KamiKowa: That Time I Got Transmigrated With A Broken Goddess-Chapter 54: [] Unaffected

Xavier stood rigid in Training Hall B, his navy tracksuit feeling more like a straitjacket than athletic wear. The enhanced fabric was supposed to regulate temperature and provide minor impact resistance, but right now it just made him feel trapped.

Sleep had been a joke. Every time he’d closed his eyes, he’d felt phantom touches—Calypso’s fingers in his hair, her breath against his neck, the weight of her body pressed against his. The couch had been about as comfortable as sleeping on concrete, but that wasn’t what kept him awake. It was the knowledge that she lay just twenty feet away, probably staring at the ceiling and thinking the same thoughts that plagued him.

This morning had been a masterclass in awkward. They’d moved around each other like strangers, speaking only when necessary.

"Coffee’s ready."

"Bathroom’s free."

"We should leave."

Each interaction stilted, loaded with everything they weren’t saying.

Xavier’s purple eyes tracked across the training hall to where Calypso stood in a cluster with Ashley, Margaret, Naomi, and Selena. She was laughing at something Ashley had said, her head thrown back, silver hair catching the artificial light.

She’s fine, Xavier thought bitterly. Completely unaffected.

"Dude, you’re radiating some seriously dark vibes right now," Beppo whispered from Xavier’s left, unconsciously scooting away.

Sayuri nodded from Xavier’s right. "Are you feeling sick? You look pale."

Luka leaned forward with his characteristic lack of personal space awareness. "Perhaps is needing protein! I am having extra energy bar if—"

"I’m fine," Xavier cut him off, his voice sharp enough to make all three of them flinch.

Kyrie’s distinctive laugh echoed from a few meters away. The pink-eyed student turned around, his dreadlocks swaying as he grinned. "Look at pretty boy over there sulking. What’s wrong, Valentine? Your girlfriend not put out last night?"

Xavier’s hands curled into fists. Every muscle in his body coiled, ready to launch himself at Kyrie’s smug face.

But he forced himself to remain seated, staring straight ahead. Kyrie wasn’t worth it. None of this was worth it.

Get your shit together, Xavier told himself. You’re Xavier fucking Valentine. You don’t get rattled by some teenage drama.

Except he was rattled. Thoroughly, completely rattled by a goddess who tasted like sugar and made sounds that haunted his dreams. A woman who could reduce him to nothing more than raw need with just the touch of her lips.

Pathetic.

The word echoed in his mind, spoken in his own voice but carrying all the venom he’d ever directed at marks who’d fallen for him too easily. Is this how they’d felt? This consuming awareness of another person? This constant mental replay of every interaction, searching for hidden meanings in casual touches and shared glances?

Xavier heard another laugh coming from Calypso’s group. What the hell were they talking about? Did Calypso tell them about last night? How she declined the great Xavier Valentine and made me feel like a lost—

Stop, he commanded himself. Just fucking stop.

But his mind wouldn’t comply. It kept circling back to the moment when she’d stopped him, when she’d said they couldn’t do this. The way she’d explained about gods and mortals, about inevitable tragedy. Like she was reading from a textbook instead of talking about them.

Maybe that’s all it was to her. A textbook case. Another mortal who’d developed feelings for a divine being, destined to be discarded when she returned to Olympus. Xavier had been many things in his life, but he’d never been disposable.

"Seriously, man, what’s eating you?" Beppo tried again. "You look like you want to murder someone."

Xavier almost laughed at the accuracy of that statement. "Just tired."

"Maybe you should eat something," Sayuri suggested softly. "Low blood sugar can make you feel—"

A tap on his shoulder interrupted her concern. Xavier turned to find Eliza Demara standing behind them. Her olive skin had a healthy sheen and those distinctive golden-yellow eyes studied him.

She held out a silver and black energy drink, the Virgil Constantine logo prominent on the side. "Apex Rush," she read off the label. "Supposed to be the same stuff Constantine uses before gates."

Xavier looked at her offering, then up at her face. "Thanks, but I’m not—"

"You look like shit, Valentine," Eliza interrupted, her tone matter-of-fact rather than insulting.

Fair enough.

Xavier took the drink from Eliza’s outstretched hand. "Thanks, didn’t sleep well." He cracked open the can, the sharp hiss punctuating his words.

Eliza stood there, weight shifted to one hip, golden-yellow eyes tracking his movements as he took a sip. The energy drink tasted like liquid lightning and artificial fruit, but the caffeine hit his system immediately.

"Don’t get used to it," she said, crossing her arms over her ample chest. "I just need decent competition today."

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "So you think I’m decent competition?"

Her cheeks colored slightly, and she looked away, focusing on something over his left shoulder. "No seas estúpido. Solo quiero que no te desmayes cuando te patee el lindo trasero."

Xavier blinked. In his previous life, missions in foreign countries had required translation tech—tiny earpieces that converted languages in real-time. Now, he caught only fragments—something about being stupid and kicking his ass.

"I didn’t catch all that," he admitted, taking another sip of the energy drink.

"Good. It wasn’t a compliment." She turned to leave, then paused, glancing back over her shoulder. "The caffeine kicks in harder if you drink it all at once, by the way."

From across the training hall, Calypso’s laughter suddenly stopped. Xavier felt her gaze on him, that distinctive weight of divine attention. When he looked over, her pink eyes were narrowed, darting between him and Eliza’s retreating form.

Great, Xavier thought, downing more of the energy drink. I can see how this shit is a legendary flaw now.

Sayuri leaned closer. "Eliza doesn’t usually talk to people unless she has to," she whispered. "That’s the most I’ve ever heard her say to anyone outside of Aurora."

"Lucky me," Xavier muttered, crushing the empty can in his hand.

The lights at the far end of the training hall clicked off.

Then the next set. And the next.

Darkness swept across the room like a tide. Conversations died mid-sentence. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

Xavier stood, muscles tensed, eyes searching the shadows above.

The last bank of lights went out, plunging them into darkness broken only by the faint emergency strips along the floor.

"Good morning, students."

The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. "I see you’ve all arrived early today. Eager to learn... or simply afraid to disappoint?"

A soft laugh echoed through the darkness.

Phantom had arrived.

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