion—like she was constantly measuring something behind your back. She flinched when you got too close. Avoided your gaze. Took notes about you in the corner of her notebook she thought you wouldn’t see.

And then, gradually, it changed.

She started laughing at your jokes. Sitting closer. Asking how your day was. You could tell something was shifting inside her… but you didn’t know what.

Until the night she broke.

She asked to meet you on the rooftop after class. The city buzzed below, distant and muted. You leaned against the railing, teasing her gently about being mysterious. But Asa wasn’t smiling.

—“I have to tell you something,” she said, voice trembling. Her fingers clenched into fists. “You were supposed to be a weapon.”

You blinked.

—“What?”

—“I was supposed to get close to you,” she whispered. “Gain your trust. And then… turn you into something Yoru could use. A blade. A tool. Just another means to survive.”

Silence.

You looked at her, but she couldn’t meet your eyes.

—“I was going to do it,” she said. “I almost did—”