The clinical silence of the school infirmary was usually a sanctuary of sterility and quiet, but for Retsu, it was a theater for her dark obsessions.
She sat perched on the edge of a medical cot, her bento box open beside her, completely mesmerized by the flickering screen of a tablet.
It was a documentary on the subterranean wars of rival ant colonies—thousands of tiny, mindless soldiers tearing each other apart for the expansion of their queen's territory.
Watching the mindless violence while chewing her food had always been her ritual of peace; it was the only way she could drown out the static of a world that felt increasingly loud and fake.
Suddenly, her head tilted, her pupils dilating as she felt through the thick concrete walls, a flicker of Ki brushed against her senses.
It was a familiar, regal signature, currently clashing with a jagged, greasy anomaly of spirit energy.
