The Academy's Doomed Side Character

Nora smiled. Not one of her fake smile "But then you say things like this. And I wonder... are you really his friend?"

That caught me off guard. "...What do you mean?"

"I don’t know. You say you’re not that close to him despite the fact both of you become freind so easy, but you seem to understand him more than anyone else." Her gaze met mine, eyes strangely sharp now. "Or maybe you just see things from the outside better than I can from up close."

I swallowed a little. That was... closer to the truth than she realized.

"Anyway, I said what I wanted to say. There’s nothing for you to worry about."

Nora didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, she just sat there, her fingers now still, as if the weight of the conversation had finally caught up with her.

"...You’re not like the others," she said softly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Others?"

She gave me a look that wasn’t exactly a smile, but it wasn’t sad either. "The ones who hover around Ryen. They either want something from him or expect something of him. But you... you don’t seem to expect anything."

I wanted to say something snarky like, Of course not, I already know how this story ends, but I held back.

Instead, I just shrugged. "Expectations are heavy. I’ve got enough of my own."