All Chapters of Off Camera : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Kyrian's Pov"Day five," Mark said into the microphone, his voice bouncing off every wall in the athletics centre. "For the final event of the playbook Olympics we'll be having the endurance relay."James leaned in. "And for those of you who thought the art challenge was the hard one—""It was not the hard one.""It was genuinely not the hard one." Mark repeated.The course was set up across the centre floor—stations marked out in sequence, each one worse than the last. Plank holds, wall sits. A balance platform at the far end that nobody was looking at directly, a timed run through the final stretch that connected everything.I stood at the start line and looked at it.“One partner's failure will end the run for that team.” Mark added like the challenge wasn't complex enough already.Everything accumulated across the week—the relay, the swimming, the art, all of it—landed here in the final points. I'd done the math already. We needed first or second to take the week.Connie was besid

Connie's povI woke up smiling, laying on my bed just feeling good and all. I heard the music.Kyrian was on his side of the room with his phone propped against his pillow, some song playing low, and he was—moving in the most horrible way possible. I lay completely still, trying as much as possible not to burst out laughing. He turned around and our gaze locked.He stopped dancing immediately, turning off the song like he had just been caught doing something he was never supposed to do.I got up, prepared and made my way downstairs.The celebration from last night was still in the air, people moving through breakfast sluggish in a way that made it obvious that they stayed up too late.Pat was at the front before we'd even found seats."New orders from Vress," she said, setting her clipboard down. "Our Japan winners are allowed to bring two couples with them on the trip."The room shifted immediately. Every head came up, every set of shoulders straightened as they tried hard not to

Connie's povMira stopped at the entrance, turned around and spread her arms. "Welcome to Takeshita Street."Cole stopped dead beside me.The street was narrow and packed and every shopfront was competing aggressively for attention—color stacked on color, music bleeding out of three different doors at once and a crepe stand wedged between a vintage clothing store.Cole stood at the entrance, his eyes scanning the surrounding with a disappointed look."Last I checked," he said, turning to Mira slowly, "we said somewhere fun.""Well if it doesn't look fun to you, you can just make your way back home." Mira scoffed.Cole looked at me, probably expecting me to back him up or something but I shifted my gaze away."I think it's great," I said.Cole pointed at me. "No, you don't think it is.""Yes, I do."Mira was already moving and we followed her in, the street swallowing us immediately. Kyrian walked beside me with his hands in his pockets and his expression giving nothing away as usual.

Connie's povI stared at my plate like it held the answers to the universe while Pat ate with the calm serenity of a woman who had already won whatever game we were all still pretending to play.The scrambled eggs had gone cold, but nobody was touching their food anymore, not with Pat sitting at the head of the table like she’d materialized from thin air.She accepted the plate Mira slid toward her without a word, nodding her head in appreciation. The rest of us watched in collective silence as she took bites, the scrape of her fork against ceramic the only sound in the suite’s dining area.Finally, she set her fork down and leaned back, wiping her mouth with a napkin.“Director Vress sent me,” she said pleasantly. “I’ve been here since yesterday afternoon, caught the tail end of your little adventure last night."Cole, who had been mid-reach for his coffee, froze.Pat smiled, the kind of smile that made you wonder how much she’d actually seen.Hori made a small choking sound, Sean ru

Connie's povMy heart was still hammering against my ribs when we pulled apart, foreheads pressed together, breaths mingling in the dim light of Kyrian’s room. Tokyo hummed faintly through the window, distant car horns and neon glow filtering in like a reminder that the world outside this moment still existed. But right now, it felt miles away.I didn’t know who moved first after that — me or him — but suddenly we were kissing again, slower this time, deeper. His hands settled on my waist, warm and steady through the thin fabric of my t-shirt. I slid my fingers up his chest, feeling the hard lines of muscle I’d tried so hard not to notice during all those forced proximity moments. The rules we’d made in that narrow laundry corridor back at Crestfield? They were ashes now. Burned away the second his mouth found mine.“Kyrian,” I whispered against his lips, not sure if it was a warning or a plea.He pulled back just enough to look at me, those dark eyes searching my face like he was wai