Titan Rumble Ch 23: The Room Not To Be Entered, Yunas Sister!

(Cain)

I stood under the hot water, letting it run down my aching shoulders. Every inch of my body felt like it had been folded, unfolded, then folded again just to make sure I remembered how pain worked. New Existence was never supposed to be used so casually, and yet—there I was, punching Alphas like I had spare organs to burn.

"Never again unless absolutely necessary," I muttered to myself, running a hand through my wet hair. My ribs still twinged every time I moved just right, and my knuckles looked like I had tried to box a thunderstorm. But at least I could stand without screaming. Progress.

After drying off and throwing on a pair of shorts and an old shirt, I flopped onto my bed. It was one of the few things in my room that didn't feel like it could crush me. The whole house was custom-built to my scale—tiny, tucked in the corner of the much larger living space like a dollhouse with plumbing. My bed creaked softly as I laid back, closed my eyes, and let out a long breath.

Sleep. That was the plan. Good, honest rest to give my body the last bit of recovery it needed.

Then the earthquakes started.

It was subtle at first—just a light tremor under my back. Then stronger. Rhythmic. Boom. Boom. Boom. Each one made the floor shake and my bed shift an inch or two.

"Cain, you up?"

I groaned as the ceiling creaked ominously, followed by the gentle sound of a steel door-sized hinge groaning open. A soft breeze hit me as my door swung inward and my walls buzzed like an insect's wing from the sheer force of her presence.

I pulled myself out of bed and walked over to the little balcony connected to my room. The sight that greeted me was... something.

Yuna stood in the threshold of the larger room, towering above like a casual goddess. She wasn't in her usual black Alpha instructor's uniform. Nope. Today, it was a loose white T-shirt and—okay, blue short shorts. Blue ones. Very blue. Very short. My eyes snapped up as she stepped closer, each footfall making my entire house rattle like it was made of toothpicks.

And yeah, maybe I blushed. Just a bit.

Her long black hair was tied up this time, falling over her shoulder like a raven waterfall. Her face lowered down to my balcony level with a grin on her lips that made me want to brace for impact.

I crossed my arms and gave her my best scolding face.

"Hey. You're shaking my house again."

Yuna laughed, the sound soft but deep enough to make my walls vibrate.

"Sorry," she said, clearly not sorry. "I'll try to take lighter steps next time. No stomping in the house, got it."

She winked, and I felt like my soul tripped over itself.

Then she leaned a little closer, propping her hand on her hip. "Anyway, my dad's cooking dinner. He sent me to grab you."

At that exact moment, my stomach decided to betray me.

GGRRRRRAUUUGHHH.

Yuna raised an eyebrow, lips twitching. "That... was you, right? Not a wild animal?"

I sighed, already stepping back inside to throw on a shirt. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. Don't need to rub it in."

She chuckled again as I walked toward the edge of my porch, watching her massive form crouch down and extend her hand like a landing pad.

"Hop on, Sensei."

I rolled my eyes but smiled as I stepped into her palm, the warm surface gently curling around me. As she stood up and started walking, each step felt like moving with a mountain—but smoother. Safer.

And somewhere between the towering walls of her fingers and the swaying rhythm of her steps, I realized something strange.

I didn't mind this.

Not one bit.

Yuna's steps echoed like distant thunder as we made our way through her massive house. I sat cross-legged in the center of her hand, trying not to think about how a single misstep could send me flying like a fleck of lint in a hurricane.

The halls here weren't just big—they were cathedral big. Smooth white walls stretched up so high it felt like I was walking through the ribcage of a sleeping titan. Everything was clean, quiet, and polished to a shine... and also eerily empty. We passed countless doors, the kind that probably weighed as much as a tank, and each turn had me thinking okay, now we're at the dining room.

But nope. Another hall. Another turn. Another door.

Eventually, I couldn't keep quiet. I shifted in Yuna's palm and looked up. "Hey, uh... didn't you say we were going to dinner? Because this feels more like a guided tour of a museum."

Yuna didn't answer right away.

That's when I noticed we'd stopped.

In front of a door.

But not just any door—this one had a faint aura about it. Like it had its own mood. And that mood was "bad idea."

I raised a brow and looked back at Yuna to ask whose room this was—

And then I saw her face.

It wasn't her usual calm, deadpan face. It wasn't her amused smile or her quiet confidence.

No. This was something else.

Yuna's eyes were narrow, her lips set in a straight, tense line. Her whole face had this cold edge to it, like she was forcing herself to stay composed. I could feel the shift in the air.

"This room," she said slowly, "is not to be entered. Understand?"

"...Uh. Yeah. Crystal clear."

I half-expected her to just keep walking. But instead, she raised her knuckles and knocked twice.

"Aurora," she said, and there was a sharpness in her voice I hadn't heard before, "wake up. Dinner's ready. Don't keep Dad waiting."

Aurora? I thought. The name sounded familiar, but not in a good way. More like something whispered behind a closed door that was definitely supposed to stay closed.

And then—click—the door creaked open.

And out stepped a walking contradiction.

Long, midnight-black hair spilled over a body that was... okay, I'll say it: unfair. A black sports bra that was definitely not trying very hard to do its job, and underwear that barely passed the dress code for existing in a hallway. She stretched like a cat that just woke from a ten-year nap, and those eyes—golden and amused—locked onto me.

"Hello, little big sister," she said with a lazy smile.

That's when it hit me.

Little big sister? My brain stuttered.

Yuna, for her part, didn't flinch. "Hello, little sister," she said flatly, arms crossed, face like carved ice.

"...Little sister?" I blinked, looking between them. "Hold on. She's your little sister?"

Aurora turned those sharp red eyes on me and leaned forward just slightly, a wicked grin on her face. "Oh? And what's this? A little guest?"

I felt my heartbeat trip over itself. "I'm Cain. I'm... the new instructor." I tried to sound official. Authority figure. Power. Backbone.

Instead, my voice cracked halfway through like I was going through puberty again.

Aurora's grin widened.

Yuna let out a long breath, hand twitching ever so slightly at her side.

Great. One was amused, the other was not, and I was stuck in the middle like a confused bug about to be squashed in a family feud.

This dinner was gonna be interesting.