After Mapo damaged the wall, she didn't show another maneuver. She quit right on the spot. Didn't even wait for results in the hangar.

The street gust barely moved her locks, but Tsune pulled up her uniform collar regarless.

"I should at least reward myself for being done with exam. I haven't had anything sweet for months."

Guided by that thought, she arrived to the Z Cafe steps. But entered only after looking over the clients.

-

Taking a spoonful of the cafe's ice cream, the girl felt tension melt together with the treat. As she slowly ate her portion, Tsune managed to abstract herself from the world around her and think about the exam again. But this time she approached it like an observer, analyzing everything as if she watched it on TV.

Soon enough she arrived to the reason behind the accident. It was the idea of Blade's show off piloting that resonated with the passion she had for super robots.

And letting him know that it was his fault was almost as attractive as the sweets before her.

'Hello, Red. Are you going to talk about the academy drama too?'

"Drama?"

Embarrassed to the point of blushing, her voice became higher than usual.

'It was because of you!'

'Me?'

'Yes, you. I've been doing fine, but couldn't help but think that it was boring. So I asked my assistant device to destroy the dummy.'

The girl was ready to continue, but laughter from the other side interrupted her.

"Oh, my God."

At first she waited for it to end, but soon it started to get on her nerves. Lowering the volume until he stopped making fun of her, she continued to savor her ice cream.

'I assumed it was you accepting the burning feelings of a warrior and getting carried away. But choosing the wrong word fits you so much better.'

Blade paused for a second, as girl imagined, to wipe the tears from laughing too much. And she used the opportunity to change the topic.

'So what was that drama you were talking about?'

'Ah, some parts went missing from inventories of several students, so they had trouble preparing for combat exams. Apparently it happened a while back too.'

A sudden thought appeared in the blonde's mind as his words resonated with something from her memory.

"Is that why Eider was surprised that morning? Why did nobody tell me?"

'Anyway, the victims keep calling me about you.'

'Why would they ask you?'

'Beats me. Maybe it's because I'm the only one answering their questions. Or they think we are the best friends because we sparred in VR a couple of times.'

Suddenly, Tsune heard a series of noises that reminded her of a metallic battle cry.

'And here's another one. *Intelligent Logic* this, *Intelligent Logic* that. I swear they keep going in circles. Well, I'll see you around then.'

"That didn't go as planned."

Looking down on the ice cream, the girl saw that there was a barely a spoonful left. Briefly conflicted about buying another, she nevertheless stood up to leave.

-

'I'm back, mother.'

'Welcome back.'

Lady Red stood in the hall, trying to look as nonchalant as she could. But what attracted the daughter's attention was one of her hands. It was hidden behind her back and was holding something.

'Congratulations for finishing the exam, Tsune.'

With that, her mother took out her present. It was a neatly folded piece of paper that was tied with a ribbon.

'I've heard that you had some misunderstandings with your team, so I bought you five tickets to the Enchanted Snowland.'

Feeling her mood tank a bit, the blonde took the paper nonetheless.

'Thank you.'

But externally, she thanked her mother for the effort. Tickets for a seasonal event were probably hard to get and it was probably a great place. But nevertheless, what was she supposed to do with five?

"This is why I can't talk to both of you about anything. "

However that wasn't the end for the surprises, as her mother proceeded to explain just that.

'And don't worry. I got the idea from your team leader when I called him today. I haven't told him I already bought the tickets, so if you want to refuse, I'll just refund them and buy us a great big cake. Dietic of course.'

Winking at the last part, Lady Red sauntered off to the parents room, leaving the teen looking at the five colored paper slips. She felt her conscience sting her for assuming too much too fast.

-

"Haaah."

After changing clothes, the girl dropped into her favorite hall chair. With the phone in one hand and one of the tickets in another.

She would put this off, and give herself a day of leisure, but the tickets were for the day after tomorrow.

"Let's see."

Typing in the event name, she was immediately moved to its informational center.

Top of the site was taken by an image that showed a snowball with a winter park background. And almost as soon as she recognized the snowball for what it was, it started to change its shape, turning into a rose. Then a snow covered title came into the forefront, followed by the general information section right below.

"The best place to spend the winter... skip, skip,"

Scrolling past the opening paragraphs, that aimed to awe with beauty of the venue and fun to be had, she searched for more concrete reasons to buy a ticket. There had to be a reason why both her mother and Den settled on this place.

And she wasn't disappointed.

"With our unique technology, we have created a land where the sculptures and even the snow itself will change according to your subconscious desires. We guarantee an unforgettable experience that will let you learn more about yourself and those around you."

Beginning to understand its purpose, Tsune went for the customer feedback section. And her hunch was correct, as it was full of romance stories that started when the guests liked each other's creations.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

But that wasn't all. To her surprise, some of the pilot teams also talked about going there for a superstitious test of compatibility.

"So, she thinks that I might start a romance there? Never put Den as a superstitious type though."

Resetting the page to top, she thought about her plans while idly watching the animated snowball change its forms.

"Okay. If I go and my creations are closer to Den's than Aery's, she'll get mad. And mother might have a reason to play matchmaker."

"But If Den sees that I have compatibility with others, I'll return the trust I probably lost today. And whatever reputation I might lose because of those rumours. Oh, would Aery even come in the first place? I might be going only with EIder and Hem then."

In search of the response Tsune came to her room. Opening the wardrobe she reached deep inside, digging through clothes in search of the game script. But when she flipped the pages to the third training year, the girl saw that the only listed event was the visit to her father's laboratory.

As another mystery added itself to the overall list, the blonde couldn't help but sigh. All this guessing and second guessing was getting tiring.

"Ah, why do I even have to predict all of this negative stuff. I should go just because I want to."

-

Two days later, when the setting sun was barely visible even in the high rise city, Tsune and her teammates arrived to the Snowland.

It took two floors of a skyscraper's second layer, but despite the man-made exterior, the inside looked like a natural winter park during a night. In addition to the central alleys, lit by the old looking lamp posts, there was a snow plain on one side and a small forest on the other.

'Well, our gracious benefactor, where do we start?'

Eider's voice came from the side, and when she turned around to answer, she saw him dig his hand into the ankle deep snow. After scooping a handful, he watched it transform into a wing that turned into a cloud and was blown away.

'Ah, wherever you want. I'll go there.'

As soon as she pointed to the forest, she noticed a nigh imperceptible change in the surroundings. And when she acknowledged that something has changed, it grew more noticeable. And now she could see a slightly curvy road into the grove.

"I thought it answered subconscious thoughts only?"

-

Entering the forest, the girl noticed the trees change around her. Some of them grew icicles on their branches, while others had their snow cover shift its mass to change the overall shape of the tree. Suddenly, a bit of snow fell on her shoulder. When she looked up, the girl saw a glimpse of a white squirrel jump through the top branches.

Scooping the snow off her clothes, she watched the snowflakes change their shape. She expected them to melt, but they only lost the parts that connected the radial spokes, turning the strange ring shapes into normal snowflakes.

-

The road ended in a small clearing, with a human sized pine tree in the center. When she came closer, the snow, that reshaped the tree into a pine tree, drooped off white branches to form more figures. The mind reading technology was actually real

.

"Of all the things, why did it become a Christmas tree?"

'Ohh, so is that your snowland? I don't think I've ever seen anyone have this.'

When Aery's voice came from behind, Tsune snapped around. The snow around her sprung outward as soft defensive spikes.

'Calm down, I'm not here to yell. I was just curious.'

The brunette took a detour around the deforming spikes to one of the pine branches.

'Are these supposed to be leaves? They feel like a brush instead.'.

'Yeah, I think they are leaves.'

Meanwhile, the top winter toys completed their shapes. A mecha in a combat stance, the portrait of the Destiny's pilot, a mirror shaped coin that had her figure on one side. But the lower branches went, the less defined the toys became. From Lyle's arena controller to a broken snowflake and, finally, vague geometric shapes or icicles.

Aery reached to pluck the failed snowflake off the tree.

'Ah, it seems it ran out of the things to read. Or maybe your thoughts got so strange it can't do it.'

'Why would they be strange?'

'Because snowflakes do not look like this. It doesn't even have a single ring, only branches.'

Aery dropped her trophy to melt into the surrounding snow and continued with a smile.

'Anyway, I don't see anything here that could be compatible with Den.'

'What did you two make?'

'Oh, you want to know, do you? Then look!'

With pride in her voice, the brunette showed her phone screen. On it, Aery held Den's hand as they walked through the snow plain. Then the camera moved to show them being in the eye of the storm of a twin twister. The bigger twister raised a mass of snow into the air to form a vague humanoid shape. While the smaller retained its wild shape, both intermingling with and being protected by the other.

'We are destined to be together.'

'I'm glad for you.'

The blonde looked down on the phone's clock and saw that their scheduled time was running out.

'I'll get some photos for mother and meet you at the exit, okay?'

Seeing the other girl nod, Tsune returned to the tree full of her mind's toys.

-

It was already night when Tsune returned home. Seeing the door to her parents room open and dark, she decided against turning on the lights. Quietly making her way through the hall, she put the photos down on the chair and went to her room.

-Welcome-

'Quiet, you might disturb them.'

After berating Mapo for its unrestrained volume, she slipped into her bed but couldn't fall asleep on command.

That shapeshifting snow dug out a dichotomy she wanted to forget.

Although, it was probably a wrong word to use. The memories of the Earth caused no discomfort and living in a different body in a different world was something she was already used to. But every time she saw her memories materialize, she couldn't help escape the feeling of complete separation. As if she was a witness to something impossible.

Eventually she fell into sleep, accompanied by the transient memory of a blue light world filled with mirrors.

-