"Mr. Shire, have a seat."

"Oh. Sure, Abannak," Shire sat, placing his bag on the lap.

Abannak Moreau, the vice director of mysterious origins at the University of Magic. All people knew about him- I mean, about his being that he was neither human nor elf, but it's pointless now. He organized the stacks of papers on his desk and gave Shire a few notes.

“It's about Addai Lee-Hobb," he informed.

"The newbie?" Shire took the papers.

"Precisely," Abannak leaned on the table. “He's not bad at all, and he even passed the second entrance test, but... there's something about him that intrigues me,” and he went to get a book from the shelf behind his desk.

As Abannak searched for a book, Shire read the notes about the university's newest prodigy. Remarkable talents were rare, and Addai - like Mine, Lydia, and Blanche - was one of the select group of teachers worthy of golden titles. The vice director's distrust needed to be considered, as Addai gained relative relevance.

"What could make you uneasy, Mr. Abannak?” Shire asked respectfully.

"I don't know exactly, but there's something about those eyes," Abannak pondered out loud. "Mr. Shire, you know our mana vital point relies on different organs. Mine is in my horns, and yours are on your chest but... Addai's changes from place to place."

Shire frowned and looked at Abannak. “How’s that possible?”

“Two things: mastery, or he is not human,” Abannak handed a book to Shire.

Shire took the book and read the first few pages. “Maybe he's just a skilled person. That's rare nowadays,” he pondered.

“I still have my suspicions,” Abannak scratched his chin. “I recently noticed fluctuations on campus and reported it to Director Soleil, and coincidentally, since Addai was admitted the fluctuations began, and Blanche disappeared.”

"Quite peculiar, I would say… it would take me some extra time after the evening classes…," Shire pondered and handed the material to Abannak. "I can keep an eye on him."

"Thank you, Asmodeus."

Shire smiled disconcertedly. It was as if that name spoken out loud caused a tremor throughout his entire body – like “you-know-who” from Harry Potter.

"Ah, that name... just Shire is ok," he laughed his embarrassment away.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot."

"That’s ok. You and Soleil are the only ones who can know about it but use just 'Shire'."

"I'll remember that," Abannak nodded. "So, let’s start our campus security planning with these new fluctuations.”

"I want an extra," Shire smiled cheerfully.

The Miasma building was quiet that night. Gothic-themed decorations gave bits of cheerfulness to the building, once there was a small celebration the senior students were throwing. The noise from the room where the party happened almost disturbed the neighboring rooms, especially Addai's, but fortunately, his classes were already over.

The newbie teacher walked through the corridors thinking about what to have for dinner until a flickering spot in the hallway caught his attention. A small light surrounded by a few fleeting shadows somehow laughed in high-pitched, distorted sounds.

"Umbra, pay attention," Addai whispered to the shadow nearby him.

His steps were nearly inaudible. His eyes glimmered with excitement, reflecting the dazzling jewel of the necklace draped around his neck.

As he drew nearer to the source of the whispers, the rustling sounds grew louder and more distinct. Fueled by curiosity, he cautiously slowed his already subdued pace, ensuring not to frighten the source of the commotion. He halted about five strides away from the origin of the noises.

"It's not supposed to have students in the halls at this hour," Addai said, and the voices ceased. "Come on, if you're-"

Interrupted with a light beam, Addai covered his eyes, but it was so strong that he could still see the light through the eyelids. He heard a cat hissing, and the harsh brightness subsided.

Uncovering his eyes, he saw the shadows running along the hallway, stray and free. Adrenaline slowly took over his body, and a smile formed on his face, revealing two fangs almost identical to the shadow at his side.

"Umbra! Take it!"

Like condensing smoke, the silhouette of a large feline formed in front of the teacher. The cat straightened up, darting towards the shadows that ran and laughed madly across the corridor's ceiling, floor, and walls.

Fire extinguishers were thrown toward the professor and his cat, but both dodged the attacks, and Umbra bit one of the shadows and ripped it apart as if it were made of rubber.

Ah... Holy euphoria...

How long has it been since he lost himself in this euphoria... How long-

An unexpected blow almost caused the professor to black out that instant if it weren't for Umbra absorbing half the impact. A potted plant was thrown towards him by the remaining shadow, which made indistinct clicking noises. Addai staggered and pressed his stricken temple as Umbra licked the thin streak of blood from his forehead.

The shadow was then divided into two, then into four. Its size was almost as tall as the hallway height. Addai laughed and patted Umbra's head, completely forgetting where he was. That... that there... was something fun. 

He deserved to have fun after work, right?

“I haven’t had fun like this in a while,” Addai's fingertips darkened. “Man... I promised I would behave here, but you don't give me a choice...”

The teacher absorbed the black cat with a snap of fingers.

Euphoria and weightlessness started making the teacher's movements faster and more vicious, imbued with the shadow aid plus miasma-related spells. Cornering the foreign shadow, he almost caught its essence, but with a snap, it fled around the space as if it was the farthest it could reach, discovering a big problem for itself.

"Umbra, it's your snack," he grinned, crouching.

Mist, smoke, whatever you want to call it. The cat wasn’t a cat anymore, it was a dark smoky creature that had two bright red eyes staring at the shadowy being. Its owner was proud, satisfied by his “cat” enjoyment. But the moment Umbra opened her horrendous mouth, that seemed more like a void.

"WAIT!!" someone shouted. “It escaped from the mortuary!" a familiar voice shouted, and Addai looked at the sound's source.

"Mine?" Addai echoed, confused.

The shadowy creature, taking advantage of the teacher's distraction, slammed him with a repelling spell. Mine hushed his way and helped the confused Addai to stand again, not noticing that his shadow wasn’t matching his silhouette.

"You moron! What now?!" Addai argued.

“I was finishing the purification of the new body that arrived, and that thing came out of it,” Mine pointed to the shadow struggling on the ground against an imprisonment spell. “I need to get it back into the body,” he coughed.

“What happened to you?”

Mine shook his head and stared at the shadow. "It doesn't matter. Help me put this shadow in the bottle and I'll leave you alone.”

Addai snorted and positioned himself next to the creature that broke the mana chains. On the other side, Mine materialized circles of mana in the palm of each hand, and other scriptures filled his arm like a luminescent tattoo. His hair glowed light green with golden strands, and before Addai could ask anything about such a phenomenon, Mine shouted, "NOW!"

Both spells forcibly put the shadows into a small glass jar, closed with a cork stopper plus a whispering spell to turn the creature into a dark slime matter.

“Thanks," Mine thanked, and his face looked... green?

"H-HEY!" Addai grabbed Mine by the shoulders and ran to the nearest bathroom.

The Light Mana teacher tipped over into the nearest toilet and let his insides make whatever noise they wanted to, and however they wanted to, not shy about how horrible sounds came out of him. When he finished it, he staggered to his feet and leaned against the sink, which was running water as Addai turned on the faucet and began to wash Mine's face.

Addai said something but Mine was as far away as the building's morgue, and when Addai least expected it, Mine brought two fingers into his throat, spewing out something that Addai had to turn his face away from how horrible the dark mass was that soon went down the pipes. Weak and pale, he staggered a little more.

"What the hell?!" Addai held Mine.

“I got distracted…" Mine coughed. "Contamination... miasma."

“But aren’t you the equalization teacher??”

"And what did I just do, asshole?" Mine growled, and Addai almost let him fall to the ground but swallowed the urge.

“Ok… where are your things? You must go home. Leave the bottle with me, and I'll find-"

“I need to finish it. You don't know how to do it.”

“Argh! Why do you have this weird tend-”

"Just... make sure I don't pass out."

And, once again, Addai wanted to throw him to the ground so he could swallow his pride, but again he resisted the urge and obeyed Mine.

The mortuary - found on the ground floor of the Miasma building - was a mess. Bodies were lying on the floor, and it seemed a brief battle happened with lots of emotion.

Mine took the bottle and incorporated the shadow into the body on the stretcher. Addai watched him from afar, leaning against the door and arms crossed while his invocations organized the place and the bodies on the floor, returning them to their respective drawers.

When the other teacher finally finished what he had to do, he was pale from head to toe, and even his hair’s colors were ashier. Mine’s vision was blurred, the sounds muffled, and he barely felt his limbs, but he managed to reach the door.

Addai sighed, disbelieving such stubbornness. “Come,” he crouched down, “up you go.”

“...No?"

“Stop being stubborn and hop on! You'll hit the ground in three steps, and I'll pretend the mortuary has one more body for collection."

“… ok," Mine reluctantly climbed onto Addai's back.

"That way you'll only use the power of your hands," Addai took Mine's bag and turned the doorknob. "I'll take you to the teachers' room. There's elixir and medicine for possessions," he informed, taking the first steps.

“Hm… thanks," Mine rested his chin on Addai's shoulder.

"Don't you dare tickle me."

"I don't even have the strength to answer. Argue alone," Mine grumbled.

"Don't puke on me either."

"You know, now I’m feeling about to do so," Mine laughed softly and rested his head on the back of Addai's neck, feeling his body way lighter than usual.

Addai got a bottle of a moss-green liquid from the mini fridge. Mine was so tired he wanted to lie down, but his colleague forbade him, saying he needed to remain conscious.

Grumbling and yawning, Mine remained sitting on the incredibly comfortable and inviting sofa for a forbidden nap, watching as Addai administered the intriguing and not very… pleasant to drink liquid.

The bottle was intriguing, but its contents were more fascinating. The smell of lemon with hints of something woody - and bits of something musty - was formidable. Mine wondered with all possible letters if he was able to drink it the moment Addai tipped the bottle into a black cat-print mug and mixed it with another liquid he took from the scullery cupboard.

"Drink it in one go. It's less bad that way," Addai handed the mug to Mine, who reluctantly took it.

Mine prayed and gulped down the liquid, getting terrible goosebumps. He couldn't describe how bad the thing he sent down his guts was. Addai was prepared with the bin positioned in front of Mine, but he managed to make that horrible liquid remain in his stomach.

The other teacher took a thermometer and checked Mine's temperature. Also, he analyzed if his face had any signs of possession or something like that, but nothing was out of the ordinary.

While Addai finished running a few fast possession tests, Mine was staring straight into his eyes, seeing every detail in his face. From the mole on his nose bridge and another one on the lower lip and how intriguing his eyes were. The colors were quite interesting and somehow matched, also Addai's pupils were... dilated?

Weren't his pupils...thin? Mine found himself thinking as he stared at his colleague.

The inevitable eye contact was made. Addai noticed how Mine's eyes were pink, but not any kind of bubblegum pink - like a student of his who insisted on helping him during classes - Mine’s eye colors were lighter, and the pupil was well defined and as dilated as his own.

Chin, eyes, mouth. The path his eyes unconsciously made locked in the eyes again, until Mine smiled nervously, having his cheeks tinted with red.

"W-why are you doing this face?"

“That’s the only one I have," Addai answered, wiping the medicine stain on Mine's cheek with his thumb.

“O-ok, no more looking at my face. I'm thinking I'll need to wipe whatever you found weird on it," Mine placed a hand on Addai's face, slowly turning him to the side and breaking eye contact.

“Sorry," Addai apologized, and Mine could see at a glance that his face was also a little… blushed?!

Did he blush? I want to see it!!!! Mine’s curiosity started speaking for itself.

Mine had a plan to satisfy his curiosity, despite it going against every code of conduct he made on how to deal with his subordinate. Well, according to Mine's internal chaos theory, the rules were made, yes, but if his curiosity was great enough... he could break them. It's okay... right?

“Addai, w-will you help me shape my energies?” Mine asked, looking at Addai’s face.

His eyes were undoubtedly trying to meet his co-worker’s heterochromatic eyes, but it was nearly impossible because Addai wasn’t looking at him and avoided Mine to see what his face looked like. But it seemed luck had smiled upon him.

"... Sure," Addai replied and took Mine's hands, showing his blushed face.

Mine stared at him in silence for a few seconds. His curiosity was satisfied, but his request wasn't just to satisfy his curiosity as he really needed to realign his energies.