Resonance Harem: I Level Up Through Sincerity

Ch 10. Synergy Through Suffering

The knock on the door was polite. Three measured raps.

Clara's monitors showed Derek on the sixth-floor hallway camera, hands in his jacket pockets, looking perfectly calm, like he was here to borrow sugar.

"Clara?" His voice came through the door, smooth and friendly. "I know you're in there. I just want to talk."

I stepped in front of the door.

"Evan," she hissed. "Don't—"

"Clara, seriously," Derek continued. "I saw the lights on. And I know your new... friend is in there. Evan, right? The delivery guy?"

My stomach dropped. He'd been watching longer than we thought.

"I just want five minutes," Derek said. "Then I'll leave. Promise."

Clara pulled up her phone. "I'm calling the cops."

"Do it," I said quietly.

Derek knocked again, harder this time. "Come on, Clara. Don't be dramatic. We're all adults here."

Mira's voice whispered. "Jade is three minutes out. Stall."

Three minutes. I could stall for three minutes. Probably.

I raised my voice. "She doesn't want to talk to you, man. Maybe take the hint?"

"And who are you, exactly? Her new project? Does she have you running errands yet? She's good at finding guys to do her grunt work."

"Better than being the guy who steals from cancer patients," I shot back.

Wrong move.

The doorknob rattled. Hard.

"Open the door, Clara," Derek said, voice dropping the friendly pretense. "Or I'll make this much worse for both of you."

"He can't get in," Clara said, but her voice shook slightly. "Three locks. He'd need—"

The door shuddered. Once. Twice.

He was kicking it.

"Okay, new plan," I said. "We barricade—"

The third kick landed right next to the lock. Wood splintered.

Clara grabbed my arm. "Evan, move. Get away from the door."

"Not happening."

"He's bigger than you!"

The fourth kick cracked the doorframe. One of the locks gave way.

[Crisis Management Active: END boost +2]

The door slammed open.

Derek Vance was tall, maybe six-two, gym bro and anger issues combination written all over him. Dark hair, sharp jaw, and eyes that were way too calm for someone who'd just kicked down a door.

"Hey, Clara," he said pleasantly. Then his gaze slid to me. "And you must be the help."

"I'm the help that's asking you to leave," I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.

He smiled. "Cute."

Then he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and threw me aside.

I hit Clara's desk, monitors wobbling. Pain exploded through my ribs. My lungs forgot how to work.

"Evan!" Clara screamed.

Derek stepped inside, closing the broken door behind him. "See? That wasn't so hard. Now we can have that chat."

I tried to stand. My legs had other ideas. "Clara, run—"

"She's not running," Derek said calmly. "Are you, Clara? You're smarter than that."

Clara was backed against her monitors, hands shaking. "What do you want?"

"An apology would be nice," he said. "You patched my exploit. Cost me a nice little revenue stream. That's rude, Clara. After everything I taught you."

"You taught me to regret trusting people."

His smile widened. "There's that fire. I missed it."

I finally got to my feet, wheezing. "Get out. Now. Or—"

"Or what?" He turned to me, genuinely amused. "You'll bleed on me?"

Then he punched me in the stomach.

I folded like a lawn chair. The world went white, then gray, then mostly just pain.

"Evan!" Clara moved toward me, but Derek caught her wrist.

"Don't," he said softly. "You know I don't like being ignored."

I tried to get up again. He kicked me in the ribs.

Something cracked. Probably me.

[WARNING: Physical trauma detected]

[END temporarily reduced]

Through the haze, I heard Clara's furious voice. "Let go of me."

"Not until we talk about—"

The door, or what was left of it, exploded inward.

Jade Kwon took one look at me on the floor, Clara pinned against the desk, and Derek's hand on Clara's wrist.

"You've got three seconds to let her go," Jade said quietly.

Derek laughed. "And who the hell are—"

Jade closed the distance in two steps and punched him in the throat.

He made a sound like a broken vacuum cleaner and stumbled back, releasing Clara.

Jade swept his legs out, drove him into the floor, and locked his arm at an angle that made my own shoulder ache in sympathy.

"Tap or snap," she said.

Derek gasped something that might've been surrender.

Jade wrenched the arm harder. "I didn't hear you."

"Okay! Okay! Jesus!"

She released him, stepped back, and watched as he scrambled to his feet, clutching his arm.

"You broke—"

"It's only sprained," Jade said. "Now get the fuck out before I change my mind."

Derek looked at her, then at Clara, then at me still crumpled on the floor.

"This isn't over," he muttered.

"Yeah, it is," Jade said. "If I see you near this building again, I'll finish what I started. And I'll make sure there's video evidence. Cameras everywhere, remember?"

Clara held up her phone, recording. "Every word."

Derek's face went red. Then pale. He backed toward the broken door, still cradling his arm.

"Crazy bitches," he spat.

Jade smiled. "Say that again. Please."

He just turned and ran.

The apartment went quiet except for my wheezing and the hum of Clara's machines.

Jade crossed to me in two strides. "Evan. You good?"

"Define good," I wheezed.

"Can you breathe?"

"Technically."

"Can you stand?"

"Survey says no."

She crouched beside me, hands checking my ribs with surprising gentleness. "Nothing's broken. Probably bruised. You'll live."

Clara appeared on my other side, face pale. "Evan, I'm so sorry. I should've—"

"Don't," I said. "Not your fault."

"He came here because of me."

"He came here because he's an asshole," Jade corrected. She looked up at Clara. "You must be the tech neighbor."

"Clara," she said. "You must be the one who hits people."

"Jade."

They stared at each other for a beat. Sizing each other up.

[Multi-Link Proximity Detected]

[Synergy Potential: Calculating...]

"Can you two bond later?" I gasped. "I'm having a medical crisis."

"You're fine," Jade said, but she was already sliding an arm under my shoulders. "Clara, grab his other side."

Clara hesitated, then moved in. Between the two of them, they hauled me up and half-carried, half-dragged me to Clara's couch.

I collapsed onto it. Everything hurt.

"First aid kit," Jade said to Clara.

"Bathroom. Under the sink."

Jade disappeared. Clara stayed, hovering awkwardly.

"I'm sorry," she said again, quieter this time.

"Stop apologizing," I said. "You didn't kick me. He did."

"You shouldn't have—"

"I'm exactly dumb enough to get between you and danger," I said. "Accept it. I certainly have."

[RSN +1 with Clara]

[Clara Voss — Resonance: 13 → 14]

Jade returned with the first aid kit and a bag of frozen peas from Clara's freezer. "Shirt off."

"Buy me dinner first."

"Evan."

I tried to lift my shirt. Failed. Jade sighed and carefully pulled it over my head.

Both women stared at my torso.

"Well," Clara said. "That's going to bruise."

"Understatement," Jade muttered, already pressing the frozen peas to my ribs. "Hold this."

I held it. The cold was sharp and awful and somehow perfect.

Jade knelt in front of me, checking for other injuries, warm hands all over my skin.

"You're an idiot," she said.

"I've been told."

"You could've gotten seriously hurt."

"I did get seriously hurt."

"More hurt."

Clara sat on the arm of the couch, close enough that I could smell her citrus shampoo. "He stayed all night helping me fix the fundraiser. Then Derek showed up and he..."

Jade's expression softened slightly. "Guess you're not completely useless, Cross."

"High praise," I wheezed.

She pressed a little harder on my ribs. I yelped.

"Yep. Definitely bruised. No breaks." She sat back on her heels. "You'll be sore for a week. Ice, rest, ibuprofen."

"What about my dignity?"

"That was already broken," Clara said.

"Accurate."

Jade stood and looked at Clara. "You should file a police report."

"I have camera footage," Clara said. "But Derek's smart. He'll lawyer up, and say Evan attacked first or something."

"Let him try," Jade said. "I'm a witness. And I'm very credible."

"Because you beat people up for a living?"

"Because I teach people not to get beaten up. Big difference."

[Multi-Link Synergy: Forming...]

[Jade + Clara compatibility: Calculating...]