Chapter 94 Episode 94: Rumors

Akira’s POV

The pairing had become a solid fact in the hunter community. People said the names Vixar and Renshi together like they had always belonged that way.

I heard it in the common areas every time I walked through for meals or supplies. The talk no longer sounded like a fresh rumor. It sounded like accepted background noise.

Speculation filled the open spaces between missions. Some hunters guessed the pairing came from special training benefits. Others guessed at personal reasons they did not say out loud.

A few simply watched us with open curiosity when we passed together. The stares landed heavier than they had a month ago.

Sena sent me a message in the middle of the afternoon. It was a screenshot from one of the open hunter forums. The post showed a clever anagram made from our two names. The word play was sharp and clean.

I stared at the screen for several seconds. The joke was actually well done. Despite the rest of the pressure I felt a small laugh leave my mouth before I could stop it. The humor felt strange against the larger discomfort.

The funny part lasted only a short time. The rest of the attention did not feel funny at all. People were tracking my missions now with real interest. They left comments about the zones I entered and the support choices I made.

They compared clear times and ranked the difficulty of the tasks I took. My name sat next to Kael’s in threads that would have been impossible four months ago. The proximity still surprised me when I saw it written out.

The D-rank label used to make people look past me without a second thought. Now the same label made them look closer and longer. D-rank standing next to Kael Vixar drew pointed interest instead of the old neutral glances.

I put the phone away and kept walking toward the supply desk. Eyes followed me along the corridor from both sides. The weight of those eyes sat on my shoulders the whole way down the hall.

I collected the listed materials without talking more than the clerk required. The clerk treated me with extra politeness and care. Even that small change came from the pairing talk that filled the building.

Back in the quieter side hallway I stopped and leaned against the wall for a moment. The anagram still sat in my messages like a bright spot. The humor had already faded into something heavier and more tiring.

Four months ago no one tracked my name or my clear times. Four months ago Kael’s name lived in a completely different level of the guild structure. Now the two names shared space on screens and in spoken conversations everywhere I turned.

I thought about the Death God registration while I stood there. The network of those creatures now knew I existed as a real presence. The hunter community knew I existed beside Kael in a public way. Both kinds of attention felt dangerous in different directions.

Fear mixed with a tired kind of acceptance in my chest. I could not stop the forums from running their threads. I could not stop the common area talk from continuing. The pairing had moved past the point where silence or distance could hide it.

Kael had taken me to the auction house on purpose only days earlier. He had placed his hand on my lower back and kissed my forehead in full view of everyone there. He wanted the rumors to turn into accepted fact. He had succeeded more thoroughly than I expected.

I pushed off the wall and continued toward the training side of the building. Ordinary work still needed to be done no matter how many people watched. Sitting with the full weight of the public pairing would help nothing and change nothing.

In the yard I ran through basic forms alone for a long stretch. Sweat built quickly on my back and neck. The physical focus gave my mind a short break from the constant sense of being observed by people with opinions.

Other hunters entered the yard in small groups. A few glanced my way and then spoke quietly among themselves. I kept my eyes on the drills and forced my breathing to stay even.

Sena found me near the water station later in the afternoon. She held up her phone with the same anagram screenshot still open on the screen. Her expression carried a mix of amusement and concern.

"You saw it," she said.

"I saw it. It was... clever."

She studied my face for a moment longer. "You do not look amused anymore."

"The joke is fine on its own. But the tracking, not so much. People are watching my missions like they mean something personal about us."

Sena nodded once. She understood enough of the pressure I was facing without needing every private detail. Her support stayed quiet and steady the way it always had.

"They will get used to it eventually," she said. "Or they will find a new topic to chew on. Either way you keep doing the work in front of you."

I thanked her and returned to the drills after drinking more water. Her words helped a little bit. The pointed interest still followed me around the yard like a second shadow I could not remove.

Kael arrived near the end of the open session. He walked straight to my side and matched my pace without any comment at first. His presence alone changed the way nearby hunters looked at the two of us together.

Some glances turned respectful and careful. Others turned speculative and lingering. A few turned away completely as if the pairing made them uncomfortable. The relationship was fully registered and everyone adjusted in their own way.

We finished the light partner work in mostly silence. When we stopped for water I pulled out my phone and showed him the anagram screenshot. His mouth twitched once at the corner.

"Creative," he said.

"Sena thought so too. I laughed for about three seconds when I first saw it. Then I remembered the forums and the mission tracking."

Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly as he handed the phone back. "They are following your clears and support calls."

"Yes. Clear times. Zone choices. Everything they can see. D-rank standing next to your name makes people curious in a sharp and pointed way."

He was quiet for a moment while he thought. Then he rested a hand on the back of my neck for a short clear second that anyone nearby could notice.

"Let them track what they want," he said. "Results will speak louder than their comments over time. We keep going the way we have been."

I nodded under his hand. The touch and the words settled some of the restless feeling in my chest. The attention would not disappear overnight or even in a week. We would move through it anyway because there was no other useful choice.

After training I returned to my room and sat on the edge of the bed for a long time. The phone showed three new forum notifications I chose not to open. The anagram message from Sena stayed at the top of the list like a reminder.

I thought about how fast four months had changed everything around me. From unnoticed D-rank support to a name paired with Kael Vixar in every common space and open forum. The speed of the shift left me off balance and tired.

The Death God’s network knew me as a presence that existed. The hunter community knew me as the person who stood beside Kael. Both facts sat side by side in my mind and refused to become comfortable or ordinary.

I made a simple meal in the small kitchen area and ate it without tasting much of the food. Ordinary steps still mattered even when the larger attention pressed in. The alternative was letting the eyes and the comments stop me from moving forward at all.

Evening settled over the complex in slow stages. I stood at the window and watched lights come on across the other buildings. Somewhere out there people were still discussing the pairing and making new guesses about what it meant.

I washed the dishes carefully and laid out clean clothes for the next day. Small tasks kept my hands busy while the larger pressure of public attention stayed present in the room.

Gleam remained quiet in the back of my mind. She had already given me the warning about the Death Gods and the network. The human side of the attention was mine to handle without her input.

I lay down earlier than usual because the day had worn me thin. Sleep came slowly and in pieces. The forums and the common area voices and the clever anagram mixed with older memories of the gate and the four stretched seconds.

Tomorrow the talk would continue in the halls and on the screens. Tomorrow my name would sit next to Kael’s again in places I could not control or avoid. I would get up and train and take the next mission anyway because stopping was not an option.

The pairing was fully registered now across the community. Curiosity had turned pointed and constant. I carried both truths with me into the dark and kept breathing until sleep finally took over for a few hours.

There was nothing else to do about the attention tonight. The work of existing under so many watching eyes would start again in the morning without mercy.

I would meet it the same way I met every other weight on this path. One step at a time and one breath at a time until the day changed shape again.