The Academy's Doomed Side Character

I didn’t answer.

I couldn’t show fear.

Even if my whole body was already trembling under the weight of it.

I had to hold.

Just a few more minutes.

They were coming.

They had to be.

My grip was starting to slip.

I could feel it—the ache in my fingers, the sweat on my palm, the subtle but relentless throb in my temple. I tried to blink away the sting in my eyes, but it was getting harder to breathe, harder to stay calm.

Damn it.

This wasn’t supposed to be my fight.