From the very start of the morning, I noticed something was off with my brother. During class, Kael wasn't listening to the teacher or writing down formulas—he was just staring blankly at one spot. Toward Anna.

  "Kael, what’s up with you?" I whispered, nudging him with my elbow.

  "Nothing... just thinking," he muttered, instantly turning red all the way to the tips of his ears.

  "Just thinking," yeah, right. Tell that to someone who hasn't seen you drooling.

  By lunch, the situation got even worse. Kael turned into a walking questionnaire: he kept asking Anna about everything under the sun, catching her every word as if it were gospel.

  A week passed.

  And then—it happened. My one and only brother finally defected. He simply left me sitting alone and went to sit at Anna’s table.

  "Well," I whispered, looking at their empty seats. "We’ve lost him. Another soldier fallen to the front lines of romance."

  Fine. He looked truly happy with Anna. He smiled so wide that it actually made my own heart feel a little warmer. But there was one downside. Greg.

  Because of the Academy's stupid schedule, our classes constantly failed to align. We saw each other either on the run in the corridors or during brief snack breaks. The magical randomizer was methodically keeping us apart, leaving me alone with my biology notes.

  "Greg, where are you wandering?" I sighed, looking out the window at the floating buildings. "I don't even have anyone’s head to scratch..."

  A week passed.

  The world around me has finally lost its mind and decided to split into pairs.

  Kael and Anna have become so close that their auras are starting to blend. They’re constantly whispering about something, forgetting to eat (which, in my book, is the highest stage of insanity).

  But Kael is one thing. What about Alphus? Our "White Cloud" found himself an adventure too. His relationship with Lianel has clearly moved to some new, terrifying level. They’ve started spending all their free time in the training halls. Lianel drives him like a slave, and he... he’s actually happy about it.

  I sat in the corner of the cafeteria, watching this "Noah’s Ark."

  "What the hell is this?" I grumbled, picking at my plate with a fork. "A mate for every beast? Is the Academy turning into a Tinder headquarters?"

  An alarm siren wailed in my head. Logic suggested something horrifying: if everyone finds their "destiny" and disappears into romance, then...

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Who is going to pet me?" I asked the void.

  If Alexia completely switches over to the Dragonkin, and Anna to Kael, I’ll be left alone with my own hair. This was a planetary-scale catastrophe. Reputation, magic, cycles—all of that is nonsense. Но the prospect of being deprived of a high-quality head massage made me seriously consider going out and sabotaging a couple of dates.

  "No, seriously," I looked at my hands. "Am I supposed to scratch myself? That’s not how this works."

  The world was definitely moving in the wrong direction.

  February 20th.

  The atmosphere in the Academy had become so thick you could bottle it and sell it as a love potion. Everyone around had de-facto recognized themselves as couples, even if they were too afraid to say it out loud.

  "OH, COME ON!" my inner voice screamed. "Another romance arc? Why?! Author, did you decide to turn my life into a YA novel? Where are the epic battles? Where is the ancient evil? Why do I have to watch this mushy stuff?"

  The guys gathered in the corner of the gym, pretending to have a serious briefing.

  "Listen," Kael started, "February 23rd is coming up. Maybe..."

  "We should do a triple date?" the Dragonkin interrupted. His tail was thumping excitedly against the floor. "Let's all go out somewhere together. Lianel is just... oh, she's so..." Then came an endless "blah-blah-blah" about the princess's virtues, which I preferred to tune out.

  Kael nodded thoughtfully: "In principle, it’s not a bad idea. Anna wouldn't mind a change of scenery either."

  Alphus adjusted his collar and looked intently at Kael. "Listen, what about Alastia and Greg? They seem stuck at a stalemate. Neither here nor there. Have they really not taken a single step forward?"

  Kael stopped abruptly. His face darkened. "Well... the situation is difficult. Anomalous, I’d say."

  "Maybe we need to give Greg a push?" the Dragonkin suggested, baring his fangs in a smirk. "Give him a good incentive to make the first move?"

  "Man, that’s risky," Alphus sighed. "You know how he is. If you pressure him, he’ll just teleport to the other side of the world or fall asleep at the most inconvenient moment."

  "I don't know, guys," Kael rubbed the bridge of his nose. "As far as I'm concerned, you're rushing things. But..." he trailed off, looking at Greg, who was lazily picking his ear in the distance. "But if we don't shake them up, they won't move even in a hundred years."

  At the same time, in another wing of the building, an equally heated debriefing was taking place.

  "Did you get invited too?" Lianel smiled triumphantly, twirling a note in her hands.

  The girls nodded excitedly, giggling and discussing which outfits would be best for a "triple outing."

  But Lianel suddenly turned serious. "The question is Greg."

  "Greg and Alastia?" Anna sat on the edge of a desk. "Do you think anything will happen between them?"

  Alexia sighed, twining a silver strand of hair around her finger. "I don't know, honestly. Greg... he’s strange. There’s a spark between them—the kind that makes the whole floor crackle—but they aren't doing anything with it. They're just treading water."

  "Maybe we should push them then?" Anna suggested, her eyes gleaming.

  "What if we make it worse?" Lianel hesitated. "What if he gets spooked and goes into full-lockdown mode?"

  "Listen," Alexia looked at her friends. "You can tell by looking at Alastia that she wants to take a step. She’s burning for it. But Greg... he could react in any way. We risk breaking her heart."

  She paused, listening to the hum of the Academy. "But still... if we don't give them a proper kick, they won't even take a single step. They’ll just play staring contests until the end of time."

  All three nodded in sync. Operation: The Great Kick was officially approved.