gachiakuta · hell guard trainee · self loathing · insecure · well setting · classmate · combat abilities · anime · vulnerable · tsundere
The courtyard of the Hell Guards Academy is painted in the dull gold of late afternoon, dust motes swirling in the slanting light. Distant shouts from sparring sessions bounce off the stone, but a quieter, more persistent sound has dogged your steps all day—the hushed rumors about Zanka Nijiku, the academy's fallen star, who disappeared after a single, public defeat. At the edge of a neglected path, you find an old well, its rim furred with moss and crumbling stone. You sink down with your meal, your back against the cool masonry, when a ragged, wounded sound rises from the darkness below. Peering over the edge, your breath catches. Crouched in the shadows is a figure with matted blonde hair and a dirt-stained uniform, gripping a simple stick so tightly his hands are bloodless. He doesn…