Chapter 18: Lunch, Laughter, and Levitation

The academy cafeteria was always loud, always crowded, always too much.

Sayaka sat quietly at the far end of the dining hall, her tray of lukewarm stew and bland bread untouched. Students bustled around, laughing in groups, swapping scrolls, comparing elemental affinities. It was like a different world—one she had no place in.

She poked at the bread with a spoon.

Still stale... Yep, consistency is key, she sighed inwardly.

Her cheek still stung faintly from earlier teasing, but it was becoming routine.

Far across the hall, Dev sat at a table by the window, alone.

He wasn’t eating.

Just sitting.

One leg crossed over the other, arms folded, back perfectly straight, his crimson eyes calmly watching the world outside.

But Sayaka knew better now.

She'd seen how fast he moved.

Felt the ripple in the air when something bad was about to happen—and didn’t.

He really didn’t have to do that... Was it just a reflex? Or... something else?

She glanced his way, briefly.

He didn’t turn.

Didn’t need to.

But then…

Something changed in the air.

The sound of trays clattering dimmed slightly, replaced by a heavy silence around her.

Stolen story; please report.

Footsteps. Heavy. Aggressive.

She turned her head.

A tall figure in a second-year uniform approached—lean, muscular, and angry.

Behind him stood Leira, arms crossed, chin high, her expression full of burning pride and cold revenge.

Oh no…

The boy reached her table and slammed his fist down on the wood with a loud THUD, shaking Sayaka’s cup of water.

“You’re the one who embarrassed my sister, right?”

Sayaka blinked, confused. “What—?”

Before she could even finish the word—

WHAM!

A heavy punch collided with her cheek, sending her crashing to the side. Her tray flipped. Food splattered across the floor. Her body hit the tiles, face-down.

“Let’s see how you like being humiliated,” the brother growled, placing his boot on her head and pressing down. “You dirt-stained trash.”

Sayaka winced, pain flaring behind her eye.

The cafeteria didn’t move.

No one stopped it.

No one dared.

Except—

Flick.

A subtle hand gesture.

A whisper of mana that didn’t shimmer or crackle—but warped the air itself like gravity had taken offense.

The brother suddenly froze mid-stomp.

“What the—!?”

His body floated upward, like an invisible hand yanked him by the collar.

“HEY! WHAT’S HAPPENING?! PUT ME DOWN!”

The entire cafeteria turned, gasping and pointing.

Leira’s eyes widened. “B-Brother?!”

The boy flailed in the air, upside down now—his head just inches from the ceiling. His limbs kicked wildly, but no force helped him.

Then…

Schloop.

In a single snap, his pants slipped off, gliding gently to the floor like a silk handkerchief.

A moment of silence.

And then—

“PFFFF—HAHAHAH!!”

The hall exploded with laughter.

Boys cackled, girls gasped, and someone fell off their chair.

“LOOK AT HIS UNDERWEAR!”

“OH MY GOD HE HAS SPARKLE PANTIES!”

Leira’s eyes bulged in horror as her brother rotated helplessly above them, face redder than Vikran’s hair.

She turned, covered her face, and ran out of the cafeteria without a word.

Her brother, still floating and flailing, spun like a confused ceiling fan.

Then—

WHUMP.

He dropped face-first into a pile of mashed stew, pantsless, humiliated.

No one saw who did it.

But Sayaka, still on the floor with her face against the tile, opened one bruised eye—

And saw Dev.

Still in his chair.

Still calm.

But this time, his eyes were on her.

And for a moment, there was something there.

Not pity.

Not amusement.

Something else.

Sayaka forced a small breath, trembling. “...Why?”

He didn’t reply.

Didn’t move.

But again—that same flicker.

The smallest curl of a smile.