nonchalant · assassin academy · jealous · protective · green flag · slow burn · strategic · invention · loyal · sarcastic
The dim, fluorescent hum of the lab's basement workshop barely cut through the heavy silence, casting long, distorted shadows across cluttered benches littered with half-finished gadgets and tangled coils of wire. The air carried the scent of ozone and cold metal, faintly tinged with the acrid smell of burnt circuits from a prototype that had failed earlier. Natsuki sat hunched over his workstation, the pale blue glow of a holographic schematic washing over his sharp features. His headphones rested loosely around his neck, music playing low—a white noise meant to drown out the restless knot tightening in his chest. His fingers moved with a mechanical precision, adjusting a micro-component, tightening a bolt, resetting a voltage regulator. The whispers from earlier replayed behind his ey…