Scumbag Fate System-Chapter 5: Night Visit

Sneaking towards her dorm was something Rika never thought she would do.

Yet here she was with Reinhard, who pressed Rika flat against the wall. Just as footsteps appeared closely near them.

She felt his arm lock across her collarbone, pinning her still as he softly breathed near her ear. The corridor stretched ahead of them in dim amber light, and for three agonizing seconds, neither of them moved.

The footsteps passed.

Rika let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. That was too close. But then, she immediately pressed her hand over her mouth to smother the laugh crawling up her throat. Reinhard glanced at her sideways, one brow raised, and she had to look away before it got worse.

Dangerous, she thought. He is dangerously good at this.

"I’m starting to think you do this often," she muttered into his sleeve.

"I am simply light on my feet." The smirk was audible. "This is the first time I have snuck into a woman’s room. A pretty one, at that."

She felt heat crawl up her neck and chose not to dignify that with a direct answer. "Liar. I bet you’ve done this dozens of times."

His quiet laugh told her nothing useful.

Who exactly, Rika found herself wondering, was Reinhard before he arrived here? And how is it so easy for me to like being near him so much!?

Of course, she kept these thoughts locked away; saying it out loud would be mortifying. They kept going, sneaking past and avoiding other female students. Until soon, the dorm entrance was finally ahead of them, and it was empty, for once.

But she realized they had more pressing things to do.

"Go inside and open your window," he said at the entrance. "I’ll climb up."

"Will you be fine?" Rika asked with a concerned look.

"Trust me."

She gave him one last uncertain look, then quickly made it to her room on the second floor. Her key turned, her room greeted her with its usual comfortable disaster, and she crossed to the window and threw it open.

Just in time to see his hand close around the ledge below.

Rika watched him climb with the ease of someone who had absolutely done this before. He quickly climbed up, and he slipped inside. He glanced left, then right, then at her room.

Rika closed the window behind him. Her legs chose that moment to give their review of the evening, and she let herself fall backward onto the bed with a sigh. "I thought we’d be caught at least four times."

Reinhard laughed before his gaze moved through the mess without judgment. His silver eyes scanned the scattered books, the stacked papers, the shelves threatening to collapse on both sides. He paused at her desk.

His expression shifted.

Rika sat up.

Spread across the surface were her field sketches of different Fiends, detailed and labeled, their forms captured from memory. And beneath them, a hand-drawn map with a title written in careful ink.

Nocturne Ruin.

"I’m sorry about the mess... It’s embarrassing." She quickly scrambled and started gathering the papers up. "I wasn’t expecting company. If I knew I was going to bring you, I would-"

"It’s fine. This was last-minute, and I don’t mind it; my own is worse." Reinhard said as he gently stopped her.

"Stop." His hand covered hers, gently. "I don’t mind it."

She looked up at him, startled by how certain he sounded.

"I like the chaos," he said simply. "It tells me more about you."

She stopped reaching for the papers, a blush spreading across her face.

That, she thought, was more dangerous than the climb. Why do his words feel so good to hear... I only just met him today.

Rika shook her head as she settled back down while Reinhard sat down on the edge of the bed.

He looked at a hand-illustrated Fiend sketch with something close to genuine curiosity. "Did you actually read all of these books?"

"Most of them."

"There are over forty."

"They were fun." She sat down beside him, surprised at how easy it was becoming to say. "I’d read some of them more than once. Each time I found something I missed."

His expression softened. "I wasn’t able to bring books with me. I packed in a rush."

"Rush how?"

He grinned. "I was too excited coming here." His eyes found hers. "Meeting new people like you."

The words landed quietly, but they made her heart skip a beat, all in the ways that didn’t make sense to her. Then he pulled her closer, making Rika softly gasp.

"Tell me about your hometown," he said softly. "You mentioned it briefly before."

Her heart skipped a beat again; that was something she could talk about. No, she wanted to talk about that.

"Well, it’s small and located in the north near the Menos Restriction Ruins."

"That doesn’t sound comfortable."

Rika chuckles. "I agree it does seem unfortunate living so close to such a dangerous area." She could recall it clearly, the broken skyline of something that had once been a city. The way the stones seemed to look different the further in you went. "But I enjoy sneaking off to explore the outskirts of the ruins."

"Oh? It seems you were a fellow rule breaker."

"Well, it was hard to control myself when a mystery came up back then."

"It fascinated you that much?"

"I couldn’t help it." Her voice softened. "It was a mystery I couldn’t leave alone. Why do cities fall the way they do? How are restricted ruins formed? " She turned to face him, and the excitement she rarely let herself show openly had already crept into her expression. "Everyone around me just accepted it, that’s how the world is, but I can’t do that. I need to know the reason why."

Reinhard looked at her, and for a moment his face did something she hadn’t seen it do all evening. Not only did his expression soften, but his gaze felt less like he was reading her. And more like he was fascinated, such a thought made her tremble.

It couldn’t be right? Maybe I’m just reading too much into it... Right?

"I’ll be there cheering for you," he said.

She blinked and saw the honesty in those silver eyes, making her smile before she could stop it. "Thanks."

"Now I’m curious," Reinhard said, leaning back. "You mentioned Restricted Ruins behave differently. Different how?"

Rika hesitated.

"From what I could gather... The Fiends don’t attack immediately." She said carefully. "Sometimes they just... observe. As if they’re curious rather than hostile."

She looked down at her hands.

"Some ruins feel like they’re waiting." The words came out quieter than she intended. "The most interesting field note I ever found only said one thing." She paused. "One note mentioned it feels like the ruins are anticipating something."

The room felt different after she said it aloud.

"That’s disturbing," Reinhard blinked before saying uneasily.

She noted how he looked a bit unsettled. She couldn’t really blame him because such a thought was terrifying.

Who would want to enter into a place that had a mind of its own?

"It is." She forced a small laugh. "Those are just documented observations, though. I’ve never actually gone deep inside one."

"But you want to."

She didn’t answer, but the silence answered for her.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to press her on this. But inwardly, she always felt these moments were enough to have him see through more of her. Normally it would be uncomfortable and yet... She felt oddly curious about what he saw and a bit of enjoyment in just how much attention he was giving her.

"I’m curious about something." Reinhard leaned back. "How does Resonance actually work? Most people I have asked could only really give a vague answer of it being a signal that helps a Hunter use the magic stored in their body."

Her eyes lit up before she could stop them.

"The textbook gives a vague answer and an annoyingly long description." She said, turning to face him properly. "But it’s pretty simple." She paused. "It’s controlled by our emotions and focus."

"Emotion?" His expression shifted to intrigued.

"Our emotions become a signal that will help us tap into our mana. This will have the magic rushing through your body. But without focus, there is no way to direct it." Rika explained.

Reinhard held his chin. "So that means if I were determined. I can use the shape of the magic in my body to enhance my body?"

Rika nodded, but her crimson eyes took in the way he was actually listening. It wasn’t like how others did when they just wanted her to hurry up and finish talking. Or those times, people just listen to indulge her.

This time, it felt like every word she said mattered to him; it was vastly better than the beginning.

"In simple terms, the magic in our body is the power source, emotions equal the connector, and our focus is the guide of that energy."

What she didn’t say was that she’d been feeling something strongly for the last hour, and she had no idea what signal that was sending. And yet for some reason, the urge to get even closer to this man was strong.