The late morning sun warmed the courtyard in soft gold. Akio sat alone at a small outdoor table, nursing a glass of cold chrysanthemum tea. The quiet suited him—just the gentle clink of ice, the distant hum of students crossing the walkways, and the rare stretch of downtime where he could breathe without needing to be either a student or a vigilante.

  He idly scrolled through his phone, not really reading anything. The breeze stirred the rim of his glass. That’s when he felt it—a cluster of familiar presences approaching, loud even before they spoke.

  Akio looked up.

  Lev waved enthusiastically as if he hadn’t been training for the past three hours. Amari and Runa followed in easy chatter. Kairo strode with the confidence of someone who had definitely caused problems today. And Gavant… floated in his usual serene, surfer-sage way.

  “Yo, Akio! What’s up!” Lev called.

  “Mind if we join you?” Runa asked, bright as always.

  Akio put his phone down and offered a small, welcoming nod. “Of course.”

  The group pulled up chairs around him, filling the space with the kind of energy that made solitude optional rather than necessary.

  “I feel like we haven’t seen you in forever!” Amari said. “How’ve you been?”

  “Well enough,” Akio replied. “Did you all just come from Sentari training?”

  Kairo grinned. “You bet. Strength day. Not something cringe like cardio.”

  Runa nudged him. “Cardio isn’t bad. I like it.”

  Kairo put a hand over his heart. “Nuh uh. I ain’t about that life.”

  The table dissolved into warm laughter. Akio listened more than he spoke, faintly amused, letting their voices wash over him. He didn’t mind the company.

  Naturally, the conversation eventually drifted where it always did.

  “Okay, guys—important question,” Lev announced, slamming both palms onto the table with the urgency of someone about to solve world hunger. “If the Dawn Hound had a favorite color, what would it be?”

  Runa didn’t hesitate. “Blue, right?”

  Kairo shook his head. “Nah, black.”

  Amari countered, “No no—white or silver. The Dawn Hound doesn’t even wear black!”

  Lev turned to the remaining two. “What do you guys think? Akio? Gavant?”

  Akio maintained a perfectly serene expression.

  “Blue seems the most reasonable,” he said politely. Internally, he sipped his tea with quiet resignation.

  All wrong. Every single one of them.

  He wasn’t about to volunteer that the Dawn Hound’s actual favorite colors were odd niche ones no one had ever heard of—Eburnean, Celadon, the occasional love for tasteful muted palettes. And if he absolutely had to pick just one?

  Sarcoline.

  A soft peach-yellow beige. Warm without being loud. Elegant without trying. There was no way any of them would guess something that obscure.

  Gavant, still stroking his chin thoughtfully, suddenly brightened with an almost enlightened calm.

  “Sarcoline,” he said.

  Akio stopped breathing. It was only half a second, but he felt his heart lurch before he forced his expression back to neutral.

  Lev blinked. “Sarco-what? What’s that?”

  Kairo squinted. “Ain’t that a fish?”

  Runa frowned. “No, that’s sardine.”

  Amari burst out laughing. “Why would the Dawn Hound pick a color that sounds like a vitamin supplement?”

  Gavant, unbothered, gestured broadly as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Sarcoline,” he repeated with a sage nod. “You know—like if a peach and a sunrise had a baby, but the baby was shy and only wanted to be perceived at a forty-five degree angle during golden hour.”

  Akio gave a slow, disbelieving blink.

  What does that even mean??

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  Kairo leaned back in his chair with an incredulous snort. “So you’re saying the Dawn Hound is a baby?”

  Lev scoffed loudly. “Bro, there’s no way. The Dawn Hound is, like, a total badass.”

  Amari wagged a finger at Gavant. “Classic Gavant—always giving the most out-of-pocket answers.”

  Gavant only beamed, sunlit and unbothered, as if he were merely reporting the state of the cosmos. “Hey, some people are morning people without admitting it. Sarcoline just fits. Quiet warmth, soft light, the whole ‘reluctantly glowing at sunrise’ vibe. Very human connection.”

  Akio felt his pulse stutter.

  I… What??

  Thankfully, Runa shifted the topic. “Do you guys think the Dawn Hound has a favorite animal?”

  “Definitely a wolf,” Lev said instantly. “I mean—he’s the Dawn Hound.”

  “You’d think a guy whose whole brand is a dog would like dogs,” Kairo added, shrugging.

  “That one feels like a no-brainer,” Amari agreed.

  Akio took a slow sip of his tea to disguise the way dread crept up his spine. In truth, his favorite animal wasn’t a wolf. Or a dog. Or anything remotely fierce.

  It was a bird.

  Sandpipers—small, tireless, darting things he had always admired. He liked how they skimmed the shoreline with quick, precise steps, racing the waves without fear. How resilient they were. How they moved with a kind of quiet persistence he found oddly comforting.

  He exhaled, reassuring himself firmly.

  Gavant guessing Sarcoline was a coincidence. It was just luck, nothing more.

  Across the table, Gavant rested his chin on his hand, gaze drifting dreamily toward the sky.

  “You know… change is a lot like the tides,” he began, voice lilting as though narrating a documentary no one had asked for. “There’s strength in those in-between places—liminal spaces where land meets sea, night meets day. I feel like the Dawn Hound is the type to vibe with that.”

  Lev blinked hard. “Huh? What does that have to do with favorite animals?”

  Gavant nodded sagely, patting Lev’s shoulder like a wise monk blessing a confused disciple. “Those little birds you see running up and down the beach with the waves? I think that’s his favorite.”

  Akio went perfectly still.

  There is no way. There is literally no way.

  Because those birds—those ridiculous, frantic, adorable little birds—were Sanderlings. A species of Sandpiper known to search the sand for mollusks and small fish when the water receded.

  And also, his favorite animal.

  Kairo actually barked out a laugh. “BAHAHA—bro, you mean those stupid looking birds? No shot.”

  “Oh! I know what you’re talking about!” Runa said brightly. “They’re super cute.”

  Amari threw her hands up. “What??? NO WAY! The Dawn Hound is a war hardened cold-blooded killer! There’s no chance his favorite animal is a bunch of tiny birds who panic-run around water!”

  Akio stared down into his tea, genuinely wondering if he was being pranked by the universe. Two eerily accurate guesses from Gavant in a row was not a coincidence. It couldn’t be. And yet Gavant sat there, blissfully unaware, chatting like he hadn’t just grazed the edge of Akio’s secret identity with surgical precision.

  Before Akio could fully process the dread curling in his stomach, Amari perked up with a spark of mischief in her eyes.

  “Ooh, I’ve got an interesting one!” she said, leaning forward. “Favorite book. I bet he’s totally the type to read The Art of War or something.”

  Lev nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yeah, big strategy guy for sure. Maybe like… war manuals?”

  Runa tilted her head thoughtfully. “I think he might like history books.”

  Kairo waved a dismissive hand. “Nah, bro. The Dawn Hound doesn’t read. He’s too busy beating the shit outta people.”

  Akio kept his expression unconcerned, though he felt a vein twitch somewhere deep in his soul. He very much did read—and across most genres, too. But if he had to choose a single favorite book…

  Gavant spoke before he could finish the thought.

  “Sixteen Local Birds and Their Distinctive Footstep Patterns,” he said with serene confidence, as if announcing the weather.

  Akio froze.

  He turned his head slowly—very slowly—to stare at Gavant, who was blissfully stroking his chin like he hadn’t just invoked the title of Akio’s most-read, heavily annotated, embarrassingly beloved book. Internally, Akio’s voice was a guttural scream.

  HOW??? How does he know??

  Nearby, Kairo erupted into laughter. “BRO—BIRD FOOTSTEPS?? NO WAY! HAHAHA—what kind of nerd reads that?”

  Amari gawked. “Is that… an actual book? It sounds fake.”

  Gavant smiled, unbothered. “Oh, it’s real. Very real. The Dawn Hound strikes me as someone who always looks out for the little guys—and bird footsteps are subtle but complex. Easy to overlook, but full of stories if you know how to pay attention. Liminal, you know? Like him.”

  Lev leaned back, visibly impressed. “Damn… that’s kinda deep, actually.”

  Runa laughed softly. “You’re really convinced he’s a bird guy, huh?”

  Gavant stroked his chin, thoughtful. Dangerous.

  “You know,” he mused, his expression brightening, “that’s why I think—”

  Akio’s entire body went rigid.

  Please stop talking, he begged silently. Please don’t say anything more. I can’t handle this.

  “—that the Dawn Hound is a fellow bird lover who dresses like a minimalist tech CEO and enjoys drinking ice-cold chrysanthemum tea during late mornings. And who also has, like, an irrational fear of geese. You know—just a chill guy.”

  Akio inhaled sharply at the exact wrong moment and nearly choked on his drink.

  Thankfully, no one else at the table seemed even remotely aware of the crisis unfolding in Akio’s soul.

  Lev was the first to react, nearly falling out of his chair as he wheezed, “An irrational fear of geese??? HAHA—bro, there’s no way—no WAY—”

  Kairo slapped the table, howling. “BAHAHA—Gavant, you make the Dawn Hound sound like he’s just some guy!”

  Amari chimed in between bursts of laughter. “COME ON—he literally solos Anomalies and jumps off buildings! There’s no way he’s scared of geese!”

  Runa giggled behind her hand. “It’s such a huge contrast to what everyone thinks he is…”

  Meanwhile, Akio sat perfectly upright, the picture of serenity, hands folded neatly around his cup. On the outside: calm. Composed. Mildly amused. On the inside though…

  He just described me. Exactly. From my alter ego alone. Did I just get reverse profiled and psychoanalyzed? If anyone hears this man and takes him even slightly seriously—it’s over. This is how I get exposed.

  Amari, still wiping tears from her eyes, said, “Everything aside, I feel like you know a lot of cool facts, Gavant.”

  Gavant smiled, lifted one hand toward the sky, and—utterly oblivious to the existential panic he’d unleashed—murmured in his laid-back, surfer-sage cadence.

  “They say the key to knowledge is like an open door. Anyone can walk through it if the breeze is right.”

  Akio’s internal voice was almost desperate.

  Close it. Close the door.

  The conversation drifted on, full of more laughter, teasing, and friendly chatter. Akio managed polite nods where appropriate—though his eyes flicked toward Gavant far more often than was normal or healthy.

  Eventually, chairs scraped back and the group stood.

  “See you around, Akio! Great catching up!”

  He lifted a hand in a small wave, watching as they drifted off across the courtyard. Their voices faded into the breeze—except for one.

  Gavant, in the center of the group, was already launching into another meandering, profound sounding monologue about the symbolic weight of seasonal change and how socks represented the fragility of mortal ambition.

  Akio stared after him, utterly expressionless.

  Forget Echo. Forget the Hollow.

  Gavant Leontara… is the most dangerous man alive.

  ─ ? NEXT CHAPTER POV ? ─

  Akio