At the dinner table, Shinya leaned his exhausted body toward the warm rice and soup. There had been fierce fighting today as well. As an S-class Sentinel, he had fought on the front lines and emerged victorious. But victory came at a cost. The more he used his abilities, the more unstable his mind became, and that instability was now seeping into his daily life.

Shinya’s gaze rested not on the food, but on the childhood friend sitting across from him. A friend of twenty years, the only Guide who had lived in the same house for five years. While his friend spoke of ordinary daily life, unspeakable emotions swirled within Shinya's chest.

"Did anything happen today?"

At his friend's question, Shinya habitually shook his head. When had he first become aware of this feeling? At first, he had simply thought it was familiarity. They had always been by each other's side, and he believed they would naturally remain together. But as time passed, that belief began to waver. He was afraid that being too close, knowing too much about each other, would actually push them apart.

From the moment he awakened as a Sentinel at age fifteen, he had to stand on the battlefield, enduring the penalties and side effects of instability that came with using his powerful strength. The stronger he became, the more instinctive the obsession and dependence that rose from deep within him. That was the burden Shinya had to carry.

And that burden wasn't revealed only on the battlefield. His feelings for the friend before him also grew steadily, like a side effect of his abilities. If he saw them laughing and talking with someone else, he had to pretend it didn't bother him.

Because he didn't want to break this relationship, Shinya had to 'act like a friend' today as well. Just like always, night after repetitive night. To protect their ordinary daily life, he concealed his true feelings and swallowed a small breath.