Kite dragged himself into school with barely a second to spare, hoodie up, eyes half-lidded from too little sleep.
William caught up with him by the lockers, earbuds in and a bag of chips in his hand like it was breakfast.
"Dude, you look like you fought a raccoon in a dumpster and lost."
"Didn't lose," Kite said with a grunt. "Raccoon just had backup."
William raised an eyebrow. "Cryptic and tired? You're definitely up to something."
Kite gave him a look. "Later. Lunch. Just—trust me."
William nodded, falling into step with him. "You got it, Pulsar Knight."
Kite groaned. "Seriously. Don't say that out loud. Not here."
They rounded the corner just as Ava and Julian approached, Ava's eyes lighting up with a mix of concern and something else.
"You ghost us again and we're starting a search party," she said, folding her arms.
"I'll make it up to you," Kite mumbled, offering a weak smile. "Promise."
As the bell rang and students began filing into class, Kite's mind drifted back to the alleyway as he made his way to class.
As he stepped foot in class he felt a surge of energy that woke him up from his tired state. His eyes shot wide open, as he looked around the classroom. His eyes darted around the room before landing on Nova, calmly doodling in her notebook.
What was that? It's like I'm fully awake now?? I'm not tired anymore, and I just realized I didn't tell Keith about—
Just then a familiar voice ran through his head.
CALIBRATION COMPLETE
Kite's eyes widened in surprise and a bit of excitement.
Wait!? Ai, is that you?!!
Kite asked as he made his way to his desk.
Yep! Your Personal Paladin assistant Ai! Pronounced like eye!
Kite couldn't help but smile, Ai was back and he hadn't lost his charm.
Ava raised an eyebrow as she looked at Kite. "Are you okay? You're just smiling at—well nothing."
Kite snapped back to reality, "Oh my bad!" He said as he rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish grin, "Just, ummm thought of a joke and it made me smile."
Ava chuckled as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear, "Well don't let me ruin your trip down memory lane."
"You wouldn't ruin it y'know—it's like—it's like…" Kite's voice trailed off as he ran out of words.
Ava just giggled and went back to reading her book.
Kite sighed slightly.
Well Ai, you have a bunch of explaining to do, and I mean a bunch.
AI's voice rang through his head once more.
Don't worry everything's going to be explained. No by me, but by the big man himself!
Kite's eyes widened.
Pulsar?!
Just then the bell rang for the first period.
Kite sat in the middle row of his English class, still half-focused on the words bouncing around in his head from Ai. His notebook lay open in front of him, untouched, as the rest of the class slowly filtered in.
Mr. Peters, their teacher, stood at the front of the room already scribbling something about metaphors and allegories on the whiteboard. Kite barely noticed.
Ava slid into the seat beside him—her usual spot. She always sat to his right, close enough to share eye rolls whenever Peters went off on a tangent, but far enough to not make it weird. Not that it would be weird. Probably.
"Still smiling at nothing?" she asked in a low voice, pulling a pencil from behind her ear and flipping open her own notebook. "Or was that one joke just that good?"
Kite turned slightly, smirking. "You ever hear a joke that's so bad it just breaks your brain for like… twenty minutes?"
Ava tapped her pencil thoughtfully. "You do hang out with William a lot. So yes."
He chuckled at that and finally picked up his pen, half-heartedly pretending to take notes. "You're not wrong."
There was a pause, quiet but comfortable, the kind that came from knowing someone long enough to not fill every second with noise. Then Ava nudged his arm lightly.
"Hey. Did you hear about Spirit Week?" she asked, her tone perking up. "They're actually doing something fun this time. Monday's 'dress like your younger self' day. I'm gonna dig out my old princess hoodie. You know—the one with glitter that never came off?"
Kite grinned. "You wore that thing for like a year straight."
"Two years," she corrected, mock-proud. "And it was iconic."
"Well, if I show up in my elementary school Spider-Knight costume, I expect zero judgment."
"No promises," she teased. "But you will get bonus points for commitment."
He leaned back in his chair a bit, smiling softly. "Guess it might be nice. Something normal."
"Exactly," Ava said, then hesitated. "Honestly, I could use a week of silly distractions. Things have been kind of… nonstop lately."
Kite noticed the way she twirled her pencil a little faster than usual. "Everything okay?"
She didn't answer right away. Instead, she let out a breath and glanced toward the window, sunlight catching the edge of her hair.
"I got a part-time job," she finally said, trying to sound casual, but Kite could hear the shift in her voice. "Evenings and weekends. My mom picked up extra shifts too, so… figured I should help out."
Kite blinked. "Wait, what? Ava, that's—why didn't you tell us?"
She shrugged. "I didn't want to make it a thing. It's just a few hours at the bookstore downtown. Nothing major. Plus, I kind of like it. It's quiet. Smells like old paper and overpriced candles."
"That's so you," Kite said with a soft laugh, but his expression sobered. "Still, I wish you'd said something. We'd have understood."
Ava looked at him for a moment, then smiled—a small, sincere one.
"I know. And I will. I guess… sometimes it's just easier to smile and talk about glitter hoodies."
Kite nodded slowly. "Yeah. I get that."
Their eyes met, just for a second, before the classroom door slammed shut behind a late student, and Mr. Peters called for everyone's attention.
Kite turned toward the board, trying to focus, but part of him was still sitting in that moment—feeling the shift in Ava's voice, seeing the way she pushed forward even when things got hard.
She was strong. Stronger than she let on.
Guess we're all carrying something, he thought.
And just beneath that thought, Ai's voice flickered back into his mind like a reminder.
Don't forget—your upgrade came with a few new surprises. We'll need a minute to sync it all. Try not to explode.
Kite blinked hard and slouched in his chair with a quiet groan.
"Everything okay?" Ava whispered.
"Yeah," Kite said. "Just… metaphor overload."
———
Second Period – Biology
Unlike most of his classes, Kite actually liked Biology.
There was something about the way the systems of the body worked, how everything connected in an intricate chain of cause and effect—it felt real. Understandable. Predictable. A rare kind of comfort in a world that was anything but.
He sat near the front in this class, notebook open, pen already moving as Mr. Calder talked through the slides about cell respiration and ATP cycles.
"…and remember," Calder said as he clicked to the next slide, "mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell—but if you say that on a college entrance exam, I will find you and glare at you in shame."
The class chuckled, Kite included.
He raised his hand without hesitation. "But we still need to reference the energy output, right? Like glycolysis and Krebs cycle specifics?"
Mr. Calder's face lit up. "Yes, exactly! ATP isn't just made in the mitochondria—it's produced through a multistep process. Kite, good to see someone's actually paying attention."
Kite grinned a little as he jotted down more notes.
Ai's voice flickered faintly in his head.
Well, look at you. Class nerd by day, vigilante by night. I should order you a cape and a beaker.
Kite muttered under his breath, "Shh."
"Excuse me?" Mr. Calder said with a raised eyebrow.
Kite sat up straighter. "Uh, sorry. Talking to myself. Cell respiration's just... exciting."
The class laughed again, but Mr. Calder gave him a nod—he knew Kite well enough to let it go.
As the lesson wrapped up and students started putting their notebooks away, Mr. Calder stepped toward Kite's desk and gestured for him to hang back.
"Hey, Kite—do me a favor and stick around a second?"
"Sure," Kite said, curious. He tucked his pen behind his ear and waited as the classroom thinned out.
Another student lingered too—Mina Tran, sharp-eyed and quiet, always the first to finish labs and the only person in class who ever seemed to challenge Kite's scores.
Mr. Calder leaned against the edge of his desk and folded his arms.
"I wanted to talk to you two about something," he said. "There's a local research lab over on Sycamore Street—Blackwood BioLabs. Small facility, but solid reputation. They're opening up some part-time intern spots for high school students this semester."
Kite blinked. "Interns? Like actual lab work?"
"Exactly," Calder said. "They'll train you, of course, but you'd be shadowing real scientists—doing hands-on work, data collection, even assisting in minor experiments. I recommended both of you."
Mina's eyes lit up. "Seriously?"
"You're the top two in this class," Calder said. "It wasn't a hard choice. I already sent your names in, so you should each be getting an email soon with application details. If you're interested, let them know this week."
Kite felt something spark in his chest—not the Nexus Stone, but something more grounded. Excitement.
"Yeah," he said. "I'd be totally down for that."
Mina nodded as well, already pulling out her phone to set a reminder.
Mr. Calder smiled. "Good. Just don't let it interfere with your grades. And Kite—no blowing anything up."
Kite grinned. "No promises."
As he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out the door
Blackwood BioLabs? Huh. Funny coincidence.
Kite thought as he stepped into the hallway, the buzz of high school life rushing back in around him.
A possible internship. Real lab work. A way to finally feel normal again. However all of this excitement disappeared when he checked his time table on his phone
History!? Arghhh, why'd it have to be history
——
Fourth Period – History
History dragged.
Kite slouched in his seat near the back of the classroom, balancing his pen between his fingers and trying not to fall asleep as Mr. Walsh slowly trudged through another lifeless slideshow about 19th-century trade routes. The man had the unique talent of making revolutions sound like elevator music.
Kite wasn't usually in this class with anyone from his friend group, so he kept to himself. That is, until today—when a new seating chart forced him out of his comfort zone.
"Connors, move two rows down, left side."
Kite gathered his things with a tired sigh, dragging his feet to the new seat—right beside Mina Tran.
She gave him a quick glance, then returned to her meticulously organized notebook, where she was already copying bullet points from the board in perfect, slanted handwriting.
Kite slid into his seat and gave a slight nod. "Hey."
Mina looked over again. "Hey. Didn't think I'd see you in here."
He tilted his head. "We've been in this class all semester."
She gave a faint, almost amused smile. "Yeah, but you sit behind the tall kid who smells like cheese sticks. You kinda disappear."
Kite chuckled. "Stealth is part of my brand."
"Well, you're out in the open now, Mr. Stealth."
They both returned to their notes for a while, but it didn't take long for Kite to lean sideways and mutter, "So, that lab thing. Pretty cool, right?"
Mina nodded without looking up. "Yeah. I've been trying to get something like that since sophomore year. I want to go into molecular biology."
Kite blinked. "Seriously? That's... actually kind of awesome."
She glanced at him again, this time with more curiosity. "You're into it too, huh? Thought you were more of the distracted type."
"Usually am," Kite said. "But biology just... makes sense to me."
Something softened in Mina's expression. "Same."
The silence between them was comfortable for a moment, filled only by the click of pens and the hum of the old projector. Then Kite glanced her way again, grinning.
"You know we're probably gonna end up dissecting something weird or cleaning beakers for six hours, right?"
Mina smirked. "I'd rather clean beakers than listen to Walsh talk about tariffs."
"Fair."
Then, as if summoned by boredom itself, Mr. Walsh's voice cut through the room. "Can anyone tell me what the Treaty of Kanagawa established?"
Kite leaned forward, hand halfway raised—and at the same time, Mina raised hers.
Mr. Walsh blinked, then pointed to her.
"It opened ports in Japan to American trade after years of isolation," she answered smoothly. "1854. Negotiated by Commodore Perry."
Kite gave a playful nudge with his elbow. "Show-off."
"You hesitated."
He smirked. "You're dangerous."
The bell rang moments later, signaling the start of the short break before the fifth period. The students began shuffling out of the room, grateful for fresh air.
As Kite gathered his bag, Mina slung her backpack over her shoulder and glanced at him.
"If we both get the internship, I call dibs on any microscope that isn't sticky."
Kite grinned. "Deal."
She walked off with that same quiet confidence, notebook still in hand. Kite lingered a second longer, watching her go.