How to Make a Sinner Sleep

06 | change; to experience and to learn

"I conclude, that is why you absolutely must join an extracurricular that you'll enjoy." announced Niklas, taking in a deep breath after his almost half an hour ramble to convince Kaden to follow his own ideals after the latter had briefly mentioned waiting to be given a list of classes he was to take.

"Wait, wait. I need to run. Sorry, I agreed to meet up with some people to discuss one of our classes. I'll see you later, Kaden! Don't miss me too much!"

The bell had rung, and the first week was only a half day of school while students decided how they wanted to spend the second half of their day. His classes had continued in a similar fashion—scorn, rumours and the typical experience.

After waving farewell to Niklas, Kaden chewed on his food, glancing at the person who sat opposite to him.

The cheerful commoner had dragged both his row-mates, or whatever one called it, to lunch with him. Noah, surprisingly, hadn't refused, shrugging Niklas's grubby hands off and following quietly on his own.

There was something Kaden noticed, staring at Noah's place. The food was eaten clean with thorough care, but a small pile of bright red vegetables gathered together pitifully, abandoned.

"Aren't you going to eat those?"

Noah glanced up, staring back down at the neat collection he'd made. Then, he shook his head. "I won't."

Kaden, who'd grown up with a strong belief in eating (almost) everything on his plate when he always had too little to allow room for pickiness, frowned. "It's a waste of food."

"Look at your own plate." The dragon calmly gestured to the much smaller pile of chopped olives, carefully picked out.

"That's different. Olives are the only things I won't eat."

"Tomatoes are the only things I will not eat."

"They taste great though," insisted Kaden stubbornly, more out of amusement at the other's picky habits than real anger. "I love eating them. As much as I like you."

Noah narrowed his eyes, seeming to scrutinize his expression before letting out a soft sigh of annoyance. He ignored the confession that had been tagged onto the end of the sentence, as always.

It was clear that there was no point in arguing.

He stretched out a hand to pull the plates closer, resolutely dumping his collection of cherry tomatoes onto the opposite plate, while scooping up the pile of olives.

He slid the plates back to their proper position and resumed eating calmly. Kaden blinked, once, then twice before lowering his head to eat up the ripe tomatoes.

He couldn't stop the disobedient quirk of his lips, and the slight curve of his eyes.

They ate quickly, though peacefully. It was a strange experience to witness, both hero and villain, sitting at the same table.

Their roles would only become set in stone after the Academy, however.

The thought dulled Kaden's senses as he lowered his eyes reluctantly. He could run away, live an easy life—though running would be difficult, and escaping Reed's grasp near impossible.

But he could try, break completely away from the original timeline.

Yet he craved vengeance, desired it more than anything else. Not to mention, what else could he do?

The path he had chosen to embark on was the only one that seemed to guarantee everybody's happiness. He'd never even considered including himself to begin with, in the happiness that he sought for others.