Tiffany crossed her arms, chin held high. "With all due respect, Dean Saito, I had absolutely nothing to do with Eydis's injury. You can ask my friends."

Natalia scoffed. "Then explain the bruise on her head, Tiffany."

"Maybe she tripped. Honestly, with her eyesight, it's no surprise."

While they bickered, Eydis watched Dean Saito. His expression stayed carefully neutral. She already had the context. Natalia had been nothing if not thorough.

Tiffany Blackwood's family held enough power to make consequences optional, their pull stretching to a senator. The academy would not expel her without solid proof, and the lawyers would make sure of that. It was Eydis's word against Tiffany's.

How entertaining.

Saito did not strike her as someone who openly favoured the elite, yet this required finesse. And a queen, after all, knew how to play.

"Hold on," Eydis interrupted. "Why don't we hear from your trusted friends, Tiffany?"

Tiffany smirked. "Sure. It's not like I have anything to hide."

"Since you have nothing to hide, you will not mind if I pick two of them. And," Eydis glanced at Saito, "we question them one by one."

For a heartbeat, Tiffany's confidence slipped. She snatched a notepad, scribbled five names, and shoved it across the desk. "Whatever. It won't change a thing."

Saito scanned the list and nodded. "Eydis, choose two. Tiffany, until the investigation is over, you are not to contact them."

Amanda shifted under Dean Saito's scrutiny. The sunlight caught his glasses, making it hard to hold eye contact without squinting.

Behind him, Eydis stood very still. She acted like a different person than the one Amanda knew. Was it the braid running down her back, the intense amber eyes, or the knowing smile?

Intimidating, not that Amanda would ever admit it.

Amanda forced herself to concentrate and repeated Tiffany's words in her head: Deny everything.

"Amanda," Dean Saito said, "did you see what happened?"

"Yes, I saw the whole thing."

Eydis raised an eyebrow. "Did you now? Alright. Where exactly did I fall?"

"The running track. You tripped. Went down just like that," Amanda continued.

Eydis turned to the dean. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the running track is designed for… running, isn't it? Smooth, flat, nothing to trip over?"

"That is its intended design," he said.

"You tripped over your own feet!" Amanda insisted weakly.

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Eydis tapped her lower lip. "That clumsy, was I? Then as an eyewitness, you will not mind demonstrating."

Saito's mouth twitched. "That would certainly clarify things."

With a tsk and clear reluctance, Amanda lowered herself to the floor and attempted a clumsy imitation of a fall.

Silence settled over the office.

She lifted her chin and felt her cheeks burning. They looked like they were trying to stifle a laugh.

"Amanda, is that really how it happened? Because this…" Eydis turned and swept her braid aside to show a fading bruise at the base of her skull, "…says otherwise."

Amanda flinched. Shit. They had not planned that far. "Let me try again," she muttered, scrambling up.

She sucked in a breath and flung herself backwards. Her arms shot out without thinking and took the impact.

Lying there, she winced. "Do I… need to do that again?"

Eydis tilted her head, barely amused. "There's no point. You will cushion the fall every time. It is instinct."

"Exactly, who the hell w—"

Eydis's smile widened. Dean Saito leaned forward slightly at his desk.

Shit. SHIT.

"You're right, Amanda," Eydis said softly, almost purring. "When we trip, the brain usually tries to protect the skull. It's… survival."

"Y-you are slow to react, though, right?" Amanda looked to the dean for help, but he only sipped his tea. "I mean… clumsy?"

"Is that a statement or a desperate question?" Eydis asked lightly.

"Everyone knows you're dead last in PE," Amanda snapped.

Eydis stepped close and tucked a strand of black hair behind Amanda's ear.

Amanda froze. Was Eydis always this intense? Like… those eyes.

"Let's assume for a moment I am that clumsy," Eydis said, her fingers brushing just below Amanda's temple, then moving slowly down the side of her head. "But this part of the human skull…" Her touch hovered just below Amanda's ear. "…tends to hit the ground first in a fall, wouldn't you agree?"

Amanda nodded before she could stop herself. Her skin tingled where Eydis had touched it.

"Oh? Agreement. That is inconvenient for your story." Eydis's hand slid to the nape of Amanda's neck and rested there. "Because the injury is here."

Blinking, Amanda felt overwhelmed. "Well—I—You…"

"So…" Eydis stepped back as if the last thirty seconds hadn't happened. "How did I really get hurt?"

The room felt smaller somehow, though nothing had moved. Dean Saito hadn't said a word, but his eyes now felt colder.

He knew.

What was going to happen? Getting expelled would be bad, but her dad's reaction… she didn't even want to think about it.

"You are in my economics class, are you not?" Eydis asked, as if changing the subject.

"What?" Amanda stared.

" The prisoner's dilemma is on the syllabus. Confess now and you are a witness. If Jillian speaks first," Eydis said, voice dropping, "you are an accomplice."

Anxiety cinched tight in Amanda's gut. She stared at her shoes, then her trembling hands. The words fell out in a rush. "Tiffany. She… she hit her."

Within the hour, Dean Saito held two matching statements—same names, same weapon. Tiffany, a baseball bat, a single strike.

When the witnesses had gone, Saito regarded Eydis with the patience of a man not easily impressed. "That was impressive. How did you know to choose Amanda and Jillian?"

Eydis didn't meet his gaze immediately. Her attention drifted to the window, where an unusual pink eye seemed to pulse faintly outside the glass.

"A simple calculation, Dean. They're close enough to Tiffany to be useful to her, but not elite enough…" Her gaze flickered to him. "To avoid consequences."

Saito's fingers tightened around his teacup.

"When self-interest leads," Eydis added, turning to him, "loyalty quickly becomes an afterthought."

He considered her for a long moment. "With these confessions, Tiffany will receive a one-week suspension."

Eydis laughed, quick and disbelieving. "A week? For assault?"

"But the injury was minor—"

"Minor? Scan it, inspect it, measure it as you like. I doubt the bat left only a scratch." Her voice hardened. "This is not her first time. You knew, and you let silence do the work."

Saito flinched. "There was little I could do without anyone coming forward."

"Then take this chance to fix it." Her gaze did not waver. "A baseball bat, Dean. People have died from less. A week is an insult."

A thought crossed her mind: What if the original owner of this body hadn't survived that hit? The idea sat heavy in her chest.

Later. That was for later. Now there was a point to make.

Eydis lifted her chin, her stance almost regal. "Dean Saito, grudges bore me. I prefer to leave the past where it belongs. But…" she paused, her tone turning dark and quiet, "I make an exception."

She turned for the door. Her footfalls were quiet. She paused at the threshold without looking back.

"Silence in the face of cruelty is the same as becoming its accomplice."

Saito swallowed.

"Do you not feel that weight, Dean?"

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