Chapter 154: The Feelings Are Mutual

Mika placed the hammer back on the workbench, as if nothing had happened. He dusted his hands, turned, and strolled back to Charlotte’s side.

"So..." Mika said casually, as though mangled bodies weren’t twitching on the floor behind him. "...about the Dream Drifter, there’s one circuit in the anchor relay you could stabilize. The overload from earlier probably won’t happen again, but..."

Charlotte leaned in, her eyes sparkling. "I knew you noticed that! I was thinking the same, the secondary rune-array on the third conduit, right? The one next to the calibration lens?"

They spoke in hushed, animated tones about power matrices and rune efficiency, ignoring the terrified mob entirely.

Not once did either of them mention the broken bodies still twitching on the floor. To Charlotte, this wasn’t shocking. It wasn’t even out of the ordinary.

She had seen Mika handle situations like this before, always brutal, always decisive, and always in her favor. If anything, she looked almost satisfied, a small smile on her lips, as though he had helped her squash pests that had dared to crawl too close.

The crowd, however, was frozen in terrified silence. No one knew whether to run or stay, whether to scream or pretend they hadn’t seen anything.

Even Adam, pale and nauseous, couldn’t take his eyes off the scene. He realized then why Mika’s reputation in the academy was so horrible.

Everyone only ever saw this, the brutality, the blood, the sheer disregard for rules. They never saw the side of him who had been ready to kneel in apology just to spare others. And so, his legend grew darker with every act like this..

Charlotte, though? She wasn’t horrified, she was delighted. She smiled as though Mika had taken out the trash for her, her voice lilting with cheer as she rattled off improvements.

Then just then—

A unbothered voice came through from somewhere in the crowd.

"You always complain you have no friends in this academy." The voice said, sharp and unimpressed. "You always complain that everyone is scared of you. But look at you now. You go and break everyone’s knees, and then you turn around and talk about machines like nothing happened."

"...How in the world is anyone not supposed to be scared of you?"

The crowd stirred. Heads turned. Mika and Charlotte both froze, their eyes snapping toward the source...only to see Maria stepped forward from the crowd.

She had been in the mob the whole time, silent, watching. Now she walked through the ring of terrified students, her face calm, her tone icy.

And seeing Maria, Charlotte’s eyes narrowed instantly, her face twisting with irritation. She hated Maria’s presence, hated that she was even here.

Mika, meanwhile, exhaled heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked more weary than surprised, like he already knew that dealing with her arrival here was going to be a pain.

And the instant Maria was right in front, Charlotte sneered, her words sharp.

"Oh, Mika...it looks like another girl wants to be taught a lesson. She wants us to kneel? Then why don’t you take that hammer and smash her knees too? Clearly she came here begging for her punishment."

Mika didn’t rise to it. Maria only arched a brow, unbothered.

"I’m not like those idiots." She said flatly, her gaze unwavering. "I don’t pick fights I can’t win."

Her eyes flicked toward the hammer, then back to Mika.

"But if you really want him to swing that thing, go ahead. Use it on your own head instead. It’s safe. You could smash it all day, and nothing would break. Because I doubt there’s anything inside that skull worth damaging."

Charlotte’s teeth clenched audibly.

"Oh, you’re talking like you have anything up there either." Her voice was dripping hatred now. "I mean, you’re talking to someone who could make you disappear one day, without leaving a shred of evidence. Only someone with no brains would provoke me like that."

Maria didn’t flinch. She just rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that. As if you’d dare to do anything with Mika standing right here."

The two of them squared off, the tension thick enough to suffocate the air. It looked like claws were about to come out, a full catfight about to erupt...until Mika finally stepped between them, lifting his hands.

"Enough. Hold it." His voice was tired but firm. "You just saw each other and you’re already fighting? Can we not start tearing into each other right away?"

Maria immediately looked at him, her face softening slightly. "I wasn’t starting anything. I came here to bring you back. We’re supposed to have lunch together, remember? That’s the only reason I came."

Charlotte jabbed a finger at her, outraged.

"See, Mika?! She’s obviously provoking me. She knows I wanted to have lunch with you, and now she’s trying to steal you right in front of me!" She stamped her foot, glaring daggers at Maria. "I hate her! I hate this damn girl so much, it infuriates me!"

Charlotte’s thoughts spilled like fire. To her, Maria wasn’t just another girl. She was a parasite, always glued to Mika’s side wherever he went.

And unlike every other girl in the academy, girls Charlotte could scare off with a glare or a word, Maria never left. No matter what Charlotte said, no matter what she did, Maria stayed. Resilient. Shameless. Always close to him, always touching him, never afraid.

And that infuriated Charlotte more than anything.

But what truly made her blood boil was the memory.

The infamous incident.

The day Mika made two students eat filth.

It began with two boys, spoiled, cruel, and too loud for their own good. They had cornered Maria after class. They mocked her poverty, jeered that she should sell herself for money, spat the word "prostitute" like all over and even tried to force her to go with them to a hotel.

Maria, strong as ever, had dealt with it, had pushed back and easily handled it on her own. She might have walked away from it altogether.

But Mika heard.

And Mika never let such things go.

The next day, in front of everyone, students, teachers, even the staff, he dragged those boys out like criminals to the gallows.

No quiet confrontation, no hidden corner.

He simply forced them into the latrine pit, made them choke on filth, made them eat the existing excrement as the crowd watched in horrified silence.

The academy tried to bury it, but the story was too big, too grotesque to hide. It spread beyond the walls, splashed across headlines in the outside world. And for the first time, Mika faced punishment—two weeks suspension.

Charlotte never forgave Maria for it. To her, the chain of blame was clear: if not for Maria, Mika would never have been driven to such an extreme.

If not for Maria, he would never have suffered the shame of suspension. It was Maria’s fault he cared so much, Maria’s fault that his cold mask cracked enough to act with such violent devotion.

And that was what stung Charlotte most of all.

Because beneath her anger, she understood the truth: Mika cared. He cared enough to break the world for Maria. And that knowledge alone fanned Charlotte’s hatred hotter than any flame, a fire that never dimmed.

When Charlotte finished, Maria’s only response was a steady glare, her tone cold but calm.

"The feelings are mutual." Maria said flatly, her glare never wavering. "I don’t like you either. Not one bit. In my eyes, you’re nothing more than a spoiled brat who can’t handle a single problem herself...You always run to Mika, dump everything on him, like he’s your personal crutch."

"Do you even realize it? It’s because of you he had to do something like that back then. Because of you, his reputation is in ruins. Do you know what people say about him now? That he’s a monster, a thug. And you..." Her voice sharpened. "...you’re one of the reasons he never had any friends he can get along with in this school, which he complains to me all the time."

Charlotte froze. The words hit her like a slap across the face, so harsh and so true she had no immediate defense.

She was the one who had dragged Mika into that mess. She was the one he had fought for, suffered for. And Maria was right, his name was blackened because of it. For a heartbeat, Charlotte could only stand there, silent, throat tight.

But then she lifted her chin, pride burning through the shame.

"Who cares about that?" She snapped. "Who cares if Mika doesn’t have any friends? He doesn’t need them. He has me. I can be his best friend, every day, every moment if I have to. I’ll be worth a hundred friends if that’s what it takes."

Maria only sighed, shaking her head as though she were addressing a child.

"And that..." She said coldly. "...is exactly why I call you a spoiled brat. You’re not thinking of him at all. You’re thinking of yourself. You put yourself next to him, always. You’re not protecting him, you’re chaining him."

Charlotte’s face flushed, anger clawing at her chest. She opened her mouth but found no words. It was clear, painfully clear, that she was losing this battle. Her jaw clenched, her fists trembled, but nothing came out.

Seeing this, Mika stepped in and he placed a hand gently on Charlotte’s shoulder.

"Alright, alright, calm down." He turned to Maria, his voice even. "You’re right about one thing, Charlotte is spoiled. Ever since she was little, she’s acted like a princess."

Charlotte’s eyes widened, shocked. "H-Hey! Mika! You traitor!"

But Mika only chuckled softly and looked at her again, his gaze warm.

"Spoiled, yes...But selfish? No. Charlotte has the most selfless heart I know. She cares about others more than herself, every single time. Calling her selfish...that’s just wrong."

Then he glanced back at the Charlotte friends who were still turned away. "Isn’t that right, guys? Do any of you think Charlotte is selfish?"

Immediately voices rose.

"No, not at all!"

"Charlotte always helps, no matter what!"

"I’ll never forget the day my grandmother was in the hospital, Charlotte was the one who showed up, even when she was busy. She stayed just to support me."

One after another, the words of praise piled up, and Charlotte’s eyes gleamed with pride and a warmth that made her heart swell. She looked at Mika as though she might kiss him right then and there, overwhelmed by how high he held her.

Maria, on the other hand, rolled her eyes. Irritation flickered across her face at the way Mika defended Charlotte so fiercely, even now.

Mika noticed it, felt the sharp edge of her mood, and knew he’d have to calm her too. But before he could, Charlotte stiffened.

Her nose twitched, catching a scent. A familiar scent. Her eyes narrowed, ice creeping into them. Slowly, she leaned forward, sudden and sharp, and sniffed Maria.

And the moment she realised what this familiar smell was, her eyes shifted, glowing between pink and blue.

"It was you." She whispered, her voice dropping to ice. Her eyes flared, shifting between blue and pink. "It was you who covered my Mika in your scent. His whole body reeks of you. I should have known. And it’s not just his body, it’s...one place in particular."

Her glare hardened into something deadly.

"Seems like you’ve been very busy with that mouth of yours. Always running it to throw words around...or maybe using it for something else."