CHAPTER 446: REVERSE

"Brother," Luca said solemnly, brows furrowed in quiet alarm, "I think you have the drums, too."

Ollie paled.

The color drained from his face so fast it might’ve been pulled out by a vacuum.

"What?! I-I have what?!"

The hall went silent.

Or it would have, if not for the scraping of utensils overpowering the sounds of slurping.

See, the morning had started as most post-crisis mornings did. With evacuation protocols still in place, everyone had been told to remain in the main hall until the building inspections were completed. Meanwhile, DG did what DG always did best during tense moments.

They had breakfast.

The milk was fresh. The eggs were golden and steaming. Even the fruit was peeled with a precision that suggested the presence of either advanced robots or a terrifyingly devoted husband.

And said husband was currently slicing Luca’s mangoes into blooming flowers in accordance with that book he’s been looking at. The true top student of the Academy. Hands steady. Eyes serious.

On the other side of the table, Kyle was quietly passing Ollie a bottle of cold milk, murmuring something about him eating later than usual and maybe needing to coat his stomach.

Ollie was surprised but loved milk and was extremely thankful.

Then he looked up—and saw the stares.

The other students, fellow evacuees, were quietly sipping on their nutrient solution packs and wondering why life was not fair as they pondered their terrible lot in life.

"They don’t even look dusty," someone whispered.

"You smell it too, right?!"

"He doesn’t even have to cut it for himself...sigh."

Envy thickened the air. They were hungry for the food that they were eating, but even then, they didn’t ask to be fed this much dog food!

Meanwhile, Ollie had been trying his best to act normal.

But he kept looking at Luca.

Making quiet, desperate little eye contact. Like a puppy begging for spiritual clarity.

Luca, of course, noticed. And being the overly earnest brother that he was, who had never once been good at interpreting subtle social cues, he panicked. He squinted and tried interpreting what it was until Xavier gave up and whispered, "He might need a little help. What about talking to him in private?"

The little chipmunk looked up at him with bright eyes and appreciated the gesture as he practically ran over to the other side to sit with Ollie once he saw him finish his meal.

It’s just that, unlike other gossiping individuals, this one was capable of erecting a spiritual barrier. All because Xavier said it was better to talk in private.

People stared.

Because nobody did that. That wasn’t just rare—that was absurd. That was something you did for high-profile negotiations, assassination-proof arguments, or national secrets. And even then, you do it for a very short time because it consumes a lot of spiritual energy.

But to everyone watching, they could only assume that Luca used it for gossip.

If only they knew that it was a matter of life, death, and resurrection!

Jax, several seats away, noticed the shimmering shield and cocked his head. "Are they okay?" he asked, raising a brow toward Xavier and Kyle.

Xavier didn’t even look surprised. He just sipped his drink and murmured, "They’ll figure it out."

Kyle, without taking his eyes from those two, added, "Don’t be too surprised if someone or both panic."

And sure enough, inside the barrier—

"I don’t want to have the drums!" Ollie moaned. "The books didn’t really show how people could die from this! They didn’t say how air and sleep become so rare that it’s scary!"

In an unexpected turn of events, two confused and relatively inexperienced lads started having a horrifyingly challenging conversation in a bid to diagnose Ollie’s ailment.

"Brother," he began gravely, voice low and serious. "I really think it’s the same thing that I had!"

Ollie gaped, but Luca looked even more horrified because his concern was a little different.

His brows were furrowed so tightly it looked like they might tangle. His mouth moved silently for a moment, then he decided to say it. "When it happened to me, it started like that. The confusion. And I thought it was really terminal until Princess Kira enlightened me."

"Wait, so is there a solution to this?! That’s supposed to be a good thing, right? Then, why do you look like that?" Begged the blonde, who now understood why Luca insisted on going to the medical bay.

"Well, it’s not really a solution, and I don’t think there is a cure to this because even after kissing, it was still like that."

"In fact, sometimes, it’s worse!" Luca blinked up as he remembered the past events. He was turning red and was embarrassed, but his brother needed him, so he couldn’t just back out.

Ollie nearly dropped his fork. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You kissed someone?!"

The spiritual dome wobbled slightly from the force of Ollie’s shock.

From outside, it looked like a comedy sketch. Two young men, hands flailing, faces dramatic, utterly engrossed in a conversation that no one else could hear. Their expressions were all over the place—shock, intense blushing, epiphany, and then Ollie attempting to grab Luca’s shoulders and accidentally knocking him sideways.

"He’s dying," whispered a student.

"No," said another, eyes sparkling. "I’m dying. I’m dying to know what’s got them looking like that!"

So many things!

Things that Ollie’s knees could barely take as he listened to a summary of drums, crushes, and falsely described wall slams.

It was like seeing another world as he listened to what could possibly happen to someone whose got the same symptoms.

Don’t get him wrong, he’s read about it, was even the one to suggest the readings, but everything he knew was based on the books he was reading. And none of them sounded like they’d have a heart attack if their waists got touched!

Inside the barrier, the blonde mechanic who was supposed to be a bit older and taller wanted to bawl over as he cried out in stress, "But brother! You’re married! I-I couldn’t possibly confirm the diagnosis by doing all that?!"

"Huh? But aren’t you boyfriends? In the books..." Luca asked, incredulously surprised at his brother’s outburst.

"B-Boyfriends?! Ollie almost sputtered as he blushed all the way to his forehead. And if it were possible, he would’ve blushed up to the tips of his hair.

"Oh no no no! He-He just confessed yesterday! How could we possibly be b-boy...friends?!" The blonde brother was scandalized because he was now unable to say "boyfriend" without choking on his own tongue.

"But brother, I really remember that back then you said you were in a relationship, even Papa said so?" The innocent Luca tilted his head, wondering if he had misheard, only for D-29 to chime in.

"Host! You were right, it had been mentioned before, and I could pull up the recording if needed," added the helpful little system, who must show its usefulness in times like this. After all, such medical conditions were challenging to treat and must not be ignored.

Ollie, on the other hand, felt like he was going to die of embarrassment because it seemed like they really had a relationship at one point in time.

Luca stared at his brother, squinting like he was trying to solve a puzzle. "Wait," he said worriedly. "Brother, is it because you hate Kyle? You don’t want to keep him around? Were you forced to sleep with him the entire time?"

Ollie flailed, horrified. "WHAT?! No! I—I never said that! That’s not—That’s not it!"

Luca gasped, eyes sparkling. "Oh! So you do like him!"

Ollie combusted. "NO—NO, I don’t—I mean—I don’t think—I don’t know!"

His hands flew to his face, which was now beet red, and he curled over like he’d been punched in the stomach.

"But brother, you asked me the same questions last time! You even said that because he’s my husband, I’d probably like him differently."

"Whaaa! But Luca...I think it’s really supposed to be different for you because he’s your husband!"

"Is that so, brother? Then how come the hugs, head pats, and the tucking in worked? Would that work with everyone?"

"N-No! I don’t think so, brother. I also don’t think you should go around hugging random people." Ollie warned because, for some reason, he was sure that Xavier would not let it pass.

"Oh."

"..."

"Then, brother, why do you do it with Kyle, if he’s not your boyfriend? Is he your husband, too?"

Crack.

It was like an imaginary crack in the blonde’s mind as choking sounds echoed against the small barrier as Ollie concluded that he wasn’t going to make it.

"Brother, I’m going to die," Ollie wheezed. "This is bad. I—I can’t breathe. I’m going to faint—"

He slumped, dramatically gasping for air as if he were in the final act of a tragic opera.

Luca hovered with concern and complete seriousness. "Oh no! Brother, maybe it’s just love?!"

It was not, in fact, just