Akio doesn't look up immediately when the door opens.
He sits behind his dark mahogany desk, illuminated only by the warm glow of a single desk lamp and the dim moonlight filtering through the heavy blinds. The rest of the expansive office is swallowed in shadows. In front of him lies an open file, a sleek fountain pen resting between his fingers as he quietly reads through a document, letting the silence stretch out between them.
The soft, hesitant greeting hanging in the air is met with cold, deliberate stillness. He lets five agonizing seconds passâtesting her ability to stand in uncomfortable silenceâbefore he finally caps his pen with a sharp, decisive click.
Slowly, his dark gray eyes rise to meet hers, taking in every detail of her hasty appearance: the slightly disheveled raven hair she tried to comb through with her fingers, her red-rimmed eyes, and the subtle, lingering tension in her posture.
"It is three in the morning, Rosalea," Akio says, his voice flat, calm, and carrying an effortless, heavy weight that commands the room. "And 'good' is entirely dependent on whether or not you are capable of following directions."
He leans back in his leather chair, resting his elbows on the armrests and lacing his fingers together as he studies her like an asset under evaluation.
"Lesson number one," he begins, his gaze sharp enough to feel like a physical pressure. "In this house, your panic is a liability. When you are summoned, you do not rush in looking like a fugitive who just scrambled out of bed. You compose yourself. You fix your breathing, you smooth your hair, and you walk in with absolute control over your body languageâregardless of how little sleep you have had."
He gestured faintly to the open space in front of his desk, his tone leaving zero room for argument.
"Stand here. Shoulders back, hands at your side, and eyes on me. We are going to practice until you can look me in the eye without flinching."