"I think I'm lost."

Kenzo stared at Atman as if he just heard the most disappointing news of his life.

"You're -" Kenzo started. "You're a professor here."

Atman nodded once, with innocent eyes.

"You work here" Kenzo continued, voice rising. "You LIVE here."

Atman blinked, exhausted. "I am aware of that..."

"And you're lost" Kenzo repeated slowly.

Atman raised his hands a little, palms up. "Apparently, yes."

Kenzo's hammer drifted forward like it wanted to join the argument, too.

"What do you mean apparently!?" Kenzo snapped. "How do you even get lost in your own school?"

Atman's jaw clenched. His eyes flicked down the hall, then back, then down again.

"Dunno" he answered. "It looked like the way I was supposed to go wasn't even there."

Kenzo's brows shot up. "Wasn't even there!?"

Atman nodded, stress creeping into his voice."Yes. As in - not there. Not open. Not existing."

Kenzo threw his free hand up. "That's not a thing that happens in a building!

Atman's eyes narrowed. "It just did."

Kenzo's mouth opened, ready to continue the war.

Raizen didn't even try to follow the argument.

He stood slightly behind them, half leaning his weight from one foot to the other, listening to words wash over him like rain. Kenzo's outrage sounded far away, like it belonged to another room.

He was too tired for this crap. Before, be had an anathema, contract, orchestra, alley Keahi, Hikari's name... And now, he has to endure hallway politics.

Kenzo's voice cut through again.

"You could've just asked someone!" Kenzo said.

Atman's face twitched. "I am asking someone."

Kenzo jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "You're asking me. That's not someone. That's me. I have NO IDEA what this place is!"

Atman exhaled. He looked like he was one more sentence away from lying down on the floor and sleeping there.

Then Raizen heard something else.

Footsteps.

Soft, steady, coming from the corridor behind them.

Raizen's head turned before he even decided to.

A figure approached through the empty hall, footsteps echoing lightly against the wood. The sound wasn't loud, but it had confidence in it.

Raizen's eyes landed on the silhouette and immediately widened

The person - teacher, probably - was… Stunning.

The full package, in the way Raizen didn't have a better word for without sounding like an idiot. Sharp silhouette. Elegant glasses. Skirt that moved dangerously with each step. Shirt slightly unbuttoned at the collar, just enough to look effortless instead of careless.

Raizen looked away instantly, eyes locking onto a random point on the wall like it was the most interesting wood in history.

He could feel Kenzo go quiet beside him. Saffi made a small, impressed inhale and immediately stopped

Atman, on the other hand…

Atman's face crumpled.

Not into fear.

Into relief so intense it looked like he might

actually cry.

"Oh lord" Atman whispered, voice breaking slightly.

He stepped forward quickly, basically rushing her.

"Divine intervention" Atman said, sounding half hysterical. "Actual divine intervention."

The teacher stopped calmly and looked at him with a composed expression that didn't match his chaos at all.

Atman approached her and hugged her like she was a life raft.

Saffi's eyes widened.

Kenzo's jaw dropped a little.

Raizen kept staring at the wall, but he could still see the scene in his peripheral vision, and it was impossible to ignore.

The teacher's arms remained at her sides for a second.

Then, with quiet authority and zero panic, she patted Atman on the back.

"Atman" she said, soft-spoken, calm. "You didn't sleep last night at all. Breathe."

Atman pulled back immediately, like her voice flipped a switch inside him.

He stood upright.

Smoothed his cloak.

Adjusted his posture like he remembered he was, in fact, a professor and not a stranded child.

Raizen finally glanced over properly.

Up close, the teacher looked even more striking, but not in a flashy way. More like someone who knew exactly who she was and didn't need to announce it. Her eyes were sharp but not mean.

Her expression stayed composed, as if she handled weird professors every day and never once let it ruin her mood.

Kenzo stared at her.

Saffi stared too, but she looked more curious than shocked.

Atman cleared his throat.

Then, with complete seriousness, he said, "Right. I haven't introduced you yet."

Kenzo's brow lifted. "Atman -"

Atman ignored him, gesturing smoothly toward the teacher like this was a formal meeting and not the aftermath of him hugging her in a hallway.

"This" Atman said, "is my wife."

Silence.

Kenzo's jaw fell.

"You have a WIFE!?" Kenzo shouted.

The echo bounced lightly down the wooden corridors, as if the corridor itself repeated in disbelief.

Saffi stared at Atman like she expected him to start laughing and say it was a prank.

Atman didn't blink. Or say it was a prank.

He looked at Kenzo like Kenzo was the weird one.

"Yes" Atman said simply.

Kenzo pointed at him like he was accusing him of a crime. "Since WHEN?"

Atman's wife did a small bow, graceful and brief.

"Good day" she said, voice soft.

Kenzo looked like he forgot what good days were.

Saffi, thankfully, recovered first. She smiled politely and gave a small bow back, excited in that barely-contained way she got around important people.

Raizen gave a short nod, keeping it respectful.

Atman's wife's gaze moved over the group quickly, then landed on Atman.

Atman's face turned hopeful again instantly.

"Soo... We're a bit lost" Atman admitted, quieter now.

"We? Who's we?" Kenzo asked

His wife exhaled softly, as if she wasn't surprised at all.

She looked past them at the junction, then at the hall they came from, then back.

"This way" she said.

Atman looked relieved enough to melt.

Kenzo opened his mouth to ask ten questions at once, but Atman grabbed him by the shoulder like he feared Kenzo's words might scare the wife away.

They followed.

The woman walked ahead at an even pace, calm and unhurried. She didn't need to look around much. She moved like she knew the Academy the way you knew your own home in the dark.

They took two turns. Then a third. Then walked through a corridor that widened suddenly, like the building took a breath.

Raizen's unease softened a little, but his curiosity stayed.

The halls remained empty. No signs. No decorations.

And doors, occasionally.

They reached a section where the wall's grain formed an elegant swirl, and Raizen felt like he recognized it - the same floral pattern style Ukai used everywhere, carved into the wood as if they feared empty space might offend someone.

Atman's wife stopped.

Right in front of a wall.

Just… Stopped.

Then she stared at the wall like she was dissapointed.

Kenzo leaned sideways slightly, trying to see around her.

"What happened?" Kenzo asked carefully.

"This is where the gate is supposed to be" she answered.

Kenzo's head snapped toward Atman like Atman personally built the wall to insult him.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SUPPOSED TO BE?" Kenzo shouted.

Atman flinched like Kenzo's voice physically hit him.

His wife remained calm.

She sighed, soft and controlled, then glanced at Atman.

"Must be that problem student again" she said.

Raizen frowned without thinking. "That problem student again…?"

Atman rubbed his face. "Haaah... Yes."

Kenzo squinted. "What problem student?"

"At this Academy" Atman sighed, "there's a student who's extremely gifted with manipulating nature."

Saffi's eyes lit up. "A student?"

Atman nodded. "More like a genius."

Kenzo opened his mouth, already suspicious.

Atman added, "Also very naughty. She pulls tons of pranks. On professors. On students. On doors. On anyone that she sees"

Kenzo's hammer drifted slightly.

Atman's wife's expression stayed controlled, but she frowned slightly.

"I'll handle it" she said.

She turned slightly and gestured to a nearby classroom door.

Then, without rushing, she walked over and slipped inside.

The door closed softly behind her.

Kenzo leaned toward Atman. "You really married her? Like, for real? You didn't bribe her or something, did you?"

Atman threw him an annoyed look. "She wanted to marry me first"

Raizen stood quietly, watching.

The corridor stayed still for a few seconds.

Then the wall moved.

Not like stone shifting.

The wood's surface started unweaving, grain separating into layered strands, and the whole section of wall loosened like a woven basket being undone.

The movement was smooth, controlled, almost elegant - life reshaping itself with practiced ease.

The wall opened up.

And behind it, the real gate appeared.

A wide arch, nearly three meters tall, framed by the same carved floral patterns Ukai had everywhere.

Raizen stared at it for a second, then rolled his eyes.

"Don't these guys have any other patterns in mind?" he muttered.

Kenzo's face held a mix of awe and outrage. "That's insane."

Atman looked like he wanted to apologize to the gate.

The classroom door opened again.

Atman's wife stepped out as if nothing happened.

Her expression stayed calm.

"Alright, now I have something to handle so I must go" she nodded.

Then she stepped closer, and as if it was the most normal thing in the world, she leaned in and kissed Atman on the cheek.

Saffi's eyes widened again.

Kenzo looked like his brain crashed.

Atman's wife gave them one more small nod - polite, authoritative - and then walked away down the corridor, disappearing around a turn with the same calm confidence she arrived with.

Silence returned.

Atman turned back to them, and somehow, his whole energy changed.

He looked… Alive.

Like someone poured twelve hours of sleep into him in one second.

His eyes still had dark circles, but now they didn't matter.

His posture was lighter. His mouth curved into a grin that looked almost smug.

"Well then" Atman said brightly, gesturing toward the newly revealed gate,

"Shall we enter?"

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